SocietyOne sees potential to work with banks
The new chief executive of SocietyOne, Jason Yetton, says there is potential for the peer-to-peer lender to work with a big bank such as Westpac, his former employer, as it tries to distribute loans to a wider range of customers. SocietyOne is one of the emerging group of “marketplace lenders”, which are eyeing off the profits that banks make from unsecured lending, by using online platforms to allow investors to lend directly to borrowers. P2P lenders typically promote themselves as a lower-cost option for borrowers, prompting banks to consider their defences against the new online threat. Mr Yetton, who previously ran Westpac’s retail and business bank, will also use his […]
Avoka Named Top Ten FinTech Worldwide by KPMG
Avoka, the leader in digital customer acquisition for financial services companies worldwide, has today announced that it was named as one of the Top Ten Fintech companies worldwide by KPMG. The award recognizes ten companies from the KPMG FinTech 100 list that are having the most impact on how financial services firms do business and was announced at the KPMG FinTech 100 event in London on February 9, 2016. “Once again our Fintech 100 exposed some incredibly interesting and exciting companies that are changing the face of finance. We saw a real wealth of talent from right across the globe but those who made it into the top ten clearly […]
Robo-advice not ’biased’ during volatility
Human advice may be outperformed by robo-advice during times of market volatility, considering automated tools are not subject to behavioural bias, says BetaSmartz. BetaSmartz chief executive John James said eliminating behavioural bias means that robo-advisers will accurately manage risk, and “will always have an advantage over humans”. Mr James argued that robos are not subject to a domestic or “home bias” to the extent that human advisers are. “This [domestic] bias can limit diversification and, in a volatile environment, completely exposing an investor to just one market may not be the optimal way to meet their goal,” he said. He explained that robo-advisers can easily navigate volatility because they have […]
DomaCom to crowdfund gay retirement village
Property investor DomaCom is using its crowdfunding platform to raise capital to fund a $25 million gay and lesbian retirement village, proposed near Ballan in central Victoria. In what may well be a world first, the crowdfunding model has been harnessed to drive the staged development of a 120-dwelling estate on 30-acre block, 80 kilometres north-east of Melbourne. “It will be the world’s first retirement village through crowdfunding,” said DomaCom chief executive Arthur Naoumidis. “Let alone being a gay, lesbian, bi and transgender, intersex retirement village: that’s definitely a world first. It’s great. It shows the versatility of our platform.” Already DomaCom is nearing the close of the first $1.5 […]
Jason Yetton the new CEO at P2P lender SocietyOne
Former Westpac Banking Group senior executive Jason Yetton will join peer-to-peer lender SocietyOne as its new CEO on Monday with a brief from the fintech’s high-powered owners to ramp up lending growth on the platform. SocietyOne co-founder and current CEO Matt Symons will stay on at the company as chief strategy and innovation officer. The appointment will be announced by SocietyOne on Friday morning. The platform has matched more than $78 million in loans since it was established in August 2012. Source: Jason Yetton the new CEO at P2P lender SocietyOne
MEDIA RELEASE: Aquire and Kikka Capital partner to reward SMEs
SYDNEY, 3 March 2016: Aquire, Qantas’ rewards program for small to medium-sized businesses and Kikka Capital have partnered to reward small business owners for taking out a line of credit. Aquire members will be able to earn 10,000 Aquire Points on eligible loans of $10,000 or more. In a recent survey[i], Aquire Members identified financial services products as the third most popular points-earning category after telecommunications and hotels. Kikka, Australia’s fastest growing small business lender, joins more than 35 Aquire partners. Aquire members can earn Aquire Points on a range of everyday business expenses including phone plans, office supplies and business advertising spend. Kikka Capital CEO Milko Radotic said the […]
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 […]
