The Fintech sector is battening down the hatches as rising interest rates & inflation have put the brakes on investment in the space.However, in amongst the gloom there are some positive stories emerging.Parpera - the banking app for sole traders and small businesses - recently re-launched with a raft of new solutions, having previously been forced into pausing operations as their core banking providing ceased trading.At the recent Fintech Australia 'Intersekt' conference, Parpera founder Daniel Cannizarro sat down with Ben 'Fintech' Ford to discuss both his own & Parpera's roller-coaster journey to date.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y65SSTdt_Zc&list=PL4ITSyTPE_IvPIXDNcQ4Fnwvu-xpIhRXM&index=37
Bunq founder, Ali Niknam shared some of the Dutch neobank unicorn's secrets, as well as elaborating on the bank's 2022 financials, during a packed session at Money 20/20 Europe.Niknam revealed that quarterly profitability for Bunq was achieved at the end of 2022, despite the distraction of a landmark battle (which Bunq subsequently won) with the Dutch regulator over best practise when onboarding new customers for AML / KYC.The next battle for Bunq is the US, where it will avoid an acquisition strategy and instead aim to get licensed and build from the ground up.Full report below:https://assets-global.website-files.com/63b43f001c7774d38d5f3a2d/6480abaf1363b6fe9f50fbe2_2022_Annual-Report.pdf
Australia's Fintech Industry's 'night of nights' - the Finnies Awards - highlighted that, while times have been tough, the ecosystem is extremely resilient and, in parts, thriving.At a dazzling event put on by the Fintech Australia team at the Melbourne Forum, the awards highlighted the winners across multiple categories, but also the finalists, many of whom ran the winners extremely close.Zepto was named Fintech Organisation of the Year, whilst Frollo won the Excellence in Open Data award for the third straight year, the first time a single company has done this.Full list of winners below:https://www.fintechaustralia.org.au/newsroom/announcement-finnie-awards-2023-winners
Qantas wants more than its share of the travel market - it now has designs on your house.Yep, the Flying Kangaroo has acknowledged that if there's (only) one thing Aussies love more than travel, it's property, and moved into the mortgage market.The hook - and it's sure to be an attractive one to the multi-millions who search out, earn and hoard rewards points - is that your new Qantas mortgage will pay you 100,000 Qantas points annually as an incentive to make the switch.A detailed review of the offering is here:https://www.smh.com.au/money/banking/you-get-a-free-flight-every-year-but-is-qantas-new-home-loan-any-good-20230210-p5cjjy.html
Small business banking, accounting & tax solution provider, Thriday, has upped the ante in the sector by rolling out an 'us against our peers' comparison feature. Up to 30 so-called competitors are bench-marked against Thriday across metrics including features, cost & support.Without any experience of using Thriday, nor any affiliation with them, I find this approach interesting, bold and intriguing, and wonder if it may set a precedent for further such differentiation pieces to aid the vendor-selection process in FinTech.You can run your own comparison here: https://www.thriday.com.au/compare
Celebrity chef Manu Fiedel has teamed up with leading equity-crowding platform Equitise to tap into the 'wisdom of the crowd' to bolster awareness for his 'By Manu' range of freshly-made, home cooking sauces.Exasperated by a lack of fresh, ingredient-led options in the supermarket, Manu has created a range of sauces that are now stocked in over 500 Woolworths stores nationwide.A quick scan of the ingredients on the back of the packet reveal a distinct absence of artificial or man-made flavourings and a number of bars & pubs are now embracing the sauces for large-scale catering.https://equitise.com/offer/by-manu
