The FinTech Report

The FinTech Report Podcast: Episode 13: Caleb Gibbins, Founder, Cache Investment Management Micro investing Apps have 1.3m customers over 8 providers, with growth at 120%+ last year, says Cache.More people now own shares/ETFs via micro-investing apps than directly.Cache predicts micro investment Apps will have 7m accounts in 5 years. Growth driven by new fintechs and banks who outsource Fund Management to Investing as a service providers like Cache.Cache provide Investing as-a-Service so that any company can be a Fintech company.You can integrate Cache’s fully digital investment products directly into your existing app, website or other platform through their APIs. Clients include UpStreet and Spriggy Invest. Cache on a mission to help your customers invest Launching investment products is hard; Cache is your end-to-end fund manager, and offers licencing and financial infrastructure: licencing, registry, fund administration, payments, trustee, custody, trading – broking, settlement, tax accounting; fund audit, PDS documents. Trustee, Custodian & Broker are third party suppliers and will be appointed by Cache.Perfect for passive investing or micro wealth advice apps where service is not ‘stock picking’ rather buying ETFs or hugging the index style investment strategies.Cache enables trading in Australian and US listed assets/equities.Cache conducted a report into Micro Investing; available here: https://www.cacheinvest.com.au/investing-report  The FinTech Report podcast is brought to you in Partnership with Australian FinTech, a news and information website as well as a Directory of over 800 fintechs – and global data aggregator and Open Banking experts, Envestnet Yodlee. Envestnet | Yodlee’s data solutions are used by some of the region’s most exciting and innovative companies, including 86 400, Xero and Finder.

NFTs: From Crypto Punks to Taco Bell – How NFTs and Programmable Money (Smart Contracts) are revolutionising art markets Interview with: Tim Lea, Founder, Walking Between Worlds Tim Lea has been in the Blockchain space since 2015, he is the author of “Down the Rabbit Hole”, a book about Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies,  and is about to launch his “Walking Between Worlds” project to enable Indigenous communities to capitalise on the NFT revolution.This podcast is not financial advice. The information on this podcast & website is for general information only; it should not be taken as constituting professional advice from the website owner. Please seek expert financial advice before making an investment.According to a recent article in The Economist, crypto currencies and other digital assets are worth over $2 trillion dollars. To put that into perspective, the global gold market is estimated to be worth $10tr. The value of transactions that one of the most popular crypto platforms, Ethereum, reached $2.5trn in Q2 this year, around the same sum as Visa Card processes.And there is a new explosive trend that is adding even more to the value of the market – Non Fungible Tokens – or NFT’s –An NFT is a digital asset that represents a real-world object like a piece of art or music. They are bought and sold online and stored on blockchain platforms. NFTs are like physical collector’s items, only digital. So instead of getting an actual oil painting to hang on the wall, the buyer gets a digital file instead. NFTs are gaining traction because they are a great way to buy and sell digital artwork.For example, in March this year auction house Christie’s sold a jpg from digital artist Beeple for $69m – the third largest sum paid for a piece of art produced by a living artist. In June this year, another auction house, Sotherby’s sold a crypto punk for $11.7m. This is a pixelated image of a punk that was given away free of charge as part of an experiment on the Ethereum blockchain in 2017. This is an image you can locate on google images and right click on your mouse and save the same image to your computer The largest NFT marketplace, Open Sea, has seen an explosion is sales with over $3.4bn in August 2021 (compared to $6.2m the previous August).      There are some amazing numbers on the value of digital assets, and the growth is exceptional. So what’s going on why are we seeing this massive growth and adoption?Why NFTs matter (ownership can be easily identified; rights established, assets traded etc)Why does the art world (& media) love NFTs? Recurring royalty structures for NFTsWhy will brands like Taco Bell use NFTs? (Loyalty schemes)How will sectors like gaming be transformed by NFTs?How do I buy and sell NFTs? (Tim’s suggestions; Opensea, Metamask)Is DeFi a replacement of traditional banking?So what are NFT’s – in plain English? and why are they so important?in practical terms who will use NFT’s ? (publishers, influencers, sports clubs and brands already exploring them now )Tim’s indigenous art project; Walking Between Worlds    

