The fintech phenomenon: Do Aussies only want to borrow from banks?
Marketplace lending, online business loans, robo-advice, blockchain – none of it means anything without consumers. So what do Aussies think of fintech? The threatening, disrupting nature of fintech is a widely discussed topic, with consumer benefits often being the focus. However, what’s interesting is that in the push to get companies, ideas and funding across the line, the actual customer — whether they’re a borrower, investor or seeker of advice — often gets left behind. Robert Allen, director of payments technology and consulting at PwCm spoke about what’s driving fintech at a Fintech Sydney event this week. “Fintech is being pushed forward by a new way of thinking, by millennials, […]
Blockchain technology – why all the hype?
As one of the most talked about emerging technologies, some say blockchain technology could revolutionize everything from stock exchange settlements and transport logistics to voting or welfare payments. So what is it and why is it relevant to financial advisers? Internationally, the benefits and wide range of possible uses for blockchain technology have been touted for a couple of years now. Within Australia, it’s gained some ground after a recent Australian Securities Exchange decision to examine its use for a new clearing and settlement system that’s faster and cheaper than the existing CHESS system. To enable this effort, the ASX bought a five per cent stake ($14.9 million) in Blythe […]
Blockchain technology to hit bank profits
Revolutionary blockchain technology threatens to slash the profits of banks and wipe out lenders which fail to quickly adopt the online record-keeping innovation, a high-powered panel of finance and technology experts warned. Jose Fernandez Da Ponte, global digital business executive at Spanish banking giant BBVA, said digital disruption to financial institutions by blockchain posed “extremely large” threats and opportunities. “Those institutions not up to that are likely to cease to exist,” he said at a conference in Washington. At a panel convened by the International Monetary Fund, financiers, technologists and regulators debated the ramifications of the evolving blockchain. IMF deputy managing director David Lipton said banks and regulators were grappling […]
Australia pushes ISO for blockchain standards
Australia’s peak standard-setting body, Standards Australia, is calling on the International Standards Organisation to begin work on global standards for blockchain. The organisation has asked the Geneva-based ISO to begin working on standards for blockchain, the technology behind digital currency bitcoin, offering the assistance of Australian expertise. The ASX has recently taken a stake in New York-based Digital Asset Holdings, which is working on the potential to use its blockchain technology to help replace its CHESS sharemarket clearing system, while the Australian banks are also reviewing the potential uses of the distributed ledger technology. “We have had sufficient stakeholder support to put this proposal to the ISO,” Standards Australia’s acting […]
Resisting Fintech disruption amounts to a loss of $13 billion in aggregated revenues
Sydney, Australia, 4 April 2016 – The Australian Banking sector is heavily regulated to prevent monopolies and collapses, and is guided by the Four Pillars Policy of the Australian Government which maintains the viability and separation of the “Big Four” banks: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), National Australia Bank (NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). Following the global financial crisis, in 2008, for reasons motivated by stability rather than customer satisfaction, consumers flocked to the ‘Big Four’ who benefited by recovering market share previously lost to the smaller financial institutions. While the Big Four are more dominant than ever, future bank profitability is more […]
