Speaking at StartCon in Sydney, Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian, shared his thoughts on the inefficient banking industry in Australia; some of the major problems are the lack of ability to access the data and the ease of being able to switch banks; Cannon-Brookes stated, "The lack of a banking API in Australia is crazy."; Australian banks make approximately AU$1,000 in profit per person, per year and their profits equate to 2.9% of GDP; this is due to the lack of competition and heavy regulations in the banking sector, according to Cannon-Brookes. Source
Australian P2P commercial property marketplace lender LendEx has appointed two new board members to its board of directors; Brian Benger will join the board with experience from consulting firm Mercer; credit market executive Kim Jenkins will also join the board; Jenkins is currently the CEO of the Australian Retail Credit Association; Benger and Jenkins join Robert Hines, the firm's chairman, as the board's non-executive directors. Source
Afterpay and Touchcorp are merging to form NewCo which will provide an advanced solution for merchant network installment payments; Afterpay has steadily grown its merchant network which pays a 4% fee for the installment service; Touchcorp will help provide advancements in payments technology for Afterpay and the integrated services will allow for broader expansion. Source
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