Banks look vulnerable as lucrative loans market gets personal online
Mike Israel is at the forefront of a trend that some reckon could disrupt the very lucrative business of lending money to consumers and businesses. An information technology worker in his 50s, Israel is one of a growing number of people pocketing a piece of the major banks’ healthy profits, by lending their savings directly to borrowers and charging interest. He’s doing it via the internet, on platforms that allow investors to loan their cash to consumers for expenses like a new car, a holiday or a wedding. Borrowing for a wedding is a typical transaction. Known as peer-to-peer platforms, these websites don’t have to pay for sprawling branch networks […]
Tyro says Stone and Chalk needs competition
Tyro chief Jost Stollman, says another fintech hub, independent of bank-backed Stone and Chalk, is needed to ensure new bank rivals don’t remain “rounding errors”.Mr Stollman has dubbed Sydney’s Clarence Street “Fintech Alley” since he opened Tyro’s FinTechHub at 155 on Wednesday, just down the way from bank-backed hub Stone and Chalk at number 45 – the same building as eBay and its subsidiary PayPal.Tyro was one of the first payments challengers to the banks when it started a decade ago, but it remains the only so-called card acquirer – meaning it processes card payments for merchants as well as rolling out its own terminals – that is not a […]
High time to find out what you’re missing out on
If you’re being ripped off by banks and other financial institutions a new website, monetise.com.au, will tell you even though you may have suspected nothing.It threatens to do to comparison websites, which are being reviewed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), what Uber is doing to taxis. Source: High time to find out what you’re missing out on
Craig Dunn to chair fintech hub Stone and Chalk
Technology start-ups will be given subsidised office space by the banks they are seeking to disrupt, with a new financial technology hub to open in Sydney in May. It will provide entrepreneurs with a place to collaborate with established financial sector players and global technology giants and allowing them to access capital for growth. Source: Craig Dunn to chair fintech hub Stone and Chalk
Banks shadow box with online business lenders
Banks are courting a rash of new online lenders that have moved quicker than their giant rivals to use technology to give better deals to small businesses.Prospa has been quietly building its small business loan book for two years. It is one of several local and international players discussing mutually beneficial deals with banks that have favoured the less risky mortgage sector for years, but are looking for growth in business lending. Source: Banks shadow box with online business lenders