FDATA and Yodlee are optimistic on Open Finance: “the right data, in the right hands, at the right time, can change the world!” Interview with: Jamie Leach, FDATA and Tonia Berglund, Envestnet YodleeKey Points discussed include:CDR is more than Open Banking – it’s open finance and open data – but what are the immediate opportunities, and what’s coming in the longer term? Listen to this podcast to learn more.According to FDATA and Yodlee, there are three winners from Open Banking: consumers, fintechs and banks.Banks forced to share data; but banks can embrace banking – they can use data too - also banks can develop new services.Banks have legacy systems but getting ready for Open Banking means better quality data within the bank; this increases efficiencies for the bank.Open Finance delivers some very basic outcomes – more transparency, more insights into pricing; is crucial for transferring someone from another bank (switching campaigns will boom) Analytics and Apps are both crucial for fintechs as they drive innovationMany Business cases still not proven – will take time to understand what works and what doesn’t.Plus, some way to go in terms of all banks sharing data: “we are two miles into the Marathon,” says Jamie Leach of FDATA. Jamie covers topic of cost and barriers to entry for fintechs - why is Australia 4 or 5 times the cost of UK to participate in the Open Data regime? (Note: UK doing 800 million API calls a month, and rate of growth is 100%+) Is the worry about security and consumer protection in Australia leading to higher costs?What are the issues for fintechs who want to switch from ‘screen scrapping’ to Open Banking Data?Discussion of consent; how consumers give consent to FSIs to use their data; How important is Privacy by Design and what does it mean?Discussion on Data Collaboration and Data Standards; this is a new area for tech and for the law; where are we at in Australia?Discussion on how FSIs/fintech use the data they collect – especially using Ai to understand both individuals and trends; how does Ai blend with Open Banking? Jamie Leach is the Regional Director in Australia and NZ for The Financial Data and Technology Association, a role that see’s Jamie work with government, regulatory authorities, and financial industry stakeholders to open up Australia’s and New Zealand's financial sector so all companies can benefit from the Consumer Data Right, also known as Open Banking.Jamie is also the Founder of Open Data Australia, Board Chair of tech start-up GridQube, sits on the International Advisory Committee for the University of Melbourne Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration, and is an expert on e-KYC and Digital Identity for the UN and the World Bank.Tonia Berglund is Director of Product at Envestnet Yodlee. Tonia is responsible for heading up Open Banking in Australia and New Zealand, bringing together the global open banking strategy for US based aggregator and Wealth Tech Company Fintech, Envestnet I Yodlee.  Tonia has spent the last 18 years driving digital change as a senior leader in the Technology and Finance sectors, working in large and small organisations including CBA, Westpac and the Federal Government. She holds Post Graduate Degrees in Business and Technology and has been at the forefront of heading up transformation programs moving systems and processes online across business, wealth and retail divisions. 

Our guest on this episode is Bo Melin, Business Development Manager at DNX Solutions. Bo has 20 years experience of IT leadership roles, working in Sweden, US, Germany, Australia, Norway, and Thailand. Top competencies are Program and Project Management, QA, business and process analysis; Bo Combines deep technical knowledge with extensive business experience. Bo is a Professional trainer at IBM, and a number of Universities. He has experience across a broad range of industries: Banking, insurance, government, public utilities, Retail, Telecom – all impacted by CDR and Open banking.DNX Solutions is an Australian cloud-native focused company and an Amazon (AWS) Advanced Consulting Partner. DNX offer experienced cloud and data engineering consultants who can accelerate and transform a company’s cloud journey whether they are adopting, evolving, operating cloud solutions or modernising applications in a simple, reliable, and secure way.  In this episode we cover:Bo's background and experienceExplaining the DNX Solutions value proposition - “Democratise cloud technology”Who are DNX’s customers in fintech and financial services?What key issues does DNX solve for customers? Why do fintechs & FSIs work with DNX?Why “the cherry on the cake” is the open banking Key issues around Open Banking, especially compliance – and why DNX has launched Citadel by DNX Solutions. It’s a turn-key solution for business’s compliance needs; Citadel is a platform, which is fully compliant and fine-tuned for CDR, PCI, HIPAA, and SOC 2 standards.What’s the opportunity from CDR and Open Banking: what’s the opportunity for fintechs and banks?CDR – what’s the opportunity in the long term?  Our Partners:Australian FinTech, a news and information website covering everything you need to know in fintech in Australia and around the world, as well as a Directory of over 800 fintechs; https://australianfintech.com.au/ Global data aggregator and Open Banking experts, Envestnet Yodlee. Envestnet | Yodlee has held an office in Australia for over a decade, is actively engaged with the ACCC and Open Banking and is compliant with the highest level of local and international infosec standards. Envestnet | Yodlee’s data solutions are used by some of the region’s most exciting and innovative companies, including 86 400, Xero and Finder.Envestnet | Yodlee are passionate about empowering financial service providers to use financial data and intelligence to better serve their customers, and the team have extensive knowledge on the topics of finance innovation, CDR, open banking, responsible lending, and data aggregation, account verification, and analytics.https://www.yodlee.com/oceania  

