Robo-advice drives Decimal revenue
Software provider Decimal has announced its half-year net loss after income tax has decreased by 14 per cent thanks to lower operating costs and increased revenue from its robo-advice offering. During the six months to December 2015, the company’s net loss after income tax was $4.2 million, down from $4.8 million during the same period one year ago. “The company completed a strategic and operational review during the period under review which led to a decision to reduce operating costs,” the statement said. “The Decimal platform has reached a level of maturity to enable enterprises to fully benefit from the business model in terms of low implementation and maintenance cost […]
Global SME lender picks fight with P2P lenders
Global small business lender Capify claims peer-to-peer lenders will suffer more than most during a downturn because they lend to risky borrowers for too long, but P2P lenders say the evidence doesn’t stack up. New York-based Capify lends to small business in the US, Canada, Britain and Australia. It introduced so-called merchant cash advances to Australia in 2008 under the name AusVance, which involves a business giving up future credit card takings in return for credit. Founder David Goldin claims most marketplace or P2P lenders that have sprung up during a period of rock bottom interest rates and low funding costs will not survive a downturn, whereas Capify made it […]
Personal finance start-up MoneyBrilliant bought by AMP
AMP has acquired Sydney fintech start-up MoneyBrilliant, after first investing in the company in 2014. The start-up, formerly known as Cha-Ching, is an app-based personal finance platform offering users a “fun and easy” way to get their finances in order. It gives users automatic access to their bills, spending and savings to see if they are tracking in the green or are slipping into the red. The bank (AMP) made the acquisition through its ventures arm, AMP New Ventures, for an undisclosed amount, and will continue to operate the platform under the MoneyBrilliant brand. The takeover follows AMP’s investment of $1.5 million in 2014. Co-founder and CEO Jemma Enright, who […]
Macquarie considers US fintech deals, but ‘risk retention’ a worry
Macquarie Bank is looking at a host of possible new online lending partners globally, but is worried regulators are closing in on the new players. Ben Perham, head of strategy and corporate development at Macquarie, said like most banks, it is exploring deals with the various new lenders, including the many small business lenders and P2P lenders. “We are [looking at] collaborating with US lenders and on the equity side as well,” he said. “We are hoping to partner with them and get some of their activities into Australia.” But he pointed out that many originate and make the risk assessment on loans, but then sell them off completely, and […]
Investec buys into H2 Ventures
This is great news for Ben and Toby Heap, the brains behind H2 Ventures, with Investec Australian taking a stake in their businesses. This is also great news for the Australian FinTech industry. Investec Australia has taken a stake in the fintech accelerator H2 Ventures, a move the specialist lender believes will put it in the box seat to win work from entrepreneurs as they scale their businesses. The amount of Investec’s investment in H2 has not been disclosed but is understood to be several million dollars. David Phillips, the head of principal investing at Investec Australia, will join the board of H2, whose only other two shareholders are the […]
MEDIA RELEASE: ASX-listed zipMoney (ZML) first-half results for 2016
MEDIA RELEASE: ASX-listed zipMoney (ZML) are delighted to announce their first-half results for 2016. A brief summary of the key highlights and initiatives: – zipMoney have now hit $20m in total transaction volume on the platform triggering milestone 2 – Results for the half saw $10m in transaction volume with December are highest month ever at $2m; January was up over 30% mom – Revenue for the period was ~$750k and in January alone we achieved $237k up 40% over December – Cash at bank in Dec was $4.2m, or $3.5m after excluding $693k in restricted cash (from the securitisation trust) – Active customers were over 10,000 and merchant partners […]
Tech startup investor David Jackson launches P2P fintech platform FundX
Prominent Sydney-based venture capital investor David Jackson has branched out from advisory positions and founded FundX to help small and medium-sized businesses get funding. Mr Jackson, was an early stage investor in businesses such as Ingogo, Hey You, Crowd Mobile and Drive My Car and is well known in the local tech start-up industry. He is part of fintech incubator Stone & Chalk, tech accelerator BlueChilli and a board member of angel investment group Sydney Angels. Despite only being in beta testing since October, his peer-to-peer lending site has processed $1 million in loans and rejected another $5 million. FundX uses big data, machine learning and predictive algorithms to assess […]
ANZ boss Shayne Elliott hot for start-up investments as it partners with Honcho
ANZ Banking Group has partnered with Sydney-based Honcho to fast-track customer small business registrations, as new boss Shayne Elliott drives the bank to work more closely with technology start-ups. ANZ’s managing director of corporate and commercial banking, Mark Hand, says ANZ is open to investing equity into fintech start-ups. It could establish a referral relationship with an online business lender, similar to the arrangement Westpac has with Prospa and Commonwealth Bank of Australia has with OnDeck. After Mr Elliott said he wanted his legacy to be defined by digital banking and criticised ANZ’s siloed approach to technological innovation in an interview with BOSS magazine earlier this month, Mr Hand said […]
