While it's well-established that Block’s record acquisition of Afterpay came at the top of the market, one part of the story remains untold: how close the deal may have come to falling apart.
Fintech
Commonwealth Bank bought into BNPL at the height of its run before starting its own brand. Now its stake in Klarna may deliver it $1.7 billion.
Block's $39 billion Afterpay acquisition, the most expensive in Australian corporate history, is a cautionary tale for anyone looking to make deals in the latest tech hype cycle.
The introduction of the Consumer Data Right three years ago aimed to give consumers power over their data and help negotiate better banking and energy deals. Is momentum finally building?
ANZ had two chances to overturn an ACCC rejection of its bid for Suncorp Bank. It only needed one, with the Competition Tribunal waving the bid through.
Afterpay-parent Block’s decision to cut more than 1,000 staff has reverberated throughout its global operations. Staff at its payment platform Square fear they could be next.
Rippling, an HR tech company worth US$11.5 billion, has opened an APAC headquarters in Sydney. That puts it on a collision course with an Australian unicorn.
In an internal email obtained by Capital Brief, the Afterpay co-founder named "brand convergence" a key priority, and moved to reassure staff about layoffs.
Afterpay's founders may have pulled off one of the most miraculous exits in Australian startup history. But the VC fund they left behind could be on its last legs as investors push for it to be liquidated.
Former staff believe the Square and Afterpay owner may not proceed with plans to launch its financial super app in Australia.
Former staff at Afterpay are concerned about the Australian born buy now, pay later platform's survival after a clumsy integration into parent company Block and internal cultural clashes.
Westpac and ANZ are taking a novel approach to solving internal problems they can't fix themselves.
In just over a decade, payments fintechs have built a 25% market share in the big bank-dominated merchant payment processing sector, an opaque but crucial business.
Stake's new CEO, and the bosses of Selfwealth and Spaceship told Capital Brief consolidation is likely in the sector, which exploded in popularity during the pandemic.
The new year promises reprieve for margin-crunched bank investors — at least if the ASX bank index can be believed. But not everyone thinks it can.
Bendigo Bank argued in court last year that smaller banks cannot compete effectively with the big four. Newer challengers like Judo Bank and Alex see things differently.
An asset class is very different to an instrument of the financial system. Following SEC approval of bitcoin ETFs, the cryptocurrency is the former, not the latter.
The enormous and growing cost of misconduct by cryptocurrency and digital payments companies goes beyond the billions they're paying in fines.
Stablecoins like Tether are benefitting from a crypto revival sparked by hopes of a Bitcoin ETF. But little is known about how they're backed or where their reserves are held.
The festive season is a crucial proving ground for how spenders and sellers want to transact. Will more want to do it on the real-time NPP this year?
Major bank partnerships, raisings and actual profits signal there's some optimism in fintech, but capital and startups are in short supply.
Cryptocurrencies dominate the headlines around blockchain and tokenisation, but crypto purists are awakening to the world outside currencies and assessing other assets worth vastly more.
Fintech conductors aim to orchestrate the noise of a cacophony of payment options being offered to both consumers and merchants.
Chief executive Alexis George conceded the market reaction to a new partnership with a UK neobank was disappointing, as shares in the AMP fell by up to 15%.
Proclamations of crypto winter's end may still be premature, but the recent surge in the Bitcoin price does tell an important story.
When you process mortgages and your name is a homonym of TikTok, confusion is inevitable. So Tic:Toc - not TikTok - is now Tiimely.
The global banking regulator is monitoring Big Tech's push into the financial system, but it warns against measures that might stifle innovation and cheaper finance.
Australian payments lag leading markets globally. French payments giant Worldline says there are opportunities to rationalise and to scale.
After a dire fintech winter, nascent signs of activity and investor interest are warming the hands of those in the sector.
Five years on, the New Payments Platform is gaining momentum with the RBA pushing, fintechs innovating and legacy systems disappearing. But is it delivering?
