It’s a case of fourth time lucky for Fintech Australia’s annual Finnies awards, which are being held tonight, October 13, after covid outbreaks and lockdowns in NSW and Victoria saw them postponed four times. From the original date in June, to July, and then moving it September in the hope that Sydneysiders could join the… Read more »
FinTech Australia has released a new tool for early-stage and global fintechs expanding into Australia that offers clear guidance on the country’s financial services licensing laws. Created in partnership with law firm K&L Gates and Austrade, the regulatory map is a global first and aims to greatly ease overseas companies’ expansions into Australia and assist… Read more »
The Australian arm of UK fintech Wise has been approved to join the NPP (New Payments Platform) as a participant and shareholder of NPP Australia – the first fintech to do so. The move will allow Wise Australia to connect directly to the NPP to clear and settle real-time payment and the regulator, APRA, granting… 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 »
Public hearings for the Senate Select Committee looking into the potential of cryptocurrencies and digital assets continue this Wednesday, September 8. Fintech Australia, Judo Bank, Afterpay, the ASX, ACCC and ATO among those appearing before the committee, chaired by Senator Andrew Bragg. Ahead of the hearing, Senator Bragg joined Startup Daily show to outline his… Read more »
Australian payment fintech Azupay has taken on a $10 million equity investment from Ellerston Capital.
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 »
The Commonwealth Bank’s new buy now pay later product, StepPay, went live today with CBA no doubt hoping plenty of its 4 million customers will give the app a crack. More than 86,000 CBA customers had pre-registered for it after the idea was announced in April. This is CBA’s first outright BNPL, and sits alongside… 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 »
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 »
Not hustling your bank for a better home loan deal is costing Australians more than $3.6 billion annually, despite low interest rates, according to a former Commonwealth Bank executive who’s launched his own fintech startup to solve the problem. Pete Steel was the chief digital officer at Australia’s biggest bank and this week launched mortgage… Read more »
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