Earlier this year, Revolut finally reached its goal in obtaining an Australian Financial Services Licence (“AFSL”). This is a goal that many fintechs are working towards with the journey presenting many hidden challenges.

For this week’s Member Spotlight, we spoke to Matt Baxby, Australian CEO of Revolut about their AFSL journey, the challenges they encountered and the things they learned along the way. We’ll also delve into what’s next for Revolut and its customers.

(more…)

As many businesses can attest, access to payment rails that allow one to pivot to online sales has been essential in surviving the economic pressures presented by Covid-19. Consumers are using less cash, and businesses are resorting more and more to moving online. NAB has noted that there has been an 800% increase in the number of merchant facilities opened compared with April of last year. The Reserve Bank of Australia has noted in a March report that cash-based consumer payments have dropped to 27%, down from 69% in 2007. Cash withdrawals have also been impacted, dropping 32% in April compared to February. This has opened opportunities for digital marketplaces and businesses, products such as cryptocurrency, and the potential for digital cash (which we covered in a previous Member Spotlight), and payment providers. Square has been one such payment provider that is pivoting to help its customers as they adapt to a new way of working. 

(more…)

“Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over”  —  Mark Twain.

The allocation of water rights in Australia has recently been the subject of media attention, particularly surrounding the Murray-Darling Basin, where an over allocation of water rights in the second half of the 20th century has led to a water shortage. Since water rights are regulated by the states, the systems are far from unified. There are four state registries, seven regulators, around 300 water products, and over 15,000 business rules that government water trades. Each register also attracts a fee to gain access and perform searches.

(more…)

For many, the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed business growth and, for some, it may mean that they will have to shut their doors. It has been an unprecedented time of economic downturn, that the International Monetary Fund has tipped as potentially triggering a global recession worse than the recession triggered by the GFC. However, for some in the fintech industry, this has been a period of prosperity. Despite the economic downturn, many fintechs have seen continued investor support. In April, Xinja raised $433 million from a fund in the United Arab Emirates, and AirWallex gained unicorn status with a $252 million raise. More recently, Nium and Moneytree have completed successful raisings, and Joust has merged with Loan Dolphin.

(more…)

In last week’s spotlight, we discussed Covid-19’s acceleration effect regarding the adoption of new technologies. Continuing that trend, this week we spoke with CEO of BTC Markets, Caroline Bowler about the opportunities that the current market presents for cryptocurrency adoption and, in particular, Central Bank Digital Currencies.

During the past few months, the cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin in particular, experienced significant movement. This can potentially be attributed to uncertainty in traditional markets and the recent Bitcoin halving. Despite prices slumping in recent weeks since the halving, investor activity in Bitcoin derivatives is at record levels. “The pandemic has amplified digital asset’s presence on the global financial stage,” says Ms Bowler, “we see an opportunity for investors adopting digital assets to cushion against the economic effects of Covid-19. For example, bitcoin as a potential deflationary hedge against inflation brought on by quantitative easing. Evidence of investor activity can be seen by looking at the asset’s derivative markets.” (more…)