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According to the Research and Markets, the Australian Financial Technology market produced A$247.2 million in 2015, and has grown substantially since then. Three areas are predicted to continue the upward trend by 2020: digital payments, personal and business finance, and financial infrastructure and data analysis.

Australia has billions invested in this industry each year, and is home to numerous world leaders in FinTech. Last year, the treasurer of Australia increased the amount of clients that businesses can test without a license or approval from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. This opened up many opportunities for new FinTech firms to establish themselves.

Source: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/report-australian-fintech-will-exceed-aud-4-billion-2020/

Bitcoin’s blockchain is often touted as a revolutionary step forward for network security. But August 2016 theft of nearly $68 million of customers’ bitcoins from a Hong-Kong-based exchange demonstrated that the currency is still a big risk.

But massive bitcoin US:BTCUSD  security breaches like the one at Bitfinex and the attack that bankrupted Mt. Gox in February 2014 highlight the need for the cryptocurrency community to find a compromise that would allow the so-called blockchain to be more flexible so victims of theft can recover digital currency that has been spirited away by hackers.

The blockchain is the universal record of all bitcoin transactions. Each computer running the bitcoin software keeps a copy of the ledger encoded in its system. And every time a group of transactions are processed by bitcoin’s global network, they must be checked against each computer’s stored copy of the blockchain.

This digital ledger is both one of the biggest assets of bitcoin-like currencies and one their biggest liabilities. Because once a piece of information has been added to the blockchain, it can’t be altered, and that makes it difficult to remedy thefts.

The security flaws that make these hacks possible aren’t inherent; instead, hackers exploit specific security flaws at cryptocurrency exchanges. Although Bitfinix has not released any details on how it was hacked, this hack shows how hackers exploit Bitcoins underlying infrastructure to hack it.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitfinex-hack-shows-how-bitcoins-blockchain-can-be-a-liability-2016-08-03

This article talks about how the future of money is going to change from what it is today to cryptocurrencies. The article points out that human beings use currency of their country or other countries because it is backed by their central government. They do so because they have trust and surety from their government that their money is valid and they can use that in exchange for goods and services. Currently with cryptocurrencies that is not the case. Even though bitcoin uses block chain to function and reduce the risk of manipulation it is still created by an unknown identity which cannot be trusted. Instead this article suggests that the technology used to create bitcoin is fine but if this is done by a centralized government or a recognized world organization then it will have more credibility and people will be willing to switch to cryptocurrencies. I am unsure if it is still completely safe as bitcoin users are hacked everyday. If the world has to go completely digital, then Information systems would need to be more secure and definitely be formed by an authority that can be trusted by common man.

 

https://magazine.fintechweekly.com/articles/the-future-digital-currency-may-not-be-the-bitcoin?utm_medium=email&utm_source=fintechweeklycom

 

Hackers are constantly coming up with new ways to commit fraud as it relates to real estate agents and their clients. The issue of securing who can access a transaction management system is becoming more important. Hackers use phishing emails to gain login credentials to such systems and identify target transactions along with client information. This allows the offenders to request wire transfers at the appropriate time to an account that the hacker can access. This security issue is not surprising given the fact that so many transactions take place online. In addition, communication commonly takes place through email or unsecure messaging further allowing hackers to gain private login information. Therefore, partial responsibility falls on the information system login to provide necessary security to prevent such fraudulent behavior from occurring. Segregation of duties and restricted access can be two methods to further provide security to a transaction management system like the ones hackers are exploiting.

 

Citation: “The Latest Evolution of Real Estate Wire Fraud.” RISMedia. N.p., 13 Jan. 2017. Web. 15 Jan. 2017

McKinsey conducted a study that estimates there will be significant monetary impact for those using Distributed Ledger Technology, with widespread adoption in 5 years. Their adoption will save global financial industries more than $100 billion. This technology change in the way FIS are developed. Finextra believes there will be a “blockchain” gold rush in the next few years, and I believe the current trends are supporting that.

As discussed in class, Bitcoin is founded on blockchain Technology. Each block in the chain contains data that cannot be altered, but can be added upon. This creates a transaction history and consistency for Bitcoin. This concept is derived from Distributed Ledgers. Blockchain is just another form of it.

Distributed Ledgers are often implemented in the form of permissioned ledgers. They allow for the ledger to be a secure, dynamic, and collaborative data source that only certain members of an organization can see. This keeps the ledger secure while keeping intact its intrinsic efficiencies. There will be growing pains with new systems, but companies who can utilize this technology properly will be swimming in their savings.

