Moneytree LINK, a financial data platform for businesses, and the Moneytree PFM, which managed financial assets, will shutter
A personal finance management app provider has been hit by several forces such as COVID-19, forcing it out of the Australian market.
Moneytree will discontinue services in Australia from 15 January 2021. Moneytree LINK, a financial data platform for businesses, and the Moneytree PFM, which managed financial assets, will shutter.
Moneytree chief technology officer and executive director for Australia Ross Sharrott blamed rising costs, the impact of COVID-19 and limitations of Australia’s Consumer Data Rights (CDR) rules that stifled participation for fintechs.
We saw from first-hand experience that the current requirements demand significant financial and human resource investments. These costs are proving to be an enormous, if not an impossible, barrier to entry for most small to medium-sized potential CDR participants. Therefore, the major incumbents remain unchallenged, said Sharrott.
Combined with the financial blow of COVID-19, the much-delayed availability of a workable open banking framework has made the Australian market commercially non-viable for us at present, he said.
He added that the firm will maintain a presence in Australia and will continue to explore commercial opportunities in the future.
Moneytree was founded in Japan in 2012. It launched in Australia in 2017. In the same year, the federal government introduced CDR, aiming to empower consumers to share and control their data to help them switch between providers.
It formed a partnership with Rollit Super last year to provide API infrastructure.
CDR went live this year. On 1 November 2020, the four major banks could share data relating to home, investment and personal loans, and joint accounts at the request of customers.
In October, the rules were amended to include intermediaries like outsourced IT infrastructure and software providers.
Unlike the UK, the open banking regime has flourished, with the number of people using the functionality doubling in the six months to September 2020, Sharrott said. Similar outcomes in Australia are possible but require a diverse range of open banking providers and the solutions they enable.