2019年3月11日
Sydney startup Earnd raises $2.5 million for app that allows you to get paid early
Earnd, a Sydney-based fintech startup, has raised $2.5 million for its app, which allows people to withdraw their wages as they earn them. Earnd allows people to take greater control of their finances and eliminates the need for them to have use payday loan sharks.
It integrate to a payroll system through an API so we get visibility into what an individual has earned or accrued at any given point during the pay period. We then give them the ability to access a portion of that income.
It transfers funds instantly for nearly all users, providing close to zero wait time when funds are needed urgently. Withdrawals are usually free for the employee but a charge is levied on the employer. Earnd app has been downloaded by around 1,000 people so far, but Earnd is planning to add an additional 1,000 people to its platform every fortnight over the next few weeks. It’s worth noting that Earnd isn’t the first app to give staff early access to their wages. Activehours, which launched in the US in 2014.
Australia Star Casino is going to start using facial recognition technology
The Star Casino in Sydney is going to deploy facial recognition technology as part of a $10 million security upgrade. The move to embrace the technology comes after a croupier was caught trying to steal a $5,000 chip by hiding it in his sock.
The facial recognition cameras will be deployed in high-risk areas over the coming months. They will be able to match peoples’ faces to those held in a database of known offenders. It will also be incorporated into their customer service where they can recognise customers and welcome them back personally, telling them their favourite drink is waiting at the bar. Surveillance here is a 24 hour, seven day a week operation.
J.P. Morgan says recent wobbles in financial markets is unlikely to be the start of a substantial selloff
As seen in the chart below from J.P. Morgan, aside from the US dollar index, all other assets tracked by the bank have risen in early 2019, substantially in some cases. “Markets are experiencing their first significant correction of the year, though so far a milder one than those of 2018,” J.P. Morgan says.
Most major equity indices are down 2-5% from their peaks, developed and emerging market credit spreads are up 5-25 basis points from their lows, and volatility has rallied in all markets but rates and crude oil. Market liquidity is the wildcard, though more in stocks than in FICC on our measures of market depth.
While J.P. Morgan doesn’t believe recent wobbles are likely the start of a more pronounced selloff in cyclical assets like those seen in February and the final two months of last year, it says that with sentiment towards the global economy unlikely to improve in the near-term, further corrective moves may still occur “on even minor catalysts.
