FinTech Startups

Aug
04

Nominations for the Fintech100 list of top fintech companies is now open

  Nominations have opened for the highly coveted inclusion on the list of the world’s top fintech innovators – known as the ‘Fintech100’. Fintech companies from around the world are invited to apply, at www.fintechinnovators.com, the Fintech100 incorporates both the leading 50 established fintechs, and the most intriguing 50 ‘emerging stars’. Through the Fintech Innovators website (www.fintechinnovators.com), H2 Ventures, in collaboration with KPMG Fintech, produces the Fintech100 Report to highlight the world’s most successful, exciting and high impact new companies reshaping the financial services industry using new technologies. The Fintech100 list will be curated by a judging panel with members based in financial centres across the world. The 2016 Fintech100 […]

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Aug
03

Fintech platform revenues set for massive rise: Juniper

Fintech platform revenues for unsecured consumer loans issued using machine learning technology are set to jump by a whopping 960% globally over the next six years, according to new research from Juniper. According to the latest report on the worldwide Fintech market from Juniper Research, revenues will rise to US$17 billion by 2021, with spending advancing rapidly due to the highly data-driven nature of the market, “meaning that AI integration is likely to spell substantial benefits”. Juniper says that until recently, machine learning was too expensive and computationally time-intensive to break into the mainstream, while access to extensive data sets for algorithm training were limited. Research author Steffen Sorrell says […]

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Jul
22

Brexit provides lessons for Australia’s FinTech start-ups

[ Extract ] Lessons for Australia Australia’s FinTech scene, scarcely acknowledged eighteen months ago, has developing rapidly and now commands the attention of policymakers, banking executives and the financial media here alike. We have a highly advanced financial services sector, one that is acknowledged globally as mature, skilful and well regulated. It contributes around AU$140 billion to GDP each year and employs some 450,000 people. We have the fourth largest pool of investment funds in the world, anchored by the AU$2 trillion-plus in our nation’s superannuation funds. That a viable FinTech ecosystem has developed Down Under should therefore come as no surprise. Australian start-ups span the FinTech spectrum across peer-to-peer […]

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Jun
01

Celebrate innovation that puts the customer in charge

It’s no secret that the word innovation is in vogue. It’s not just that it’s one of our prime minister’s favourite words, it’s a trend across the English-speaking world. Use of the word has grown steadily since 1943, according to Google’s database of books published from 1800 to 2008. It was used almost twice as much in 2008 as 1969, the year humans first landed on the moon, and it’s a dead cert the past eight years have been no different. But using “innovation” as a mantra doesn’t make you more innovative. Many people feel that it’s become, or becoming, a meaningless catchphrase. It’s time to reclaim it. It’s a […]

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May
30

Swipe right to protect: Trov launches world-first on demand insurance

  Trōv, a company that is reinventing insurance for the mobile generation, and leading insurer Suncorp Group, today announced the limited launch of on-demand insurance in Australia, beginning with coverage for common electronics. For the first time ever, people can now turn insurance on – or off – for individual items entirely from their mobile device. The claims process is facilitated by an automated bot and live chat, which means making a claim is as simple as sending a few texts. Trōv Protection is only available via the Trōv app and is a first for the Australian market. “Trōv was built to empower the mobile generation to protect the items that […]

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May
25

Banking faces massive disruption by fintech says IBM

A new study argues that as the traditional functions of banks become commoditised, value is moving from transactions to relationships. Unfortunately for banks, they face competition from small start-ups and enormous, cashed-up tech giants inserting themselves directly into the relationship with their customers. IBM’s Institute for Business Value has released a fintech report called “Banking at the Brink”, which identifies the finance industry as sitting square in the centre of a perfect disruptive storm. The Institute calls out three challenges. Banks are still struggling with sluggish profits in the aftermath of the Great Recession. A new type of customer, easily dissatisfied and disillusioned, has ever-growing expectations of engagement and improved […]

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May
10

Fintech floater convinced blockchain its future

David Cassidy, the managing director of Irish float hopeful KYCkr says blockchain is the future of its business identity check business. KYCkr is raising between $6 million and $8 million by floating between 30 million and 40 million shares at 20¢ each on the Australian Securities Exchange in June. This would give it a market capitalisation of between $25 million and $27 million. The funds will be used to market the business in Europe and Asia as well as move its systems to a blockchain, or distributed ledger. The company, which has direct links with government business registries around the world, verifies the business customers of banks and other companies […]

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May
05

Globalisation of FinTech: Are we learning from our neighbours?

Most areas in the fintech space are hotly contested. Anyone watching the fintech space can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of perspectives that emerge when a new product is launched, an article is written or a tweet is sent. And that is largely because fintech is global.   Fintech companies may operate in their own local markets and compete with, or “disrupt”, local banks, but financial technology as a whole is a global dealing. Any discussion of fintech needs to have this perspective.   This is not just a matter of having the correct frame of reference for discussion and debate, it ensures we find the right way to […]

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