Top fintech stories this week – 3 November 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Australasia
NAB plans 6,000 job losses in digital banking revamp
National Australia Bank (NAB) will make 6,000 job cuts over the next three years with its digital banking revamp and long-term strategy to maintain profit. Andrew Thorburn, NAB’s CEO, says: “I think all big businesses – particularly incumbent businesses – the reshaping of the workforce is going to be significant. And I think it’s important […]
Three of Australia’s largest banks partner to create payment platform Beem
Three of Australia’s largest banks, The Commonwealth Bank (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac have partnered to create Beem – a new mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) payments platform.
Westpac NZ in paytech modernisation with ACI Worldwide
Westpac New Zealand has completed “a wide-ranging banking technology transformation” with ACI Worldwide, according to the vendor.
Sibos 2017: NPP a marathon, not a sprint
Payments industry participants in countries about to embark on, or in the early days of, real-time and instant payments infrastructure projects should acknowledge that “it doesn’t all have to happen on day one”.
Rambus and Eftpos team up to support Apple Pay in Australia
Mobile payments firm Rambus has teamed up with Eftpos, the Australian domestic debit network, to help support transactions with Apple Pay for users in Australia. Through integration with Rambus’ token service provider (TSP) technology, the firm says Eftpos is able to support Apple Pay. Chakib Bouda, CTO of the Rambus Payments Division, says: “This partnership […]
Open banking: nothing personal
Financial authorities globally are promoting open banking. While it represents a shift in the mindset of traditional banks, Heather McKenzie, editor of Daily News at Sibos, finds they may be up to the challenge.
Instant payments momentum gathers pace globally as Swift strengthens its role
Instant payments are set to be one of this year’s hot topics at Sibos. Last week, Swift and EBA Clearing announced that users of EBA’s instant payments system, RT1, will be able to access the platform via SwiftNet Instant, Swift’s instant payments messaging solution, from November 2018. Elsewhere, Australian consumers have been told they will be able to make instant payments from January next year.
SocietyOne tops $350m in loans
Australian P2P lender SocietyOne has revealed it has issued more than $350 million in loans on its platform since 2012, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Additionally, the company has the highest number of current loans, setting a record for itself with $200 million in its books. “Our growth in 2017 underlines […]
NAB gets down and under to overhaul SME business loans
National Australia Bank (NAB) has unveiled a complete overhaul of its existing business standard loan form contracts that will “benefit” over 130,000 Australian business owners.
SCU launches AI service for customer queries
SCU (formerly Sydney Credit Union) has partnered with Australian fintech firm Epictenet to implement an artificial intelligence (AI) powered platform for customer queries. The new platform, called “Let’s Chat” (in its initial phase), is programmed to respond to general queries related to home loans, personal loans, credit cards and insurance products. At a later phase, […]
The rise of regtech down under
Could Australia give the UK a run for its money? Wayne Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Encompass Corporation, explores.
Kiwibank puts core banking tech overhaul under “strategic review”, writes off NZ$90 million
Kiwibank, New Zealand’s fifth largest bank, is conducting a “strategic review” of its implementation of SAP’s core banking and payment software – a large-scale project known as CoreMod.
Top fintech stories this week – 1 September 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Avoka reports record growth for second consecutive year
Australia-based digital banking software vendor Avoka is celebrating its second year in a row of topping expectations. The company has experienced big gains in order numbers (79% overall, 67% new business), opened a new office in Frankfurt, Germany, and launched a new solution to help FIs build and implement their visions for an omnichannel experience, reports […]
Eftpos Australia launches new settlement service
Eftpos Australia, the nation’s most widely used debit card payments system, has unveiled its new eftpos Settlement Service (eSS). According to Eftpos, eSS enables the centralised settlement of CHQ (cheque) and SAV (savings) transactions processed via the Eftpos Hub. Paul Jennings, Eftpos acting CEO, says the implementation took 18 months and with all members now […]
Commonwealth Bank rooting for Australia’s foray into quantum computing
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has joined telco firm Telstra, the Federal Government, the New South Wales Government and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in an $83 million venture to found Australia’s first quantum computing company. The firm, Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), has been launched to advance the development and commercialisation of the UNSW’s […]
Trustees Australia merges with deposit marketplace Cashwerkz
Financial services group Trustees Australia and deposit marketplace Cashwerkz have merged as they seek to tap into the cash, term deposit and fixed income investments markets. According to the duo, the new entity has access to over 30 Australian banks, and it will be able to compete well in the $2.1 trillion cash deposit market. […]
Aotearoa Credit Union goes live on Oracle FSS Flexcube core banking system
Aotearoa Credit Union (ACU), a Māori financial institution in New Zealand, has implemented Oracle FSS’s Flexcube core banking system. ACU, started by the MUMA (Manukau Urban Māori Authority) 28 years ago, is the first Māori financial institution to launch a “tier one” banking platform for its 15,000 members. ACU branches are located in South Auckland […]
Credit Union Australia pivots with Pivotus Ventures’ digital banking
Credit Union Australia (CUA) has joined a group of banking providers, becoming the exclusive Australia and New Zealand partner of Pivotus Ventures. The deal – which also includes the UK’s Nationwide Building Society, US bank Umpqua and the Netherlands’ De Volksbank – will let CUA develop new digital banking opportunities. The ideas are being developed […]
CUA pilots Australia Post’s new digital ID verification tool, Digital iDTM
Credit Union Australia (CUA) has become to the first financial institution in the country to trial Australia Post’s new digital identity verification service, Digital iDTM.
