Global fintech giant Spotcap secures $50 million investment as it looks to expand presence in Australia
Global online lending platform Spotcap has closed a $50 million funding round and will be using some of the capital injection to grow its operations in Australia. Spotcap’s third funding round was led by international private equity firm Finstar Financial Group and brings the fintech startup’s total funds raised to more than $80 million. The online lender opened an office in Sydney in May last year, and managing director of Spotcap Australia Lachlan Heussler says the startup has been expanding rapidly in Australia. “Our growth has exceeded our internal expectations,” Heussler tells StartupSmart. “The month-on-month growth has been extremely high, to the point that January was a record month for […]
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 […]
New fintech platform to ‘take business from brokers’
A former major bank executive will launch a new fintech business this year to compete directly with the third-party channel on prime mortgages. Mark Bevan, who spent 25 years at CBA and six with Westpac, is the co-founder of Joust, an online platform that allows lenders to compete for home loan deals through a live digital auction process. The platform involves a panel of lenders bidding (or jousting) to be the provider of a customer’s home loan. The Adelaide-based fintech business aims to target prime mortgage customers with good credit ratings, good jobs and equity in their homes. Source: New fintech platform to ‘take business from brokers’ – Mortgage Business
Australia’s top 32 start-up tech successes and why they matter
Want to start the next billion-dollar tech company? You need to be male, in your mid-30s and only two or three years into running a start-up. Not-for-profit organisation StartupAus has compiled a list of Australia’s tech successes over the past 13 years, featuring businesses with valuations in excess of $100 million. The list of 32 companies, which forms part of a report compiled with the University of Technology, Sydney which is due to be released early next year, features known successes Atlassian, Campaign Monitor and Catch Group, but also a number of lesser-known companies which are on track to become the next success stories, or “unicorns”. Lesser-known businesses such as […]
Two FinTech disruptors hit the ASX
Two new Diversified Financial offerings listing on the ASX have the potential to shake things up for money lenders in both the consumer and commercial space. The companies are Directmoney (DM1) – a Peer to Peer (P2P) lender with a twist; and zipMoney (ZML) – a unique online credit provider for consumers and businesses. Both are prime examples of one of the hot long-term trends in technology – FinTech, or financial technology. FinTech companies are disrupting traditional financial services with the use of software and online platforms. In truth, disruptive activity in financial services pre-dates the Internet and the extensive use of sophisticated financial software. Dealing with traditional banks for […]
Auswide Bank lends $60m, takes 20pc in MoneyPlace
Auswide Bank is offering $60 million in personal loans over five years via fledgling peer-to-peer lender MoneyPlace along with a 20 per cent stake in the start-up to boost its personal loans to younger borrowers. Martin Barrett, the managing director of the small, listed Queensland bank, which has a loan book of about $2.4 billion, said it had been in talks with MoneyPlace about investing in and via the platform for about a year while it was seeking its credit licence from the corporate watchdog. “What the P2P guys have to offer is something that is more advanced and capable than what we would be able to put into the […]
Broker platform inks lead deal with listed property group
Brokers stand to receive an onslaught of leads following the announcement of a strategic partnership between an ASX-listed real estate group and a broker platform. Onthehouse Holdings Limited, an ASX-listed online real estate content and services platform, has entered into a strategic partnership with HashChing to provide its visitors access to home loan deals from local mortgage brokers. Through the partnership, brokers who use the HashChing platform will have their profiles appear whenever a prospective home buyer visits Onthehouse.com.au and searches a particular suburb. Unlike mortgage comparison websites that channel prospective borrowers to lenders, HashChing sends customers to a mortgage broker in their local area for further credit advice. Brokers […]
Westpac trials Prospa tie-up
It is great to see that the big banks in Australia are starting to support our FinTech companies. Lets hope that the this announcement encourages some of the other banks to get in and trial a partnership with an up and coming technology. Westpac has begun quietly trialling a partnership with online small business lender Prospa, signalling a growing willingness by the big four banks to embrace working with the rapidly emerging “fintech” industry. Source: Westpac trials Prospa tie-up
