Singapore tests blockchain digital currency system for banks
Singapore will launch a new electronic payment system using blockchain, the technology behind the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the city-state’s central bank chief said Wednesday. The Singapore stock exchange and eight banks will take part in the pilot project, which includes payment between banks, said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) chief executive Ravi Menon at the Singapore Fintech Festival. Blockchain technology debuted in 2009 as a public ledger for the digital currency bitcoin, but its potential for securely tracking transactions has meant it is being eyed for other uses. The pilot project aims to integrate the service into the mainstream as the Southeast Asian country seeks to become a regional hub for […]
Here’s why India’s fintech sector could boom
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced on Tuesday that existing R500 ($9.93) and R1,000 ($19.86) banknotes would no longer be legal tender from November 9, with airports, railway stations, and hospitals only accepting them until November 11. The government made the surprise move in a bid to combat “black money,” or currency that is unaccounted for, and counterfeit currency. Consumers have until December 30 to exchange their R500 notes for new editions with enhanced security features, while limited numbers of new R2,000 ($39.70) notes have been issued. A replacement R1,000 note will be introduced in “due course,” according to a government official. Here’s how the government’s move could benefit the […]
Banks team up with their FinTech competitors
These are challenging times for the incumbent heavyweights of the financial services sector. Beset by regulatory, governance, technological, capital, and investment issues, they are increasingly facing competition for business from a whole host of new players, primarily from ‘FinTechs’. Growth of marketplace lending In the case of online lenders, this trend began in the UK in the mid-2000s when Zopa, the world’s first digital and now Europe’s largest peer-to-peer (now called marketplace) provider, launched, quickly followed by the likes of Prosper, Lending Club, and OnDeck in the US. Eleven years on, Zopa has lent around 1.8 billion pounds to more than 150,000 borrowers funded by 63,000 investors of whom 53,000 […]
EY FinTech Australia Census 2016
FinTech Australia and EY Sweeney release the most comprehensive analysis of Australia’s fintech ecosystem to date, the EY FinTech Australia Census 2016 FinTech Australia and EY Sweeney are today releasing the inaugural EY FinTech Australia Census 2016, the most comprehensive and detailed report on the Australian fintech industry to date. The research was formally launched in Melbourne today by EY’s Anita Kimber at FinTech Australia’s national summit, Collab/Collide 2016 in partnership with LaunchVic. This significant piece of research was commissioned by FinTech Australia as part of their efforts to foster a thriving fintech ecosystem in Australia. The report identifies important characteristics of the Australian fintech industry, and establishes a set […]
Five steps to get started with blockchain
Since its first implementation in 2009, we have seen Bitcoin adoption spread across different countries and become a serious competitor to traditional financial transactions methods, creating new business opportunities for both corporations and governments. As a tech savvy country and one of the earlier adopters of bitcoin and other e-currencies, Australia has seen considerable interest in blockchain technology that underpins bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Just in the past few months, we have seen an Australian start-up claiming to have created the first local blockchain, and Australia Post has begun looking into the use of blockchain technology in the areas of identity, registries and e-voting. And a few days ago, Commonwealth […]
Avoka launches real-time analytics for bank customer acquisition
Avoka, the leader in digital customer acquisition for financial services, today announces Transact Insights, an analytics module designed for agile optimization of digital account opening. Transact Insights is available to institutions running the concurrently announced Avoka Transact 5, the most advanced version of the Avoka Transact platform. Today, digital account opening abandonment exceeds 85% for many financial institutions and there are limited ways to diagnose problems to improve results. Transact Insights changes this. By analysing points of friction in digital account opening forms, it provides intelligence to retail banks, wealth managers and insurers that enables them to achieve higher customer conversion rates and more successful onboarding over digital channels. Transact […]
Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined
We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs. No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution. The battle already underway will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world: The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes: […]
Westpac says RBA-issued digital currency would boost blockchain
Westpac Banking Corp, National Australia Bank, Macquarie Group and nine other international members of the R3 consortium have completed a trial of blockchain technology which saw funds transferred between banks across borders using Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP. The tests confirm cross-border payments is shaping up as one of the initial use cases for blockchain in financial services and point to a future where money is transferred directly and instantly without the need for overnight clearing and settlement by central banks. The project was designed to help banks unlock liquidity and reduce the costs of international banking. Using Ripple’s distributed ledger, the dozen banks converted domestic currency into XRP and sent this […]
