Embattled bank ANZ has shut down its venture capital arm, 1835i, just three weeks after cashing in its chips in Airwallex – US$44 million ($A67m) stake sold to the fintech’s founders and executives. The writing was on the wall for the business, which still had 10 companies in its portfolio, when ANZ, under new CEO… Read more »
New Zealand fintech Wych has raised NZ $1.5 million (A$1.32m) to accelerate open banking delivery in New Zealand and Australia . The round was New Zealand FinTech Fund (NZFF) with participation from the NZX-listed Booster Innovation Fund (BIF) and other strategic investors. Wych provides secure, real-time financial information and data exchange to power the next generation… Read more »
It’s been 10 years since the Australian Government formally prioritised fintech as a key growth sector — and a decade since FinTech Australia was formed to champion the industry. At Intersekt 2025, that milestone was front of mind. From the very first pre-event dinners on the Tuesday night, there was a palpable buzz of optimism… Read more »
One of Sydney’s OG fintechs, 29-year-old Ezypay, will be acquired by US software and payments firm Xplor Technologies. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Xplor has its own Australian links dating back to Melbourne entrepreneur Mark Woodland, who founded the startup in 2016, then sold it to TSG in 2019. It’s now based… Read more »
Fintech entrepreneur and investor Dom Pym and his fintech-focused venture fund Triple Bubble have forged a strategic partnership Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm x15ventures to support and scale Australia’s financial technology ecosystem. The partnership includes an investment, exploration of new fintech opportunities using x15’s bank-safe venture stack, and the development of a mutual mentorship and talent exchange program… Read more »
What makes fintech unique is that it operates both as a vertical and a horizontal sector. As a vertical, it is an industry with its own ecosystem, capital flows, and innovation pipeline. As a horizontal, it spans across and reshapes multiple sectors, from financial services to retail, real estate, health, and government, embedding financial technology… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has sold a small stake in Swedish buy-now-pay-later fintech Klarna, worth around $100 million, as it lists in the US at more than 2x the price CBA paid for it 5 years ago. Klarna listed at US$40, higher than the expected $35-37 price, on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) overnight,… Read more »
ANZ-backed online shopping cashback platform Cashrewards has shut down. The company announced its demise on Monday afternoon with a notice saying “From 12pm AEST, Monday, 8 September 2025, Cashrewards ceased making offers available on its Website, App and Notifier.” Customers received an email around two hours after the shutdown, with the headline “URGENT: Cashrewards is… Read more »
The venture arm of embattled Big Four bank ANZ has offloaded its stake in international payments fintech Airwallex for $67 million, just five years after first investing, 1835i sold its US$44 million stake to Airwallex founders and executives in a deal that adds nothing to the company’s cash balance. All up they nabbed US$70m (A$106m)… Read more »
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) will get one more crack at cryptocurrency fintech, Block Earner, in a long-running dispute over one of its investment products after the High Court granted the regular special leave to appeal a Full Federal Court decision it lost. It will be the fourth case in a two-year legal battle… Read more »
Financial crime prevention small cap Identitii (ASX:ID8) has sold its remaining stake in joint-venture fintech Payble to existing investor OIF Ventures for $1.6 million. Payble, founded in 2020 by CEO Elliott Donazzan, is a payments platform for local government payments using QR codes and now has 50 customers, including four New Zealand councils after launching… Read more »
Payments fintech Airwallex has acquired a US billing platform for an undisclosed sum as it looks to expand its product offering to take on the likes of Stripe Billing and Recurly. The terms of the deal to add San Francisco-based OpenPay – not to be confused with the failed former ASX-listed BNPL of the same… Read more »
Finder cofounder and chief operating officer Jeremy Cabral is downing after 16 years of helping lead the business to pursue new opportunities in AI. The move leaves just CEO Frank Restuccia still in an operational role among the comparison website’s cofounding trio, which includes Cabral and Fred Schebesta. Crypto evangelist Schebesta stepped down as co-CEO… Read more »
Crowd-sourced funding (CSF) platform Birchal is increasing its clip of the ticket on raises under $500,000, and shedding roles for the second time in 14 months as CEO Kirstin Hunter looks to put the business on a more financially sustainable path. Two leadership roles have been made redundant, cutting the team to four. SmartCompany reported… Read more »
Cross-border payments fintech Send Payments, has raised $5 million as cofounder Paul Billing steps down as CEO. Existing backers Regal Funds Management and Kelly+Partners Investment Office once again invested with iPartners joining the cap table. The new funding is for continued development of the platform and its ability to turn cross-border payments into new revenue streams… Read more »
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