The FinTech Report Podcast: Interview with Ben Pfisterer, CEO & Co-Founder of Zeller “Business banking in a Box”: Strategy behind Zeller’s $81m Cap raise We welcome CEO and co-founder of Zeller, Ben Pfisterer, to the podcastJust last year, ex-head of APAC at Square, Ben, founded Zeller, an Australian integrated payments and financial services solution. The company recently announced a $50M fundraise, led by US VC firm Spark Capital, following its initial Series A funding round in March 2021. Zeller raised $81M in under 12 months, all before having a product on the market  — making it Australia’s most valuable pre-launch startup ever. Zeller’s product suite (Zeller Terminal, transaction account and MasterCard) launched in May, with early growth of 1,500 Australian businesses signing up in the first month and weekly payment volume growing 200% since launch. In this episode we discuss:Ben’s background, working at Jetstar, NAB, and recently, six years at Square…Background to Zeller – what makes Zeller different. Australian business banking is dominated by “the Big 4” and there is no innovation and many restrictive contracts.Three things companies all need; need to accept payments, they need to put the money somewhere, and then put the money to work – Zeller solves all three.Zeller call it “Business Banking in a Box” (terminal, account, Mastercard) (not an ADI or RADI, but will be at some stage)Zeller’s strategy is to take on the banks! With Australia’s fintech landscape booming, how are retailers benefiting from new competition against the big four banks? Zeller believes in transparency and is priced to appeal. Zeller offers businesses a startup package at $299, with no ongoing terminal rental fees etc, and 1.4% fee for payments.Zeller can sign up companies in minutes online (KYC, on boarding), tech built to be scalable and reliable. What makes Zeller different from the big four? Migration away from cash. We’ve seen a shift towards online payments during the pandemic; has it had an impact on in-person payments? How does Zeller think in-person payments will change post-pandemic?Zeller’s fundraising – some will go towards customer acquisition.Ben talks through his fundraising journey, his vision for the company and how the founding team has created a culture that was born in a lockdown/pandemic, his views on regulation and competition. Ben says Regulators need to help fintech startups with an ‘unfair advantage’ until they ‘get up on their feet’Our thanks to Australian FinTech News and Envestnet Yodlee for their support of The FinTech Report Podcast.

Srikanth Muthyala is the Founder and CEO of SHAVIK Ai – he is a CEO with a passion for Innovative & Futuristic solutions for FinTechs. SHAVIK Ai’s human first approach has led Srikanth and his team to design and deliver software solutions that are adaptive for people, fun and accessible, with a focus on creating financial tools for individuals and businesses.Srikanth is a Mentor and investor in FinTech start-up companies via the Melbourne Angels investor network.Visit SHAVIK AI here: https://www.shavik.ai/The episode discussed Regulation of Ai; listeners might be interested in reading how the European Union is looking at Ai regulation: EU Ai Regulation proposal: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai Topics discussed in this episode: What does SHAVIK AI do? (and What is AI to you?)What do you mean by “Humanised Ai”?What is the relevance of AI to Financial Services / FinTech industry? How to get started with Ai journey as company and as an individual?You are a Judge for Ai in FinTech category, what is your judging criteria?Do you think startups should think about using Ai? If so at what stage?What are the challenges to adopting Ai?What are the risks of Ai?What can we do encourage Ai in Finance industry?

