Blog

Aug
24

DirectMoney to sell loans through Loan Market and Finsure

DirectMoney, the marketplace lender which floated last month, has established strategic partnerships with two mortgage brokers, Loan Market and Finsure, providing it with distribution channels for its unsecured personal loans which the brokers will offer customers as an alternative to finance from banks. Source: DirectMoney to sell loans through Loan Market and Finsure

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Aug
10

Doors open on fintech hub | The Courier-Mail

Sydney is certainly leading the way for Australian fintech companies and start-ups to make it big here in Australia, and overseas… The doors have opened on a new hub dedicated to helping tech start-ups disrupt Australia’s financial sector. The shared work space, called Stone & Chalk, soft-launched on Monday as a centre to support more than 200 entrepreneurs. Source: Doors open on fintech hub | The Courier-Mail

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Aug
10

Start-up delivers access to cheap mortgages

Australian fintech companies like HashChing are great disruptors to the mortgage industry. The banks should be very wary of companies like these… It is a never-ending battle for consumers to seek out the cheapest home loans in the market. With interest rates at record low levels, consumers are actively searching to lock in mortgages for as long as possible before interest rates start to rise and property prices begin to fall. Besides trawling through the regular financial institutions such as banks and established mortgage lenders online for the best deal, a range of loan comparison websites have entered the market. HashChing is one such company claiming to be ‘Australia’s first […]

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Aug
02

Disrupters in battle for access to credit data

This is will be an ongoing battle for all players in the industry! Control of customer credit data is emerging as a flashpoint between banks and peer-to-peer lenders despite the introduction of the comprehensive credit reporting regime, which disrupters say is inadequate to allow competition to thrive in the digital world. Matt Symons, the chief executive of Australia’s largest P2P lender SocietyOne, has called for the government to monitor closely the quality of reporting by banks into the comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) regime. Source: Disrupters in battle for access to credit data

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Aug
02

Mobile banking tipped to wipe out 600 branches

This is a very interesting scenario… Great for banking but not so great for bank employees… The proliferation of smartphones provides banks with an unprecedented opportunity to slash overheads and boost profits and will lead to the widespread closure of branches as more customers bank on the move, a survey by investment bank UBS shows. UBS analysts from London, New York, Hong Kong and Japan worked with KPMG on the 54-page report, published in July, which surveyed 67 bank management teams in 18 countries. Those banks on average expect a 5.6 per cent reduction in branches as a direct consequence of their mobile banking strategy.But in Australia, where bank branch […]

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Jul
31

IAG makes ‘smart move’ to name Peter Harmer as innovation boss

Insurance Australia Group has appointed former commercial insurance boss Peter Harmer as chief executive of its new digital innovation hub, as the $14.4 billion insurer ramps up its technology drive. Source: IAG makes ‘smart move’ to name Peter Harmer as innovation boss

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NAB Ventures created to invest $50m in fintech

It seems the big banks are getting behind Australian FinTech which is great to see!   National Australia Bank has created an “innovation fund” that plans to invest $50 million over the next three years in Australian and offshore start-ups to enhance the bank’s development of customer-centric products and applications. Source: NAB Ventures created to invest $50m in fintech

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Jul
28

Square thinks outside the box in Australia

Big investments in chip and PIN cards and tap-and-go payment terminals by Australia’s dominant banks and supermarkets has slowed the advance of Jack Dorsey-led payment upstart Square, but it claims it has found another chink in their armour.Square has had an office in Australia since May – its fourth country after the US, Japan and Canada, since it was started by Twitter co-founder Dorsey in 2009. Australian companies have been able to use beta versions of its free apps for years, but Square – which is rumoured to be heading for a listing in the US – announced its second product offer in Australia, a “digital dashboard” for small business, […]

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