Fintech firms get chance to grow up as US offers charters
Over the past decade, there’s been an explosion of Silicon Valley start-ups and technology companies that act like banks. Now, a key US regulator is inviting them to be regulated more like traditional lenders. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Friday it plans to start accepting applications from fintech companies for a special charter that would formally subject them to federal banking rules. Companies that become chartered will get the benefits of being an established company in the eyes of the government. But they will also face anti-money laundering controls and consumer protections that apply to other lenders, the OCC said. “Preferences and needs of consumers, […]
Money for nothing, cheques for free in the sharing economy
THE bank of mum and dad is receiving a welcome cash injection as a growing number of households put a price on the things they previously gave away for free. More households are renting out a spare room, car sharing, selling goods and services and even lending to each other as the “sharing economy’’ expands, research shows. According to polling by RateSetter, some households are earning up to $120 a month. On the downside, however, all those people who benefited from the “free economy” are now having to wait their turn, or pay for it. Free rides, spare rooms, and even the kids’ old books and toys are increasingly thin […]
How banks are running the economy
Alan Kohler, The Australian Two quite innocuous things happened on Tuesday: the federal budget and an RBA rate cut. Neither of these events will do much good, but nor will they do much harm, which is about as much can be hoped from both politics and monetary policy these days. Even RBA Governor Glenn Stevens has been constantly talking about impotence of monetary policy, so it’s likely to be true. Why won’t the budget or the rate cut have much impact? Because the RBA and the government don’t run the economy — the banks do, and there is something much more significant going on in banking land. There is always […]
Fintech Market Growth to Add A$1 Billion New Value to Australian Economy by 2020
The global Fintech sector exhibited robust growth in 2014 when investment activity tripled to US$12.21 billion from US$4.05 billion in 2013. This activity continued in 2015 with an increase in global funding into Venture Capital (VC) backed Fintech startups. Fintech growth in 2015 was international, and Frost & Sullivan anticipates this international dispersion, as well as the global growth trend to continue with more Fintech companies successfully reaching the exit stage of funding in 2016. In the Asia-Pacific region, Fintech investments were concentrated in Australia, China and Singapore, and in 2015, skyrocketed to reach US$3.46b – a four-fold increase from 2014 to 2015. Asian Fintechs garnered strong support, with funding […]
Fintech the next wave of growth
This is an interesting opinion piece by Australia’s Treasurer, Mr Scott Morrison who says that Australia’s fintech sector can play a vital role in aiding the positive transition that is occurring in the national economy. “At the recent World Economic Forum it was noted that 90 per cent of the data we use today has been created in the past two years. The ability of new technology to capture and process data, in real time, is changing how business is done, how products and services are conceived in the new economy and the way consumers participate in this process. Financial technology, or fintech, is lubricating this transformation. The catalytic impacts […]
Australian FinTech Awards 2024 – all the Winners!
Held in Partnership with Tier 1 law firm, Ashurst, and media partner Australian FinTech, the 9th Annual FinTech Awards recognised and celebrated fintech success.
Singapore Fintech Festival Wrap 2023!
Singapore’s Fintech scene continues to soar more than ever even in tight market conditions and was on full display at the 2023 Singapore Fintech Festival.
Fintech accelerator Archie selects the UAE as its first global launch market
Fintech accelerator Archie has chosen the UAE as its first global launch market.
