KPMG buys fintech company Markets IT
Professional services giant KPMG has acquired fin-tech company Markets IT for an undisclosed sum, in an effort to expand its “big data” capability and help banking clients grapple with a barrage of regulatory change. It comes as global regulators step up their efforts in relation to trader surveillance. KPMG chief executive Gary Wingrove referred to the merger as a “timely and strategic” acquisition. It is the firm’s eleventh bolt-on acquisition in two years, as Big Four accountancy firms attempt to diversify their consulting services to align with the big gnarly problems facing the C-suite. Markets IT bills itself as the dominant supplier of Murex software in Australia- a trading platform […]
Blockchain and how it will change everything
In May, British billionaire Richard Branson invited a select posse of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology advisers to his Caribbean residence for an exclusive pow wow on an issue occupying some of the top markets minds in the world. The topic for discussion on the picturesque Necker Island was the “blockchain”. “Every now and then, something comes along that might just change everything. And this is one of those moments,” ASX chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper. In case you’re one of the many yet to wrap your head around the promising technology, blockchain, on a simple level, uses computer code to engender trust in digital-economy transactions. One of the attendees […]
ANZ Bank boss Shayne Elliott tells Melbourne Fintech Meetup he’s ready to invest
New ANZ Bank boss Shayne Elliott is recruiting for a head of digital banking, who will be told to partner with start-up technology companies that can teach the 180 year old bank how to improve its customer service. The bank is set to acquire and invest in emerging companies with technology that is disrupting the financial services sector, but more critically Mr Elliott wants to forge partnerships to improve ANZ’s in-house capabilities. “Investing in start-ups is not hard for banks, we have lots of money to write cheques, the difficult thing is figuring out how we can internalise that intellectual capital,” he said. “We are currently recruiting for a newly […]
DirectMoney eyes $32bn card debt as it targets $100m in loans
Recently-listed marketplace lender DirectMoney is targeting $100 million in loans a year as it goes after the banks’ $32 billion in revolving credit card debt. Chief executive Peter Beaumont said it was surprising that so many people were paying up to 20 per cent interest rates on credit card balances when there are much lower personal loan rates available, including DirectMoney’s, which averages 13.2 per cent. The firm’s lending rates range from 8.5 per cent to 18.5 per cent based on the risk of the borrower. “The age of rolling balances on credit cards is coming to an end,” he told Fairfax Media. “There’s about $32 billion being rolled over […]
NAB’s Visa digital wallet helps block Apple
NAB’s first digital wallet out on Monday is backed by Visa, making it the first Australian bank to use a new mobile security system that fights Apple’s bid for a share of the $2.5 billion in fees for credit card transactions. NAB’s new digital wallet, NAB Pay, will allow customers to use an Android smartphone or other mobile device to make payments via the NAB mobile app with a virtual Visa card. It will later allow credit cards to be used as well. Most of the banks, including Commonwealth, Westpac and numerous regional banks and mutual lenders, already offer similar wallets, but NAB’s is the first to use Visa’s new […]
CBA eyes collaboration with fintech companies in Asia and Europe
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, CBA’s (CBA) Group Executive, Institutional Banking and Markets, said the Hong Kong and London labs highlighted the banks’ global approach to innovation that connected customers, employees and start-up communities to the latest fintech developments. “Hong Kong’s highly developed financial sector, strong entrepreneurial culture and proximity to China makes it the optimal location for us to establish an innovation presence in Asia,” she said in a statement. “The Hong Kong Lab will allow us to partner with the brightest minds across the city’s accelerator, government, university, start-up and fintech communities to further develop creative and innovative solutions for our clients.” Speaking in Hong Kong at the opening ceremony […]
Ken Henry says NAB has strong capital and is ready to embrace fintech future
“If digital innovation leads to more efficient ways of achieving credit intermediation, we are in a strong position to embrace those new efficiencies. Maybe the whole sector becomes more efficient. If it does, our customers will benefit. “The establishment of NAB Labs, an innovation lab in Melbourne, and NAB Ventures, a corporate investment fund to invest in start-ups, aims to imbed an innovation culture across the bank, Dr Henry said, while also providing access to cutting edge ideas where they are emerging globally. “We are not sitting on hands here. We see [fintech] as both interesting, and an opportunity for us to do what we currently do better and for […]
Innovation – NSW innovation minister says he will deliver three things the startup community is pleading for
He says one of the flagship policies of the state government last year was the establishment of a “world first” government data analytics centre facilitating data sharing between government agencies and allowing for the analysis of the effectiveness of policies. Dominello says the better use of public data can also assist with one of the booming startup sectors in the state: fintech. With Stone & Chalk and the Tyro co-working space, Sydney is leading the way with fintech startups, and Dominello wants it to stay that way. “We’re already the centre in south-easy Asia for banking and finance, so the fintech sector in particular is very, very strong,” he says. […]