The FinTech Report podcast is brought to you in Partnership with Australian FinTech, a news and information website covering everything you need to know in fintech in Australia and around the world, as well as a Directory of over 800 fintechs. Our thanks to the Australian FinTech team for supporting The FinTech Report – you can learn more at www.AustralianFinTech.com.auThis podcast is brought to you in Partnership with global data aggregator and Open Banking experts, Envestnet Yodlee. Envestnet Yodlee has held an office in Australia for over a decade, is actively engaged with the ACCC and Open Banking and is compliant with the highest level of local and international infosec standards. Envestnet Yodlee’s data solutions are used by some of the region’s most exciting and innovative companies, including 86 400, Xero and Finder. Envestnet Yodlee are passionate about empowering financial service providers to use financial data and intelligence to better serve their customers, and the team have extensive knowledge on the topics of finance innovation, CDR, open banking, responsible lending, and data aggregation, account verification, and analytics. Learn more at: https://www.yodlee.com/oceaniaOur two guests for this episode are; Dan Jovevski, the Founder & CEO at WeMoney; and Lauren Applegate, Director Customer Success and Marketing ANZ at Envestnet YodleeWeMoney’s mission is to empower people to take control of their financial story so that they can get onto the ladder and improve their life and money.WeMoney is a financial wellness platform that tracks all your money in one place. You can track your credit score, bills and recurring payments, understand your savings, debt and monitor your income through a complete toolset that can make your dollar and keep them in the black.By leveraging frontier behavioural science and artificial intelligence, WeMoney nudges and guides you towards better, informed and insightful financial choices and address the root causes of pitfalls of money management. Connect with a passionate community that connects you other likeminded people going through a similar journey.Lauren Applegate holds a Bachelor of Psychology and a Bachelor of Marketing and is a customer success and retention expert with deep experience in the financial industry.  As Envestnet | Yodlee’s ANZ Director of Customer Success and Marketing, Lauren’s role is centred around ensuring that her customers can innovate, succeed, and grow through the use of Envestnet | Yodlee’s best-in-market Data Aggregation, Account Verification, Data Enrichment, Financial Wellness, and Credit Accelerator tools.  With a background of executing marketing functions for online start-ups, as well as holding sales leadership roles within large Insurance providers, Lauren has a great mix of experience to assist everyone from small Fintech’s to large Financial Institutions with their growth strategies.In this episode we discuss:Why WeMoney? Dan shares his Founder storyWhat does WeMoney do? What does Envestnet Yodlee do for WeMoney?What is the benefit of having a data aggregator?What are the key issues Envestnet Yodlee solves for WeMoney & other customers?Explain Nudge Economics & Behavioural scienceHow do you measure results? What do you think of the fintech eco-system?

Damir Cuca is the founder and CEO of Basiq, an API platform providing the building blocks of financial services. Damir is a member of Australia’s Consumer Data Right Open Banking advisory committee and actively champions the importance of fintechs in an innovative and inclusive Open Banking ecosystem.Basiq is the one of the leading API platforms for businesses to build innovative financial solutions. Basiq’s developer-friendly platform provides secure access to customer financial data and the ability to uncover valuable insights. Backed by AP Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Reinventure, NAB Ventures and Plaid, over 200 fintechs and banks rely on the Basiq platform to deliver solutions across lending, payments, wealth, and digital banking.Welcome Damir, thanks for being our guest on The FinTech Report PodcastIn this episode we discuss:Damir's background, and what led him to founding BasiqWhat does Basiq do? Who are Basiq's customers?The evolution of data – from data aggregation to Open BankingWhat is Open Banking? How does it work? What is the future for Open Banking? From open APIs for Info & big data, to paymentsWhat is Basiq business model? Fees, charges for providing accessViews on the Australian fintech ecosystem

Welcome to Episode 5 of The FinTech Report podcast.Tim Poskitt is Envestnet Yodlee’s Country Manager for Australia & New Zealand, and is responsible for the company’s local strategy and go-to-market efforts. Tim has worked in Europe, the United States, and APAC in the finance and FinTech sectors, and currently sits on three advisory boards as a fintech advisor: Archa, Credi.com and Repute Digital.Tim is passionate about empowering financial service providers to use data and intelligence to better serve their customers, and has extensive knowledge on the topics of finance innovation, CDR, open banking, responsible lending, and data aggregation and analytics.Yodlee has held an office in Australia for over a decade, is actively engaged with the ACCC and Open Banking and is compliant with the highest level of local and international infosec standards. Yodlee’s data solutions are used by some of the region’s most exciting and innovative companies, including 86 400, Xero and Moneysoft.In this episode we discuss:Tim's background and  what led him to YodleeWhat does Yodlee do? What does data aggregator mean? Who are Yodlee's customers?The evolution of data – from Data Aggregator to Open BankingWhat is Open Banking? How does it work? What is the future for Open Banking?What’s the business model? Tim’s views on the Australian fintech ecosystem

Delighted to welcome Fred Schebesta, Co-founder and CEO of Finder, Finder Ventures and Schebesta VenturesFred's passionate about disruptive innovation and inspiring the startup community through sharing his success as a mentor, speaker, media commentator and author. Fred is a futurist, an expert in cryptocurrency, an advocate for Open Banking, and is leading the group's venture capital arm, Finder Ventures, which has built an innovative money app – the Finder app. Fred's latest project, Schebesta Ventures, is a platform to help more startups develop their business ideas. Fred has a new book launching on 1st September 2021 called "Go Live! 10 Principles to Launch a Global Empire" and is proud to announce the Fred Schebesta Go Live! Initiative, where 30% of all profits from Schebesta Ventures will be invested in startups.