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Money apps

August

Zip CEO Cynthia Scott.

Zip nails comeback, predicts huge US transaction growth

Zip shares took a breather after a strong run driven by its pivot to profitability.

  • James Eyers
The consumer data right will make switching and finding cheaper banking products easier.

‘Badly executed’: Labor unveils plans to simplify consumer data right

A raft of enhancements to the open banking and energy sector data-sharing regime will be unveiled on Friday to boost adoption.

  • James Eyers
Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar.

Nick Molnar to step up at Block, will report to Jack Dorsey

On the three-year anniversary of Afterpay’s blockbuster sale to Block, its founder Jack Dorsey has promoted Nick Molnar to head of sales.

  • James Eyers

July

Revolut has added a BNPL feature to its so-called ‘financial super app’.

Revolut’s ambition adds to major banks’ headache

“If we do a good job, we can attract more customers from traditional banks,” says the global CFO of Revolut, which has more than 600,000 users in Australia.

  • James Eyers

June

Apple Pay will come under RBA regulation when the PSRA bill is passed.

RBA flags BNPL fee crackdown in broader probe into credit cards

The central bank’s head of payments says it will launch a review of regulations as soon as it is handed the power to do so under new legislation in parliament.

  • Updated
  • James Eyers
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Robert Waugh and Drew Bradford left NAB to create Ubiquity, a new AUD stablecoin.

NAB kills its stablecoin, bankers decamp to form Ubiquity

The bank canned its digital Australian dollar, known as the AUDN, so Rob Waugh and Drew Bradford left to set up their own product, to be called Ubiquity.

  • James Eyers
Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar in Sydney on Tuesday.

Boost for Afterpay as Block drops plans for Cash App in Australia

Afterpay Plus will make buy now, pay later more ubiquitous, says Nick Molnar, in his first public comments on the growth strategy in Australia post-acquisition.

  • James Eyers

May

Cash App is growing, including by incorporating Afterpay. But regulators have been scrutinising its compliance controls.

Buy now, pay later surges as Dorsey realises Cash App vision

Block’s BNPL volumes are rising as Afterpay is rolled into Cash App, which has 24 million active users in the US. The stock jumped more than 10pc on Friday.

  • James Eyers
Jack Zhang

Airwallex’s local outpost reverses to loss

The local outpost of one of Australia’s largest technology start-ups tripped to a deep loss after a big increase in costs.

  • Updated
  • Lucas Baird

March

Westpac’s Peter King has backed CBA’s Matt Comyn and his concerns about Apple’s growing dominance in payments.

Westpac and NAB back CBA, call for more scrutiny of Apple in payments

Authorities in the US allege the tech giant has locked the iPhone to build a monopoly. In Australia, banks say its digital wallet prevents competition.

  • Jonathan Shapiro and James Eyers
Matt Comyn at the Summit on Monday. The CBA chief executive said Apple should be subject to more scrutiny in Australia.

When it comes to how we pay, Apple is coming for the big banks

Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn says policymakers need to be alert to the dangers of ceding important industries to global tech platforms without scrutiny.

  • James Eyers
BNPL comeback: Cynthia Scott from Zip, Sebastian Siemiatkowski from Klarna, Nick Molnar from Afterpay and Tim Cook from Apple.

Buy now, pay later is pulling off the improbable – a comeback

Block and Zip valuations are rising as peak interest rates pass. Klarna is considering listing in the United States. Is the sector’s winter finally over?

  • James Eyers

February

Anthony Eisen, Jack Dorsey and Nick Molnar.

Nick Molnar backs Block’s bid to reshape US banking

The billionaire Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar tells AFR Weekend he’s been working with Jack Dorsey on Cash App, and they’re ready to tackle US banks.

  • James Eyers

A bank in your pocket: Macquarie and CBA vie for app supremacy

Until now, the only reason to switch banks was to get a better deal. The rivals are changing that with digital investment on a scale the industry has never seen.

  • James Eyers
Incoming NAB CEO Andrew Irvine said the bank would look to invest to improve data capability, prompting some analysts to lift forecasts for its investment.

NAB’s new boss Andrew Irvine to lift tech spending: analysts

As its customer remediation rolls off, NAB will have capacity to direct hundreds of millions more dollars to improving its IT systems under its new CEO.

  • James Eyers
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Fat Zebra CEO Pred Dragila.

What this small fintech deal says about the big shifts in data sharing

Few have heard of Fat Zebra and Adatree. But the acquisition points to emerging data rights, as screen scraping teeters and Apple enters open banking in the UK.

  • James Eyers

January

Apple wants the Albanese government to rethink new RBA powers, as the tech giant remains open to negotiate bank iPhone access rules in Europe.

Apple concedes to European banks amid concern on new RBA payment power

Apple said it would allow European banks to let customers make tap and go payments from their iPhone apps outside Apple Pay, emboldening local lenders.

  • James Eyers
Zip will report a first-half cash profit between $29m and $33m on February 27.

Zip shares jump on path to profitability

Zip shares opened 15 per cent higher on Monday morning, in a sector still weighted down by negative sentiment.

  • James Eyers
ASX is considering joining US markets to list spot bitcoin ETFs.

SEC’s bitcoin decision could change markets for years to come

This week will go down as one of the most dramatic in the recent history of financial markets regulation. Now it’s a case of buyer beware.

  • James Eyers

December 2023

Wise CEO Kristo Käärmann: “Although I was a nobody, and this was a market covered by huge European banks … I decided I should try to fix it and compete with the banks.”

This billionaire started his company to avoid paying bank fees

Kristo Käärmann found a cheap way to send British pounds to his native Estonia. His solution now has 16 million global users.

  • James Eyers