 

Link: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/29977/blockchain-impact-timeline-speeds-up-massive-cost-savings-forecast

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/f493d7c4-d9a0-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e?client=safari

This discussion focuses on different financial technologies that facilitate payments between users and different companies. Companies, Bango, Gresham, and Paysafe all reported geoth and optimism for 2017 despite Brexit and London leaving the EU. Bango processes mobile payments , Gresham offers financial technology services for banks, while Paysafe focuses on digital payments for gambling. This isn’t surprising due to the rise of technology in all sectors of business, as well as the burst in mobile transactions as well as we all become more dependent on our phones. I’m interested to see which companies will last in the future before we see a financial technology titan for mobile users. Eventually there will come a time where smaller companies can’t maintain a large enough market share to stay competitive and only a few will remain. All we know for sure is that financial technology, especially in mobile, will only grow in years to come. Continue reading Financial Technologies optimistic earnings and outlook

A new report filed by the research group Australian Fintech, has found that FinTech Revenue in Australia is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years.  The group has predicted an annual growth rate of 76.3% and the valuation of Australian FinTech will be greater than AUD $4 billion, or roughly $3 billion USD, by the year 2020.  The research group found that, by 2020, there are three areas that financial technology services will grow rapidly in Australia.  These areas are digital payments, personal and business finance, and financial infrastructure and data analysis.  The growth of the FinTech sector is expected to bring about AUD $10 billion in revenue just from traditional financial institutions alone.  The rise of the FinTech will add roughly AUD $3 billion worth of added revenue.  With the large amount of money being invested into the FinTech industry each year it has shown to be one of the fastest growing industries in the world.  Australia has set up the right ingredients to make it a FinTech hub to appeal to companies to hopefully show FinTech firms that Australia is the place to establish themselves.  Because of this Australia has seen a boom within the industry.

One of our politician’s greatest fears has been inflation, but recently economists are examining the deflationary pressure technology places on assets. According to the author of “Janet Yellen Eats The World”, Faisal Khan, this has been achieved through efficiency and transparency.

Technology companies create products that makes your assets better. However, the more interesting way Khan argues technology promotes efficient is through better asset utilization. Companies like Uber help the average consumer turn their assets into another source of revenue, and puts downward pressure on the price of that asset. In a shared economy there is a decreased the demand for assets, which has caused an overall fall in the price of assets.

Technology also makes prices more transparent. The most typical example of this has been Amazon, and the ease at which consumers can discover prices. But according to Khan, big data solutions have moved into almost every industry. For example, even in the food industry, leaders like Tyson Foods are creating smart farms to stay ahead of their competitors.

This deflationary pressure has caused many questions about monetary policy. Khan argues now the government can raise interest rates or minimum wage with the expectation that the deflationary pressure of technology will fight inflation.

Janet Yellen eats the world

In a recent article posted in Forbes magazine, the growth and future of the Fintech industry is analyzed by reviewing its performance in the market over the last 6 years. Fintech investments jumped from $1.8 billion in 2010 to $5.2 billion through Q1 2016 from seed investments to bank takeovers and acquisitions. It is the advancements in traditional banking that Fintech startups are trying to impact positively.
While this industry has massive room for growth and opportunity, many analysts believe that the opportunity for growth is hindered by the amount of increasing regulations within the insurance and corporate finance sector. The more “tightly regulated” a certain avenue of finance is, the more longer it will take to express growth. One of the ways to counter the sluggish rise of these sectors are through the increasing amount of Fintech startups being created in different cities/regions such as London, Zurich and Singapore. These cities are very attractive for any Fintech entrepreneurs due to the more “friendly” governmental and business regulations put into action. Because of this disparity, the current hubs such as New York and Palo Alto may lose their titles of premier financial capitals if regulations continue to roughen and those abroad remain more friendly.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nikolaikuznetsov/2016/11/22/the-next-phase-in-fintech/#477a982a4a29

With technology guiding banking, there are new innovations that are highly influential to people’s choices. One such choice is “going card less”. It may not be an innovation that is going to be disruptive but, it can create a higher level of security for transactions and ease of use for customers. ATMs of various branches of Bank of America already include the card-free option.  While they plan to convert all their ATMs, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are installing and testing this option at various branches.

Wells Fargo claims this is how it is going to work:  You’ll log in to the bank app and request an eight-digit access code. At the kiosk, you’ll enter the access code and your regular ATM code to start the transaction.

How the bank thinks it is going to be helpful: Customers need not carry their card all the time. It can make it more secure with card thefts causing issues to customers.

What ATM manufacturers think: They are not sure card-free ATM transactions would prove more convenient than using a card. Also, they don’t see it being beneficial to the card users.

What I feel about the whole card-free ATM: Considering US is not cash based economy, with very limited cash transactions there is not going to be much effect as there are not many withdrawals. But it might be a path leading to a complete mobile/ online banking system without any additional cards required in the future.

 

REFERENCE: https://apple.news/AC6frPQ2qS2-v0JYGP9Z25Q