Mobile payments: A haven for big players
Disruption, that pervasive buzzword in fintech, is usually attributed to startups competing with the big players. These companies are small, agile and new to the market. They bring new technology and ways of doing things, and are quick to adapt. But what happens when it’s these bigger players, such as the traditional banks, that introduce the disruptive technology? PwC recently released its Global Fintech Report, which surveyed various people working in global financial services. The respondents identified fund transfers and payments as the sector second most likely to be disrupted by fintech over the next five years. However, it seems that established companies are responsible for most of […]
Moroku releases Australia’s first device agnostic, mobile business and payments platform
Moroku has released Australia’s first device agnostic, mobile business and payments platform. Designed to allow small businesses to manage their customers, products and sales, the Marrakash android app not only creates and stores orders, when installed on an NFC enabled phone the app can take “Tap and Go” credit card payments. Until Marrakash, merchants need to pay up to $80 per month to rent a card terminal from one of the banks. That’s a sizeable monthly outlay especially if you have multiple sellers out and about. The app is multi user, so if an electrical contractor has 4 or 5 electricians driving around the country taking payments for installations, each […]
Fintech start-up Afterpay plans ASX listing
Fintech start-up Afterpay — backed by legendary corporate raider Ron Brierley and a host of alumni from his former Guinness Peat Group — plans to list on the Australian Securities Exchange to supercharge growth plans after signing up more than 100 retailers to its online e-commerce product in the past nine months. Afterpay, whose backers include Mr Brierley’s ASX-listed Mercantile Investment Company, LinkedIn Southeast Asia managing director Cliff Rosenberg and Melbourne IVF founder John McBain, plans to raise $25 million in a float that will value the company at about $150m. Mr Brierley’s Mercantile last year bankrolled an $8m capital raising by the company. Mercantile is expected to emerge with […]
truRating launches in Australia, empowering businesses to capture mass customer feedback at point-of-payment
Award-winning UK-based point-of-payment rating system, truRating, has officially launched in Australia, giving businesses a straightforward and cost-effective way to collect immediate feedback from their customers when they pay. Using the payment terminal, truRating presents customers with a single feedback question, asking them to rate an aspect of their experience using a scale of 0-9 on the keypad. This gives companies a real-time, mass-market view of customer satisfaction and overall company performance on key metrics such as service, value or product selection, providing the insight they need to make changes and improvements. The UK fintech startup has demonstrated impressive growth, with over one million ratings processed globally to date, averaging 8,000 […]
UK fintech startup truRating knew Australia would be a prime market
“Australia was in our sights early on as a prime market for truRating to launch in following our early success in the UK. Our local market research demonstrated that consumers want a simple and anonymous way to provide feedback about their experiences to businesses and truRating is committed to delivering that capability via our world-first technology. The rapidly growing fintech scene and market potential we identified here cemented Australia as the natural next step. Australia has a flourishing startup ecosystem which is producing world-class technologies and truRating is proud to join the mix.” – Georgina Nelson – CEO & Founder truRating
Square arrives, but without tap and go
Australia finally gets to use big-name US payments company Square’s mobile payment device on Tuesday, but it is missing the key contactless payments function. Square country manager Ben Pfisterer said tap-and-go would have made the device too expensive and too big – a drawback competitors have struggled with – to fit Square’s signature shape, but pointed out a PIN won’t be needed for purchases below $35. Australians are the biggest users of contactless, with 60 to 70 per cent of Visa and MasterCard transactions now done this way. “A lot of hard work has gone into it to create an alternative solution for small business; we think there is a […]
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 […]
PromisePay’s a disruptive influence that has learned well
As some of the heat recedes from the bubbly global fintech sector, Melbourne-based payments disrupter PromisePay is among a select group of local start-ups with a rapidly deepening revenue stream, serious global prospects and an embarrassment of funding options. Sometime this year, PromisePay will start taking bids for a second round of funding. One of founder chief executive Simon Lee’s problems is that he can’t accommodate everyone who wants to clamber aboard the PromisePay bandwagon, which is why a $10 million cash-grab is likely to be upgraded to $30m-$40m. That way, PromisePay can flaunt its balance sheet to customers generally concerned about trust and stability, and lock in adequate funding […]
