AEVI and Moroku partner to mobilize small merchants
AEVI and Moroku today announced a partnership to distribute Moroku’s all-in-one small merchant POS software Marrakash on AEVI’s Global Marketplace; a B2B app store for smart Point of Sale (SmartPOS) devices. Marrakash is designed with the next generation of banks in mind, delivering a single solution for small merchants that seamlessly integrates their business, products, customers and payment systems into one easy-to-use platform. The partnership will leverage AEVI’s open solutions, payments and global support infrastructure to target multiple vertical markets including the hospitality, food and drink, health and wellness, retail and financial service industries. Based in Sydney, Australia, Moroku is a pioneering Fintech firm that provides the finance industry with […]
Data61 reports blockchain will have a profound impact on the economy
A scientific study of blockchain by the CSIRO’s specialist Data61 unit has found the management of supply chains, including trade finance and insurance, as a “highly promising” use case for the emerging technology, which will enhance productivity across the agriculture, banking, healthcare, logistics and public sectors and help business and government manage the deluge of data about to be unleashed by the internet of things. But two reports to be released on Wednesday also point to various limitations of the much-hyped technology, warning it could compromise privacy, breach confidentiality, and create security concerns should encryption ever be broken by faster computing power. Data61’s reports are the product of almost a […]
Even banks are touched by the Amazon effect
Such is the impact of Amazon that it is even affecting what people expect from their bank. That’s the view of the chief executive of fintech firm Avoka, Phil Copeland, who said the user experience provided by the shopping giant has fed into an expectation among consumers that you should be able to sign up for products easily and simply online. With banks also nervously eyeing fintech competitors, the dynamic is forcing banks to sharpen their focus on “digital customer acquisition”, or online sales. “Amazon has really changed the landscape a lot, for a lot of people. There’s an expectation that if it’s not as easy as doing business with […]
Why Australia needs to champion an open system for blockchain
American astronomer and educator Clifford Stoll wrote an article in 1995 called ‘Why the Web won’t be Nirvana’. It still gets passed around as an amusing discussion piece highlighting the doubts people had about the internet. Stoll was sceptical about the web, especially “cyber business”: “So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month?” The Clifford Stolls are still out there. You’ll find some of them these days expressing doubts about blockchain technology. But plenty of very reputable and smart people have recognised blockchain could be the building block for something truly transformative, as revolutionary as the internet. This […]
RegTech focus a huge opportunity
Legendary FinTech pioneer and Tyro Payments executive director Jost Stollmann will headline InnovationAus.com’s RegTech Australia 2017, the first deep dive look at the opportunities and challenges for the nation of disruptive new regulatory compliance technologies. The senior speaking roster at the inaugural RegTech Australia includes Westpac Group’s chief compliance officer and group general counsel Rebecca Lim, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Digital Finance Advisory Committee chairwoman, Deborah Ralston from Monash University. Austrac’s national manager for compliance Angela Jamieson will speak on the nexus between law, policy and financial transaction monitoring. The forum includes the machine learning and artificial intelligence-based RegTech pioneer RedMarker’s founders Mandy Symons and Matt Symons, […]
NAB-owned UBank launches robot to sell home loans
In a first for an Australian bank, NAB-owned UBank has launched an artificial intelligence “chatbot” for home loans. Using IBM Watson’s supercomputer technology, it aims to reduce the time it takes to complete an application for a home loan, by providing real-time answers to questions that is available 24/7. Called RoboChat, it has been trained using data collected from customer questions and will continue to learn as more customers engage with it, becoming smarter and more user-friendly over time. Users ask it questions such as “what term do you offer on home loans” and “do you offer redraws and how do they work”, with RoboChat offering on-the-spot help. A handful […]
Australian blockchain delegation heads to New York
Australia’s blockchain capabilities and technologies will be showcased to global leaders and investors at Consensus 2017 in New York from 22-24 May. A 26-member Australian delegation will be heading to the event to present globally competitive and innovative solutions across the spectrum of industry applications, from digital currencies and payments to agricultural supply chains, smart contracts and identity management. Consensus 2017, now in its third year, has become a landmark event on the blockchain calendar. The event attracts global professionals from leading industry startups, investors, financial institutions, and academic and policy groups who are building the foundations of the blockchain and digital currency economy. Nicola Watkinson, Austrade’s Senior Trade and […]
Blockchain to create winners and losers
Ordering a pizza is a fairly mundane transaction for many Australians. But when Laszlo Hanyecz convinced a Florida man to deliver two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins in 2010, he made history for the first real-world bitcoin transaction. Today, cryptocurrencies can be used to purchase everything from clothing, technology and homewares to travel, artwork and fine dining. What is most interesting about bitcoin though, is the blockchain technology on which it is based — a revolutionary platform which is spawning applications across a broad array of industry sectors and functions. Just a few examples include smart contracts, neighbourhood microgrids for buying and selling energy, the protection of intellectual property, anti-money laundering […]
