Westpac customers can now deposit cheques via mobile
Westpac launches Australian-first feature allowing customers to scan and deposit cheques via the Westpac Live app. In an Australian first Westpac has launched Westpac Mobile Cheque Deposit, a feature enabling customers to scan and submit cheques via mobile banking. Customers can take a photo of their physical cheque and deposit it with the bank through the Westpac Live mobile banking app, without the need to visit a branch or ATM. If you, like me, haven’t used a cheque for the better part of a decade this new feature might seem a bit odd. However, Westpac still receives more than 30,000 physical cheques from customers each and every day highlighting the […]
Perth Mint’s GoldPass app for tech-savvy Gen Y traders
Perth Mint boss Richard Hayes hopes the State-owned entity can attract tech-savvy millennials with its new gold trading smartphone app. GoldPass is a secure investment platform that allows people to buy, store and sell gold and transfer the precious metal to others via digital certificates with real time settlement. The digital certificates are backed by physical gold stored at the Perth Mint and its network of central bank-grade vaults. There are no storage fees but the mint makes money via brokerage fees ranging from 0.2 and one per cent depending on the size of the transaction. Mr Hayes said the mint already had a solid customer base, generally made up […]
Neobanks are coming: What the revolution means for you
For the first time the big four Australian banks are about to face several new challengers at once as a group of ‘neobanks’ promise to change the way you manage your money. Eric Wilson was a senior executive at NAB, getting nagged by his father-in-law, a former bank manager for the Bank of New South Wales when he decided he’d had enough. “He used to always say to me ‘Eric, why is banking like this? It used to be about people but now it’s just about screwing people for as much money as they can,” Wilson tells Your Money. “Eventually I had a bit of an epiphany when I was […]
Wisr shortlisted for two Optus My Business Awards
Australian neo-lender Wisr (ASX: WZR) is in the running to take out one of county’s longest-standing business awards after being shortlisted for the prestigious Optus My Business Awards. Wisr has been shortlisted as a finalist in two awards in the Fintech Of The Year and Business Leader of the Year categories at the 2018 Optus My Business Awards, the premier event of the year for SMEs. Founded in 2014, Wisr offers personal loans and financial wellness solutions using its unique neo-lending platform. The company recently announced it had increased annual revenue by 37% last financial year, on the back of a 409% increase in loan origination volume. The Optus My […]
Australians are embracing fintech as they move away from traditional payment solutions: Research
Australian appetite for fintech services is on the up, with non-bank contactless or card-less mobile payment solutions now being used more than bank-owned payment solutions, according to recent research from market research company Roy Morgan. The Roy Morgan Digital Payment Solutions Currency Report, which is based on more than 50,000 consumer interviews, suggests fintechs, including startups, are taking market share from incumbents, albeit slowly. While 6.4% of people interviewed said they had used bank-owned digital payment solutions within the past 12 months, 6.5% had used non-bank solutions such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet. Further, 6% said they had used pay-later startup Afterpay within the past year. Some 94% of Australians said […]
The startup founder finding meaning in tap and go transactions
ImpactPay will give all Australians the opportunity to find meaning in their tap-and-go card transactions. Through a new smart digital wallet, users can accomplish humanitarian change, drive breakthroughs in healthcare, deliver global education and support local initiatives every time they make a purchase. ImpactPay founders, Adam and Regina Levine, saw an opportunity to tap into the collective power of micro-giving; developing a platform that enables Australians to support the causes of their choosing with each payment or transaction, using this world-first debit card. “More than 577 billion non-cash transactions take place every year; what if we could harness that to do good? It’s second nature for us all to use […]
Sydney fintech Frollo scores $65,000 grant to take “Fitbit for finance” app to the next level, and reduce stress for Australians
Fintech startup Frollo has taken home a $65,000 grant from the MetLife Foundation, having been named best financial solution for low- to moderate-income Australians at MetLife’s Inclusion Plus competition for its gamified personal finance solution. Established in 2016, North Sydney-based Frollo is a personal finance app that uses gamified features to help users identify and change bad spending habits. The startup also licences its software to financial institutions and challenger banks, and founder and chief Gareth Gumbley tells StartupSmart it now has “tens of thousands” of users — a figure that is “edging towards the hundreds of thousands”. Gumbley has a background working in a consumer finance business and saw a […]
ANZ bank launches phone wallet to withdraw cash from ATMs
The days of carrying a plastic bank card could be numbered, with ANZ customers now being offered the option of ditching their wallet for an all-digital profile. The bank’s latest innovation is technology allowing consumers to use a smartphone or watch to withdraw their cash from an ATM. The move means all ATM functions can now be completed without a card, and follows the widespread use of devices to process payments and purchases. “It is more secure than plastic cards because customers have to either use their face ID, or thumbprint or pin on their phone before they can even use cash, and take the cash out at the ATM,” […]
