Australian FinTech Startup Credit Savvy hits 100,000 Members
PRESS RELEASE: Australian Fintech Startup Credit Savvy Hits 100,000 Members Financial services startup Credit Savvy announced today that it has reached 100,000 users just shy of its first birthday, cementing its place in Australia’s booming ‘fintech’ sector. Credit Savvy provides Australian consumers with free access to their Experian credit score, a summary of their credit file and a marketplace of credit products. It also allows its users to track their credit score over time with free monthly score updates and alerts when key changes are made to their credit file. The startup has already made available over 600,000 free credit scores to its member base, with its highly active users […]
Fintech the next wave of growth
This is an interesting opinion piece by Australia’s Treasurer, Mr Scott Morrison who says that Australia’s fintech sector can play a vital role in aiding the positive transition that is occurring in the national economy. “At the recent World Economic Forum it was noted that 90 per cent of the data we use today has been created in the past two years. The ability of new technology to capture and process data, in real time, is changing how business is done, how products and services are conceived in the new economy and the way consumers participate in this process. Financial technology, or fintech, is lubricating this transformation. The catalytic impacts […]
Malaysia: The Rise of FinTech – Innovation and Disruption
MALAYSIA: THE RISE OF FinTech Innovation and Disruption Date: 15-16 March 2016 Location: Auditorium Connexion@ Nexus Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), in partnership with the New South Wales Trade and Investment, invites you to join our exclusive dialogue revealing Malaysia’s burgeoning financial technologies (FinTech) ecosystem and innovation agenda. Why Malaysia In 2015, Malaysia became the first Asia Pacific nation to regulate for equity crowdfunding in its drive to develop the FinTech agenda. Moreover, Malaysia recorded the highest innovation performance amongst middle income countries. With FinTech no longer limited to traditional centres like Silicon Valley and London, and global oil prices at an all-time low, Malaysia’s […]
UK fintech startup truRating knew Australia would be a prime market
“Australia was in our sights early on as a prime market for truRating to launch in following our early success in the UK. Our local market research demonstrated that consumers want a simple and anonymous way to provide feedback about their experiences to businesses and truRating is committed to delivering that capability via our world-first technology. The rapidly growing fintech scene and market potential we identified here cemented Australia as the natural next step. Australia has a flourishing startup ecosystem which is producing world-class technologies and truRating is proud to join the mix.” – Georgina Nelson – CEO & Founder truRating
Infocus to launch robo-advice solution
Non-institutionally-aligned firm Infocus Wealth Management has announced it will launch a new direct-to-consumer robo-advice solution, which will give clients the option to manage their own investments online. The new solution, to be launched in May, will incorporate the Morningstar Wealth Forecasting Engine as well as investment management services from Morningstar’s Ibbotson Associates Australia. Speaking to ifa, Infocus managing director Rod Bristow said the robo-advice service will not compete with the firm’s existing advisers. “We’ve been talking to our advisers for some months about this. What we’ve been saying is robo-advice is something that will come into the Australian market and will make a difference in terms of helping consumers understand […]
Greg Medcraft urges innovation on blockchain technology
Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft has called on market regulators around the world to “start thinking about” the challenges of blockchain, the technology behind cyber-currency bitcoin. Mr Medcraft, who is also chairman of the International Organisation of Securities Commissioners, urged regulators to consider the potential challenges of blockchain at a recent meeting in Madrid. In an interview with The Australian, Mr Medcraft said the broader commercial use of the blockchain technology was “on the horizon” with industry claims that it could “save billions of dollars if they can make it work”. He said it also had the potential to “improve liquidity” in some financial instruments, “which is […]
Target market for robo-advisers to grow with net usage
Robo-advice does not work well in complex situations but suits people in their 30s and 40s who are already using the internet to manage their finances and are starting to save serious money toward retirement. Robos work very well where the investor’s situation is not complex and a person neatly fits into one of several predetermined categories. For example, the small but relatively focused subset of people in their 30s and 40s who are starting to save serious money toward retirement are perfect for robos. They may have already looked at negative gearing and margin lending to grow their savings but feel disinclined to take on the added risk in […]
Square arrives, but without tap and go
Australia finally gets to use big-name US payments company Square’s mobile payment device on Tuesday, but it is missing the key contactless payments function. Square country manager Ben Pfisterer said tap-and-go would have made the device too expensive and too big – a drawback competitors have struggled with – to fit Square’s signature shape, but pointed out a PIN won’t be needed for purchases below $35. Australians are the biggest users of contactless, with 60 to 70 per cent of Visa and MasterCard transactions now done this way. “A lot of hard work has gone into it to create an alternative solution for small business; we think there is a […]
