Lenders or mortgage brokers could provide more information and better educate households to help make informed decisions about mortgage offset accounts.

Mortgage offset accounts are widely used across Australia, yet their financial benefits disproportionately favour wealthier households, a new study from the University of Sydney has revealed, raising important questions about fee structures, pricing transparency and consumer education in the mortgage market. 

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Carla Harris

Regulations allowing consumers to have greater access to data held by financial institutions will benefit the entire economy, according to the winner of the University of Sydney Business School’s first Genesis fintech start-up competition.

Consumer Data Rights (CDR) regulations, which are at the heart of a new Open Banking Regime, will come into force in the new year and will be supervised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Adatree, which is developing CDR compliance software for banks, fintechs and other technology companies, took out first place and won $25,000 in prize money, in the first fintech competition to be held under the Genesis umbrella.

The competition was held in association with Sydney’s 17-day Spark Festival for tech start-ups.

Jill Berry, a Sydney Business School alumna, says the prize money will fund the further development of Adatree software, which will ease the burden of CDR compliance and “allow  organisations to focus on their customers”.

Winner of the people’s choice award, in the Genesis fintech competition went to Longevity App, “a smartphone app which boosts user’s superannuation through their everyday spending”.

“Longevity connects everyday spending accounts, such as debit and credit cards with existing super account. Then whenever you spend through a linked account, we’ll automatically take a small amount extra (starting from 1% of spend) and contribute it to your super. explained Longevity’s CEO and Co-founder, Carla Harris.

“Thanks to the wonders of compound interest those small but regular contributions can help make up a huge shortfall in the nest egg of many Australians,” Ms Harris said.”

The 11-year-old Genesis program is open to University of Sydney staff, students and alumni.

Since 2008, it has given nearly 1,500 participants access to masterclasses, mentoring and networking opportunities with established entrepreneurs and industry experts.

Jill Berry, who has already helped build two new digital banks, says she was attracted to Genesis by the mentoring and the opportunity to reconnect with the Business School.

Carla Harris said Longevity joined the program for the networking opportunities and the valuable feedback from experts.

Other finalists in the fintech competition were:

BarBooks – a simple, intuitive system which provides management, bookkeeping and reporting technology specifically for the legal profession.

Advisr – provides information on insurance and insurance products and links users with experts and brokers.

Zuper – a super fund which provides users with a greater degree of control over their investments.

Kaddy – technology platform which seamlessly manages orders, invoices and payments for industry. 

Finspire – This is a contemporary financial coaching tool that seeks to personalise the user experience in order to motivate them to change financial behaviours and achieve better outcomes.

The Head of the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor Leanne Cutcher, described the fintech specific Genesis as an “outstanding success” and in line with the Business School’s focus on digital disruption, particularly in the finance sector.

“The competition again brought together entrepreneurs, investors, inventors, innovators, students and executives.” Professor Cutcher said. “It also reaffirmed Sydney Business School’s reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for fintech development and research”.

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The 11 year old Genesis program, which supports startups through mentoring, assistance with media exposure and prize money of up to $25,000, will hold its first final for fintech competitors as part of Sydney’s Spark Festival for startups, investors and entrepreneurs.

The Spark Festival is 17-day program of 130 startup related events. The Genesis Fintech final with a first prize of $25,000, will be held on Friday 25th October.

The Head of the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor Leanne Cutcher, described the Spark Festival as a “perfect opportunity to bring entrepreneurs, investors, inventors, innovators, students and executives together for mutual benefit”.

“This, our first fintech specific competition, is very much in keeping with the Business School’s focus on the technological transformation of the finance sector,” Professor Cutcher said.

The seven Genesis fintech finalists include:

• Adatree – technology which helps companies in the finance sector to comply with regulations governing the management of consumer data.
• BarBooks – a simple, intuitive system which provides management, bookkeeping and reporting technology specifically for the legal profession.
• Longevity – technology which takes a small amount after each purchase from the users bank account and adds it to their existing super account.
• Advisr – provides information on insurance and insurance products and links users with experts and brokers.
• Zuper – a super fund which provides users with a greater degree of control over their investments.
• Kaddy – technology platform which seamlessly manages orders, invoices and payments for industry.
• Finspire – This is a contemporary financial coaching tool that seeks to personalise the user experience in order to motivate them to change financial behaviours and achieve better outcomes.

“This Genesis competition will shine the light on these highly innovative  enterprises and add significantly to Sydney’s reputation as one of the leading global ecosystems for fintech,” said Professor Cutcher.

“The Business School has been associated with the founders of some of the most successful fintechs in Australia including Afterpay, Lendi and Prospa all now valued above $100 million,” she added. “We are proud to now be supporting the next generation of successful fintechs through the Genesis program.”

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While many companies turn to M&As as an alternative to organic growth, between 70 and 90 per cent fail each year. This failure rate, researchers say, has a negative impact on the corporate world, national economies and shareholders.

This month’s conference, titled ‘The Missing Due Diligence Files’, will look at recent research and draw on insights and the practical experiences of specialist firm M&A Intel. It is being co-sponsored by Merrill Corporation, Tricor Group, Merger Transition Management and the Business School.

“Many companies cannot meet all of their growth objectives through organic means and consequently, mergers and acquisitions continue to be strategically important,” says Associate Professor of Finance, Joakim Westerholm.

“Unfortunately, the failure rate is high and we need the insights of business, academics and practitioners to resolve it,” Dr Westerholm said. “This conference seeks to expose attendees to some important research and innovations locally and internationally for improving the success rate.”

The ‘Missing Due Diligence Files’ will include:

• analysis of the characteristics that appear to differentiate successful acquirers from others
• a critical examination of the process disciplines required for more predictable success
• the critical role of a much broader range of Due Diligence topics and a re-assessment of the place of DD within the ‘complete transaction cycle’
• a discussion of ‘buy side’ as well as ‘sell side’ imperatives
• the information flow that is needed today to make mergers work – is the same information being shared and analysed (how can this process be made more effective?)
• the important contribution that virtual data rooms (VDRs) make now and the developments that are underway to improve coverage, speed, security and auditability

In addition to the critical research input, the conference will examine local case studies (‘war stories’), particularly in relation to Risk Management practices.

The University of Sydney Business School (as Principal Sponsor) and M&A Intel have thanked Merrill Corporation, Tricor Group and Merger Transition Management for their support in developing and delivering this important conference.

Conference Details

Date: Thursday 25th July 2019
Time: 10.00 AM to 5.30 PM
Venue: University of Sydney Business School, CBD Campus, Level 17, 133 Castlereagh Street. Sydney
Info: http://mandaintelligence.com/

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