No sooner had the ink dried on CBA's announcement that it's to launch it's own Buy-Now / Pay-Later offering (sorry Klarna) to challenge local incumbents, Afterpay, went full 'double-bicep flex' and returned fire with the salvo that they are making a foray into banking via Afterpay Money.Confident that they have the loyalty amongst their base to lure them across, Afterpay are developing customer experiences that "will be like nothing a bank, or neobank, will do," according to Lee Hatton, who is running the venture.Given their success to date, few would bet against them. Popcorn at the ready.https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/afterpay-confident-it-can-build-a-better-banking-app-
Manta Network recently closed a USD$1.1M funding round to create a fully private decentralized exchange. At the moment, some would consider the blockchain too transparent for a number of finance transactions enabling someone to see the transaction and commit it with a higher fee before you do. Perhaps privacy is important on the blockchain after all?Manta wants to create an automated market maker exchange on Polkadot that would feature fully private swaps, and obfuscate wallet addresses (among other attributes). Could a privacy-preserving decentralized finance stack be a reality sooner than we think?https://cointelegraph.com/news/manta-aims-to-bring-a-private-decentralized-exchange-to-polkadot-with-1-1m-raiseImage by V
In the space of just two months, the ranks of Australian consumer neobanks has halved from four to two, although the respective pathways could not be more different.NAB announced today the acquisition of Cuscal-owned & backed, 86 400 in a deal worth $220m.This marks a fantastic return for Robert Bell & his team who have ploughed a successful furrow into mortgage-lending, as well as offering a cool banking-app experience with solidly performing tech.Volt is now standing proud as the sole remaining independent neobank and UP continues to perform well.https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nab-to-buy-out-neobank-86-400-560381
