Competition regulator the ACCC has agreed to the proposed merger of BPAY Group Holding with eftpos Payments Australia, and NPP Australia (NPPA) in one of the most eagerly anticipated decisions for Australian fintech. ACCC Chair Rod Sims said they found that, at a high level, the services of the three companies do not compete closely.… Read more »
Emerging Sydney fintech Avenue Bank has been granted a restricted banking licence by the financial regulator APRA. The digital bank has been gearing up for this moment after raising $37 million in a series B round back in February. Veteran CBA exec George Confos was appointed Avenue CEO last year. The fintech previously raised $11.4… Read more »
Australian payment fintech Azupay has taken on a $10 million equity investment from Ellerston Capital.
ASX-listed PropTech Group (ASX: PTG) has enlisted the support of fintech startups to build a buy now pay later (BNPL) real estate play. The joint venture project, called PropPay, is a payments platform that will allow real estate agents and third-party platforms to offer payments and solutions to their customers for property-related services in Australia… Read more »
Project Dunbar will develop prototypes for shared platforms that will enable international settlements with digital currencies issued by multiple central banks. A blockchain-based system will hopefully cut transaction costs and times. The results will feed into plans for global and regional platforms and the G20 roadmap on better cross-border payments. The Reserve Bank of Australia… Read more »
Queensland fintech Paypa Plane has signed a deal to bring one of the key innovations of the New Payments Platform Australia (NPPA) – pre-authorised real-time payments – to banking next year Paypa Plane’s agreement is with payments platform Cuscal to launch PayTo in mid-2022. It’s one of the first examples of a bank and a… Read more »
The fintech ecosystem is booming and is showing no signs of slowing down. Research from KPMG showed that, despite being in the middle of a pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of fintechs active in Australia, with 733 FinTechs recorded. Investment in Australia’s FinTech sector has also soared, with US$1.4 billion invested… Read more »
The fintech sector has welcomed the findings of the federal government’s payments system review as giving local startups the chance to compete on a level playing field against tech giant such as Apple and Google. The Farrell review, commissioned by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg as part of 2020’s budget response to the pandemic, to investigate whether… Read more »
NAB has partnered with major banks in Canada, Brazil and the UK in a hunt for the greater fintech innovation. The Global Open Finance Challenge is a virtual event seeking entrepreneurs and startups with globally scalable solutions for open finance. NAB is part of the initiative with CIBC, Itaú Unibanco and NatWest Group. They’re looking… Read more »
ASX-listed Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will pay up to $116 million for Ferocia, the Melbourne fintech co-founded by Dominic Pym and Grant Thomas. Ferocia has been behind Bendigo e-banking app and internet banking platform for nine years and three years ago, Bendigo partnered with Pym and Ferocia to launch the neobank Up. The 100% acquisition… Read more »
Blockchain banking startup Lygon has scooped up $5 million in a pre-series A before pushing on with its next raise later this year. The round was led by Aura Ventures as the first external investor in the year-old fintech, which became an independent commercial entity last year after originally being created from a collaboration between the… Read more »
Fintech is hot with venture capitalists globally, with investment in the sector hitting US$98 billion (A$133bn) in the first half of 2021 according to global advisory firm KPMG. The company’s bi-annual Pulse of Fintech report on investment trends found a US$10.9bn jump in investment on H1 FY20, including M&A, private equity and VC. Australian fintech… Read more »
A non-bank lender looking to offer same-day bridging loans for property buyers has raised $50 million in venture debt. Sydney-based TechLend markets itself as “Afterpay for home loans” offering “interest-free”, paperless, bridging finance with same-day pre-approval. San Francisco lender Partners for Growth, which has a Sydney office, has delivered the $50 million in venture debt… Read more »
Finance-for-kids fintech Spriggy has raised a $35 million Series B round led by NAB Ventures. Perennial Value Management also invested, with previous backer, Grok Ventures, the family investment vehicle of Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife, Annie, also topping up the piggy bank. Grok led the $12 million Series A round in 2019 as… Read more »
US-listed small business software company Bill.com (NYSE:BILL) is acquiring Australian SMB fintech Invoice2go for US$625 million (A$850m). The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close by the end of 2021, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals. The acquisition cost is split between 75% in Bill.com common stock… Read more »
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