The new features now enable the SuiteBox online collaboration solution to be used by any financial adviser in Australia and New Zealand including simple meeting set up and the ability for the adviser to view, save and share any video records from a client meeting and all historical meetings. SuiteBox can now also be used as a standalone solution or as an integrated solution with planning software.

SuiteBox CEO, Richard Mannell, explained, “There has been lots of press and coverage about fully automated robo-advice but very little about the huge opportunity that exists to combine a digital experience with a human adviser. As anyone in this space will tell you the challenge is the cost of traditional human advice and that’s where SuiteBox comes in. Now SuiteBox users can leverage our virtual collaboration tools with any advice technology and smart digital experience to offer low cost, effective and efficient virtual advice.”

Recently McKinsey issued a report where they estimated 42 million households globally, representing $66 billion in revenue, are candidates for virtual advice including two million households with $400 billion in assets and $2 billion of revenues in Australia alone.

Using SuiteBox an adviser can meet with a client located anywhere in the world. They can share and review documents, sign online and record the meeting using any web-enabled device. Virtual advice facilitates the development of advice hubs, which have rapidly developed in the US, and offer the ability to reduce the cost of delivery of financial advice by up to 75%.

Christopher Bates, CEO of independent financial advisers Canopy Private, a major adopter of virtual advice solutions, said, “Suitebox simply and easily breaks down the barrier of location and geography and allows me to comprehensively service my clients whenever and wherever is convenient to them.”

Mannell continued, “A good part of our continued success has come from SuiteBox being a founding member of Afiniation, the connections we have made as a result and how we’ve used Afiniation as a foundation for expansion into Australia from New Zealand. SuiteBox has had an unprecedented level of interest since the recent Afiniation showcase, and we will be making an announcement shortly on major new clients and integration partners.”

The recent Afiniation Showcase, held at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney, featured over 30 of Australia and New Zealand’s top FinTech innovators, sponsors including AustralianSuper and Dion and keynote speakers including the NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, Victor Dominello, Citi’s Managing Director of Customer Franchise, Linda Duncombe and the NZ Trade Commissioner David McLeish.

Click here to view highlights from the recent Afiniation Showcase.

The post SuiteBox Launches new Financial Services Virtual Advice Innovations appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Marc Evans

Wellington-based startup Banqer, the online platform that facilitates the teaching of financial education in the classroom in a fun engaging way creating a virtual ‘classroom currency’, took out the Best Innovation in Show Award at the recent Afiniation FinTech Showcase.

The Afiniation Showcase, held at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney, featured over 30 of Australia and New Zealand’s top FinTech innovators, sponsors including AustralianSuper and Dion and keynote speakers including the NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, Victor Dominello, Citi’s Managing Director of Customer Franchise, Linda Duncombe and the NZ Trade Commissioner David McLeish.

Afiniation co-founder and head judge Marc Evans explained, “Banqer helps children who have their own bank accounts get a rich understanding of what it means to be in charge of your own personal finances. As a result the judges felt that Banqer was the most innovative and interesting presenter at the Showcase as they showed that society and FinTech can work together.”

Banqer co-founder Kendall Flutey said, “”The Afiniation Showcase was our first introduction to the Australian FinTech community and we couldn’t have asked for a better entry point. This initiative was the perfect platform for Banqer as it enabled conversations with the right people, people that we may otherwise not have been able to meet. The calibre of the demonstrators at the Showcase was extremely high, so it’s a real honour for Banqer to be named best in show. A huge thanks to the organisers of the Afiniation Showcase for fostering this community, and we look forward to future involvements.”

Runner up for Best in Show went to another New Zealand-based company, 8Wire who showed an automated solution to the migration of data between systems, a problem encountered by many companies at the showcase and generally regarded as the highest risk part of any FinTech project.

The Award for Best New Entrant went to Capital Pitch with Simply Wall St taking the runner up award. Marc Evans commented, “CapitalPitch adds a new way of assisting innovative companies to prepare for the future and allows organisations to grow and develop with better access to capital. They were a worthy Best New Entrant winner. Simply Wall St has developed a new way of representing complex financial information to allow easy comparisons by non-technical users. It was a close content in this category.”

