Zeller cofounder Ben Pfisterer knows better than most what it’s like to deal with banks. The fintech’s CEO, who’s spent his career in payments, including six years building Square in Australia for Jack Dorsey, went on to build a banking alternative that became a unicorn (valued at more than $1 billion) in just two years… Read more »
New Zealand fintech Emerge has raised $12 million in a Series A, amid hopes to build NZ’s first challenger bank. The round was led by Altered Capital with support from Icehouse Ventures, K1W1 and NZ Fintech Fund, plus US VC Hard Yaka. It’s the second investment for Altered Capital, an early investors in UK challenger… Read more »
Banking-in-box fintech Constantinople has raised $50 million in a Series A. The round was led by Dutch internet investment firm Prosus Ventures, with support from existing Australian backers Square Peg and AirTree. The Sydney startup, founded in 2022 by former Westpac managers Macgregor Duncan and Dianne Challenor, previously raised US$23 million (A$32m) in a Seed… Read more »
Sydney fintech Avenue Bank has been granted a full banking licence by the financial regulator APRA. Avenue has been on what’s known as a a restricted Authorised Deposit Taking Institution (ADI) licence since mid-2021 after raising $37 million in a series B earlier that year. The granting of a full ADI by the Australian Prudential… Read more »
The cofounder of ASX-listed business lending bank Judo, Joseph Healy, is stepping down as CEO after seven years at the helm. He’ll hand the reins over to the bank’s long-term deputy CEO and chief relationship officer, Chris Bayliss, next month. The news came as Judo (ASX:JDO) announced its half-yearly results (1H24) to the end of… Read more »
FinTech Australia has holding a reverse pitch event later this month in a collaboration with major banks ANZ and Westpac, as well as fintech investor 1835i. The initiative will see ANZ and Westpac share selected problem statements across banking-related areas such as sustainability, payments and fraud and scams for fintech startups to tackle as part… Read more »
Chalk up another $32 million to the investment tally in 2022 with belated news emerging this week that software fintech Constantinople banked a US$23 million (A$32m) Seed round in May last year. If two’s enough to be a trend, then late funding announcement are the new black after meal ordering platform Me&u revealed last month… Read more »
Jamie Dimon, chair and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has been dubbed the king of Wall Street, while also being seen as America’s “least-hated banker”. He’s seen as a level head in banking circles, so his views on the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last month, which sent shockwaves through the global tech… Read more »
Fintech Zeller is taking on the big four banks to offer financial services to the small business sector, launching a new transaction account, debit card, and app. It’s a major shift in strategy for the Melbourne startup, founded by former Square exec Ben Pfisterer and Dominic Yap. The three-year-old venture launched in 2021 with a… Read more »
The CBA’s move into cryptocurrency could pay off handsomely for the Big 4 bank with a new study from Visa revealing that up to a third of Australian crypto-owners saying they are likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto products in the next 12 months. With around 20% of Australians… Read more »
Digital bank Alex has raised $20 million in a series C that values the neobank at more than $120 million The raise came from existing shareholders and new investors, including Washington H. Soul Pattinson, Regal Funds Management, Wunala Capital, and SG Hiscock & Company, topping up the $34 million already raised. Founded in 2018 by… Read more »
Buy-now-pay-later market leader Afterpay (ASX: APT) is getting into ibanking, launching an app-based no fee deposit account paying 1% interest. The ASX-listed fintech has been granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) by ASIC so it can provide general financial product advice and distribute basic deposit products and debit cards. Called Money by Afterpay, the… Read more »
Australia has a new bank, with fintech Alex granted a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution (Restricted ADI) licence from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). The digital bank has already been busy lending, writing more than $8 million in personal loans since it was founded in 2018. The neobank has already raised more than $35 million… Read more »
One of Australia’s original fintechs, SocietyOne, the peer-to-peer lending marketplace, has joined Afterpay on Westpac’s new digital banking services platform, 10X. Westpac’s digital banking services will be available to SocietyOne customers in the second half of 2021, and the bank has been backing the fintech since 2014 through its VC fund, Reinventure. In October last… Read more »
Banks will offer small businesses a six-month deferral on their business loan repayments as part of the finance sectors response to Covid-19. Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh said the move will “deliver up to $8 billion back into the pockets of small businesses” across more than $100 billion worth of business loans Bligh said all… Read more »
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