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 »
Shares in Queensland-based Change Financial soared today after the startup announced it had been registered as a Mastercard payments processor. The US-focused fintech (ASX:CCA) is just the second business to be accepted by Mastercard in the past 20 years. Change said it will begin onboarding its first customer in October 2019, The company has set… Read more »
86 400 is a new digital-only bank led by British entrepreneur Anthony Thomson It’s backed by Sydney-based payments services company Cuscal The bank is waiting for APRA approval to launch with a savings account this year It’s seeking $250m over the next three years to strengthen its balance sheet Digital banking startup 86 400 (named… Read more »
Bill Gates once said that a company’s most unhappy customers are the greatest source of learning. As the dust settles on the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, many disgruntled and disillusioned Australians will be hoping this proves true, and that after a decade of scandal the banks might finally learn their lesson and play fairly with their customers.
UBank, the digital bank launched by National Australia Bank in 2008, is set to launch intelligent assistant Mia to help customers through their home loan applications.
As the finance sector deals with the fallout, fintech startups are taking note of both the lessons to be learned and the opportunities that have emerged.
Slyp, which allows merchants to send a customer’s receipt directly to their banking app, has raised $2 million in a seed funding round led by NAB Ventures.
Former Commonwealth Bank executive Angela Clark has been appointed CEO of Beem It, the P2P payments app launched by a handful of banks earlier this year.
ANZ has released ‘Wallets@ATM’, a feature allowing customers to withdraw cash from the bank’s ATM using their mobile device rather than their plastic card.
NAB has allocated a further $50 million in funding over the next two years to its venture capital fund NAB Ventures, bringing the total allocated to the fund until 2020 to $100 million.
VC firm Reinventure Group has closed its third $50 million fund, with Westpac once more backing the firm as it looks to expand its focus to Asia-Pacific.
Perx Health bags $3 million seed round for US launch
VC Square Peg backs waste reduction startup Zero Co in $6 million raise ahead of record-breaking $5m crowd-funding campaign
IT’S A WOMAN’S WORLD: Female fintech leaders scoop the pool at the 2021 Finnies Awards
Sneaker reselling marketplace PUSHAS raises $1.2 million pre-seed round
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