Fintech upping the online broking ante
Online trading platforms are offering a slew of new features at lower prices to keep up with financial technology apps that give investors much wider choice – from upcoming IPOs to investing spare change. Investors are demanding education-rich tools and powerful data capabilities to enhance their trading experience and broking platforms have responded with real-time stock widgets, bustling online forums and the emergence of robo-advice services, allowing investors access to different markets and more managed funds. “The rise of fintech has put more powerful tools into the hands of investors in the form of research, reporting and investment ideas,” says Josh Callaghan, wealth general manager at research firm Canstar. “As […]
Cyber security has become an economic imperative
Cyber security is an economic imperative. It is key to the protection of organisations of all sizes, to the personal data of our people, and to ongoing jobs growth and wealth creation. After all, a robust and thriving digital economy is built on trust. The Australian financial services industry, perhaps more than any other, has the most to gain from a strong and innovative national cyber security eco-system. The sector has a more mature understanding of cyber risk than other industries, and with a major shift towards digital and mobile engagement with customers, now more than ever it has the motivation to invest and develop capability in this area. In […]
Blockchain is not just for Bitcoin – it is a digital ledger of transactions
Blockchain sounds like a solution to a 19th-century railway problem, but lately it’s on the lips of every executive who wants to solve the problem of 21st-century digital transactions. As innovator Tim Lea, of Veredictum, says: “It’s a great space we’re in — but getting hotter by the day.” Lea is building a blockchain for identifying videos and he’s running hard to keep up with the express train. The evolution of blockchain is exponential. It may have begun as a system for dealing with (often dodgy) digital transactions six years ago and it may have captured the imagination and budgets of banks last year, but in the months since it […]
Fintech changes the shape of banking
Jesse McWaters is the project lead for disruptive innovation in financial services at the World Economic Forum. So in January, 2014, it seemed logical to bring together about 50 senior global financial services and banking types attending Davos to consider the impact of fintech. The judgement of the experts was clear. “Banks versus fintechs? No contest,” McWaters says. The banks were considered to be protected by their scale, by their levels of consumer trust and by the regulatory complexity of the financial system. The barrier was considered simply too high for fintech start-ups to become a threat. A year later, there had been a sea change in the mood of […]
Online payday lenders under scrutiny following Nimble investigation
Online lenders using algorithms to assess consumer creditworthiness are in the spotlight following action by the corporate watchdog against payday lender Nimble. Nimble has been forced to refund $1.6 million to more than 7000 customers after it was found to engage in irresponsible lending. The corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said it was continuing its surveillance of the payday industry “as well as other credit licensees and their representatives”. This included any companies providing consumer or business loans, as well as interest-only home loans using online processing. “ASIC has raised concerns in relation to compliance with responsible lending obligations across the spectrum of credit providers generally,” a […]
Fintech could close $2 trillion SME funding gap
Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide are struggling for funding from traditional sources, opening up a significant business opportunity for financial technology (fintech) operators. According to a new white paper from the World Economic Forum (WEF), fintech companies are already leading the way in disrupting the financial services space, and are eyeing up the $2 trillion funding gap that exists in the SME credit market. The paper, which was put together by the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Finance & Capital, explains that the disruptive tailored services coming from the burgeoning fintech sector include invoice and supply chain financing, equity crowd funding and peer-to-peer lending between SMEs. […]
Westpac asks Gen Y to help it find the next fintech start-up
As all banks grapple with the impact of huge technological shifts, Westpac hopes to get an edge over rivals by tapping into the ideas of bright, young non-bankers. With the bank admitting it needs to be more nimble in the face of growing competition from technology-based firms, senior Westpac executives will next week be presented with business proposals on digital disruption in finance from a group of people aged 18 to 35 , from Australia and China.But none of those pitching the ideas on digital disruption are bankers. Source: Westpac asks Gen Y to help it find the next fintech start-up