Simply Wall St co-founder Nick van den Berg said, “The Afiniation Showcase was a great event to attend, it was a good mix of startups, regulators and corporates all keen to drive FinTech forward. I have no doubt that deals and relationships between these groups will form because of the event bringing them together. I’m very proud that we came runner up in the New Entrant category. There was an extremely high calibre of people presenting which is a reflection of the FinTech scene both in Australia and New Zealand. We are very much looking forward to attending future Afiniation events.”

The Disruption award highlights the innovative presenter that the judges felt have a significant disruptive event on the current market and participants and in this category DomaCom took the top prize with HashChing the runner up.

Marc Evans explained, “The winners in the Disruption category are going to change the way that the financial markets work moving forward. We felt that DomaCom really is a new way to invest in the Australian housing market and that this new innovation will fundamentally disrupt the way people invest in housing in Australia.”

DomaCom CEO Arthur Naoumidis said, “I am very pleased to have the disruptive nature of the DomaCom Fractional Property platform recognised by winning the Afiniation Showcase Disrupter Award. With over 30 Australian and NZ FinTech companies presenting last Thursday, innovation is well and truly alive in the local FinTech arena.”

The Technology Award recognises the best advances in technology that will influence FinTech in the future. Top honours here went to Sharesight the company who offers a way to manage online investments in one place, whilst consolidating positions across a number of platforms. Runner up was innovative online meetings and conferencing service SuiteBox with its clever new way to connect with clients, share documents and gain a better understand financial products.

The final award of the Afiniation Showcase was for Best Robo-Advice product where the winner was Ignition Wealth with its service offering customers the ability to easily and seamlessly execute automatically on the decision made around their plan. Runner up in the Technology Award category was BigFuture and its excellent and compelling financial planning tool for both beginner and experts alike.

BigFuture co-founder and CEO Donald Hellyer said, “The Afiniation conference provided not only a great forum to demonstrate BigFuture but also to meet other developers where natural relationships exist.”

Marc Evans concluded, “The Afiniation Showcase was an unparalleled success. The sold out event brought together the crème de la crème of FinTech innovators and investors all keenly intent on driving FinTech in Australia and New Zealand forward.”

Click here to view highlights from the recent Afiniation Showcase.

The post Banqer wins Best FinTech Innovation Award at Afiniation Showcase appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Linda Duncombe

The unique Australasian FinTech network Afiniation yesterday announced that it is now working with global financial services company, Citi, on the Citi Mobile Challenge program.

The Citi Mobile Challenge in Asia Pacific is a next-generation accelerator that combines a virtual hackathon with a developer program, a worldwide network of Fintech experts, and the bank’s global reach to discover and incubate solutions from across more than 100 markets.

Citi’s Managing Director of Customer Franchise, Linda Duncombe said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Afiniation, a champion of the Australasian FinTech Community, join the Citi Asia Pacific Global Mobile Challenge. There is a very strong synergy between the Citi Mobile Challenge and the upcoming Afiniation Showcase on 24 September.”

Afiniation is a virtual network that supports the development and growth of FinTech in the Asia Pacific region providing the catalyst for investment, innovation and international expansion. By connecting innovators, investors, partners, finance industry professionals and supporters, Afiniation creates and cultivates opportunities for startups and established firms through regular Spotlight events and an Afiniation Showcase event. The next Afiniation Showcase will be held on Thursday 24 September at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney.

Citi is working with several leading firms on the Citi Mobile Challenge program including: Google, Fintech accelerator Stone & Chalk, venture capital firm BlueChilli, The Committee for Sydney, University of Wollongong and Avoka, which was named “Most Innovative Customer Engagement Solution” for Citi Mobile Challenge Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) earlier this year and who are also presenting at the upcoming Afiniation Showcase.

Citi’s Managing Director of Customer Experience, Linda Duncombe, will be the keynote speaker at the Afiniation showcase.

Click here for more details on the next Afiniation Showcase to be held on Thursday 24 September at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney and to purchase tickets to the event.

As a member of the AdviserVoice community, you are eligible for 10% discount when you buy tickets. Simply use the code MatesRates2015 when booking to get your discount.

The post Afiniation joins Citi Mobile Challenge Asia Pacific appeared first on AdviserVoice.