DASH integrates with Living Room of Satoshi bill pay service
Dash, the “better bitcoin,” has been integrated into one of Australia’s most promising cryptocurrency companies, Living Room of Satoshi, a business that has already revolutionized the way people pay their bills online. Founded only two years ago, Living Room of Satoshi was named 2015 Australian Startup of the Year award by StartupSmart for the innovative way the company allows Australians to pay their everyday bills with cryptocurrency, including rent, utilities, insurance bills, phone bills, speeding fines, credit card debt, and government tax bills. The service is linked to BPAY, an online bill payment mechanism accepted by over 45,000 companies across Australia. Today, Dash joined Bitcoin as the only alternative currency […]
Fintech start-ups must ‘unblock the chains that bind them’
Australia’s fintech start-ups will need to weather the blockchain “hype cycle” if they’re to survive, a panel at Melbourne’s Collab/Collide fintech summit determined. Emma Weston, chief executive of disruptive agriculture start-up Full Profile, which uses blockchain technology to eliminate risk and inefficiencies in the agricultural supply chain, said commercial use of the technology was still at a nascent level. “We’re finding lots of potential for blockchain, but what’s going to get us into the world, it’s got to be companies that are prepared to put resources behind something that is fairly uncertain, in a market that is fairly uncertain, in a world where a lot of the incumbents don’t want […]
Automated advice aims to fill the void
Automated financial advice isn’t getting the recognition it deserves in Australia as we steam towards the Robo 2.0 era, says Clover chief executive Harry Chemay. Speaking to The Australian ahead of today’s FinTech Collab/Collide Summit in Melbourne, Mr Chemay said robo-advice — online wealth management advice based on automated algorithms — was ultimately complementary to human financial advice and still largely a misunderstood technology. “Blockchain at the moment is taking the lion’s share of coverage and attention, but there are lots of developments in the robo advice space and it continues to be an evolving area that will provide value for Australians as we move to Robo 2.0.” He defines […]
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 […]
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 […]
Blockchain report: Where are we now, and where are we going?
A report by international law firm Allens investigates the use cases for blockchain and where the technology is now. International law firm Allens, which has offices in Australia and Asia, has released a detailed report investigating the attributes, problems and possible use cases for blockchain. The report’s lead authors say blockchain first got on Allens’ radar in 2012 due to a junior lawyer’s penchant for blockchain, and the fascination stemmed from there. “We’ve seen distributed ledger technology move out of the lab and onto the C-suite agenda of our clients, from startups to multinational giants with centuries of transactions behind them,” they said. While perspectives are many and varied, the […]
ANZ, Wells Fargo test blockchain for cross-border payments
Blockchain technology promises to reduce the time and cost of transferring funds and increase access to liquidity, according to ANZ Banking Group and Wells Fargo. The companies made the comments following the completion of a six-month project that built and tested a distributed ledger for reconciling and settling payments between the two banks. In a recent report on their “proof on concept” the banks said blockchain could “add real value to both the customer experience and the efficiency” of correspondent banking relationships, which refers to deals between global banks over access to local payment systems. “Cross-border payments and correspondent banking are ripe for rejuvenation,” ANZ and Wells Fargo said, pointing […]
