It’s no secret that when it comes to superannuation, Australian women continue to suffer undue and persistent disadvantage. A series of structural inadequacies and varied dynamics over the course of a woman’s life can, and in many cases do, lead to superannuation poverty. The concept of compulsory superannuation was designed with a full-time worker in… Read more »
Supermarket giant Woolworths is creating its own fintech startup by spinning out its payments business, Wpay, as a stand-alone venture offering end-to-end payment solutions to merchants outside the group. Woolworths is the nation’s fifth largest processor of card payments, worth more than $50 billion annually across more than 1.3 billion transactions. The move pushes Wpay… Read more »
Fintech Australia has been forced to postpone The Finnies less than a fortnight before the awards were due to be held on June 9 as Victoria goes into a week-long snap lockdown after 34 active Covid-19 cases emerged in the last three days. With surrounding states also imposing restrictions on anyway who’s been in Victoria… Read more »
Queenie Tan is full of financial advice. Whether it is cheap date ideas, buying furniture, saving your first $100,000, doing your tax return or investing in Dogecoin, there is seemingly no topic the 24-year-old Sydney woman can’t confidently tackle. Her posts and videos have gained her 15,000 followers on Instagram and 42,000 followers on TikTok.… Read more »
Digital wallets use has jumped 90% in a year, and the amount paid has risen 110%, pushing it towards becoming the most popular contactless way to pay according to new analysis from the Commonwealth Bank. Digital wallet usage is the 12 months spanning the coronavirus pandemic to March 2021 saw transactions rise from 36 million… Read more »
ASX-listed payments platform Tryo (ASX: TYR) is spending $22.5 million to acquire NAB-backed digital health payment startup Medipass Solutions The deal gives an exit for the four-year-old Melbourne-based startup’s key investor, NAB Ventures. Founder Peter Williams and CEO Jonathan Davey will also sell their stakes, in the 100% acquisition by Tyro, but will remain with… Read more »
It’s arguable that 2020 was the hardest year that our emerging fintech sector ever faced. But as we all know, adversity breeds innovation. And nowhere was that more apparent than in the entries for this year’s Finnie Award submissions. We received a record 290 entries across 20 categories. Overall, the calibre of submissions was outstanding.… Read more »
Brisbane fintech EML Payments (ASX: EML) has released a white-label digital wallet giving lenders and other fintechs great access to Open Banking as part of the Consumer Data Right. The digital wallet, Nuapay, combines Open Banking with personal finance management and payments in a customisable solution digital solution, in a partnership with fellow fintech Frollo.… Read more »
Robo-advisor Unhedged has raised $500,000 in a pre-seed round ahead of the release of the fintech’s investor app. The round was backed by Canadian venture capital firm Loyal VC, plus 18 individual investors, predominantly through founder Peter Bakker’s MBA network. The raise is being used to build the headcount, as well as enabling the team… Read more »
Melbourne fintech Thrives, a banking, accounting, tax and lending platform for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), is putting together a customer advisory board (CAB) and plans to pay the people taking part in company shares in return for a 12-month commitment. CEO Michael Nuciforo said they looking for a range of business owners, who’ll meet monthly and… Read more »
Zip Co. (ASX: Z1P) has raised another A$400 million via a seven-year unsecured convertible notes to fund its international expansion plans. The not-yet profitable BNPL’s latest raise follows a similar $1.5 billion raise by Afterpay (ASX: APT) via convertible notes due in 2026. Co-founder and COO Peter Gray said they were “very pleased with the… Read more »
The journey for Melbourne fintech Assembly Payments is set to end with the company being merged into Ireland-based cross-border payments platform CurrencyFair by one of the company’s key backers Standard Chartered. The British banking multinational launched a Singapore-based joint venture digital payments company with Assembly Payments in early 2020. Standard Chartered said the merger was… Read more »
Shares in Australian fintech EML Payments (ASX: EML) jumped 5.8% today on news that it would acquire Irish open-banking platform Sentenial for €70 million (A$108.6m), plus an earn-out component of up to €40 million (A$62.1m). Sentenial, and its Open Banking brand Nuapay, operate in Europe via more than 1,750 banks, processing €45 billion in payments… Read more »
Entries for Fintech Australia’s annual Finnie Awards are closing in less than two weeks on March 30. There are now 20 categories in total, including the Excellence in Open Data award, for how companies are managing and controlling their data, and a Hall of Fame award to commemorate a company that has made a lasting… Read more »
Australia’s biggest bank will take on fintech powerhouses such as Afterpay, Zip and Sezzle by launching its own Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) product within months. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will offer its own BNPL product to CBA customers from mid-2021 to use anywhere Mastercard payments are accepted. The move will be CBA’s… Read more »
Canva has a new $500 million shareholder – a Sydney private equity firm that previously made a fortune from pet food 
Outdoor adtech startup Doohly banks $500,000 pre-Seed to speed up digital ad execution 
Envato founders exit in $373 million Shutterstock deal 
Construction startup lands $2.9 million Series A for China push 
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