Payments: Australia gives Swift instant results
Off the back of its involvement in Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), Swift has entered the instant payments market in Europe, with plans to launch a gateway solution in November 2018. The solution will enable instant payments to be made over the Swift network using a single gateway to connect to multiple instant payments systems across Europe.
Australia calls for risk-loving fintech firms
The Risk Management Association of Australia (RMA) has partnered with KPMG and match-making firm Matchi to offer three fintech companies the opportunity to pitch their solutions to forty chief risk officers (CROs) from various Australian banks. KPMG is arranging this year’s CRO roundtable event for the RMA members with the theme “Generation Next”. Matchi says […]
Abu Dhabi and Australia ally for fintech innovation
The Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed a co-operation agreement for financial innovation. This agreement, which follows on from recent deals with Hong Kong and Japan, expands ASIC’s network to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – which are “currently […]
Heartland Bank live with new core banking system, Flexcube from Oracle FSS
New Zealand-based Heartland Bank has gone live with its new core banking system, Oracle FSS’s Flexcube.
Australia has a go at removing citizens’ security
The Australian Government is developing its own anti-encryption legislation, modelled on the UK’s Snoopers Charter, a set of rules deemed unfit by the European Court of Justice, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The move, which was announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, has been built on anti-terrorism messages, as yet another government uses the element […]
Sydney and Melbourne launch fintech start-up hubs
It’s a double development delight in Australia with Sydney and Melbourne unveiling fintech start-up hubs for innovation across the nation. Industry body FinTech Australia says Sydney’s proposed new 11-floor start-up hub – set to be the largest in the southern hemisphere – “should help build even stronger links between the Australian fintech industry and global […]
Tic:Toc tactic is 22 minutes for home loan approval
Australia-based start-up Tic:Toc has launched an online home loan platform, offering customers approval in 22 minutes, instead of 22 days. The firm is backed by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, as well as the State Government in South Australia, which approved a $900,000 grant to Tic:Toc through its Investment Attraction Agency’s (IASA) Economic Investment Fund. Tic:Toc’s […]
SocietyOne surpasses $300m in loans issued
Australian P2P lending platform SocietyOne reached a milestone this week. The company has surpassed $300 million in loans issued since it was founded in 2011, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). During a time when P2P lending in the US is under scrutiny, SocietyOne is reporting an increasing demand for P2P lending in Australia. In the […]
Kiwibank’s SAP core banking system overhaul faces delays and budget increase
New Zealand-based Kiwibank is progressing with its SAP core banking system overhaul but the project is running behind schedule and the costs are on the rise.
Mizuho trials Australia-Japan trade transaction on blockchain
Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank, trading and investment firm Marubeni Corporation, and Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance have completed a trade transaction between Australia and Japan using blockchain. The participants say all trade-related processes, from issuing the letter of credit to delivering documents, were completed entirely via a digital platform in this project. (See image below […]
Mastercard Makes Digital Payments Push in Asia-Pacific Transit
Mastercard is making headway in advancing digital payments for transit passengers in Australia and bike-sharing consumers in Singapore.
Japan and Australia regulators to co-operate on fintech
The Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will work together to promote innovation in financial services in Japan and Australia. Both have completed a framework and they will share information and support the entry of fintech firms into each other’s markets. ASIC says this framework will “help open […]
FinTech Australia releases fintech ecosystem map
Industry body FinTech Australia has released its first member ecosystem map, to show the nation’s “strengths and diversity”, particularly in wealth generation and lending. The map (see image below) lists 119 members of FinTech Australia, along with the nation’s key financial services regulators. Danielle Szetho, FinTech Australia CEO, says: “The broad range, depth and quality […]
Avoka wins ATB Financial’s innovation challenge
Australia-based digital banking software vendor Avoka has won ATB Financial’s Customer Onboarding Global Innovation Challenge. As reported in March, ATB joined forces with KPMG in Canada and fintech matchmaking firm Matchi to run the event. In fact, in May, KPMG acquired Matchi. The pair had worked together since 2015, so the deal “cements” their relationship. […]
SWIFT Unveils Instant Payments Messaging for Europe
SWIFT has a new instant payments messaging solution for the European market, offering a single gateway to multiple systems. The service will be available by November 2018.
Australia and Hong Kong get it on for fintech innovation
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed a co-operation agreement for financial innovation. Both parties play up their “already close ties” and the Australia-Hong Kong trade and investment relationship “more broadly”. ASIC says Hong Kong is Australia’s seventh most important destination for services exports, valued […]
New Zealand preps for new credit union law
A new law in New Zealand is being readied with plans to bring in more innovation and accountability to credit unions. Called the Friendly Societies and Credit Unions (Regulatory Improvements) Amendment Bill, the new legislation will update the law for credit unions and their associations. It has been read for the first time in Parliament. […]
Four Australian banks sign up for Swift’s global payments innovation
Four Australian banks, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac are now live or planning to implement Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi) initiative. According to Swift, these Australian banks represent over 80% of cross-border payments flow for Australia. The banks all say the same stuff – so […]
SBS Bank in major digital revamp with Sandstone Technology
New Zealand-based SBS Bank is rolling out a new “end-to-end” digital banking platform supplied by Sandstone Technology.
