News
Australian Money Market Term Deposit Service Launched
17 October, 2008
Australian Moneymarket which has recently launched what it claims to be Australia's first truly online term deposit brokerage facility, is hoping the "flight to cash" continues.
Brisbane based, Australian Moneymarket operates www.moneymarket.com.au under the AFS licence of Brisbane-based fund manager DDH Graham Limited.
Moneymarket.com has been developed as a "one stop shop" for term deposits. Not only can it compare the rates being offered by the various deposit taking institutions for various maturity dates and investment amounts but it can also transact monies directly into and between these institutions. Summarising what the firm's vision is, Managing Director Stephen Jewell has said the firm is hoping to be the "Wotif" of cash.
Whilst the site can be accessed by the direct investor, it has been developed as a support platform for the financial planner and stock broker community. According to Jewell, "the majority of the site's existing customers have come from either financial planners or from stock brokers."
Unlike some start-up firms launching in these difficult times, Moneymarket.com has reached its first performance milestone - $100m in rolling deposits - 3 months earlier than forecast.
Whilst Jewell acknowledges that the market has helped his cause he also believes the service itself has been something planners have been looking for. "Most of our users have not advised on their client's term deposit investments because of the difficulty of managing such accounts. With Moneymarket.com, the process is fully automated. Not only are the rates all in one spot, but once a client has been registered then future deposits and withdrawals can be completed within several mouse clicks."
Moneymarket.com's second milestone - registering 20 dealer/broker groups and 100 advisers is the next target Jewell wants to achieve. "Currently we have 8 dealer groups and stockbroking groups registered and nearly 50 advisers. Based on our current growth, it wouldn't be out of the question to hit our mark by Christmas," Jewell said.
Currently the site features 12 product providers (Deposit taking institutions) that range from major banks - including the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ, to the mid-tier Banks like St George, Macquarie Bank, Bank of Queensland and the Adelaide Bank - to building societies and credit unions.
Jewell predicts the site's product provider representation will be increased by another 2 institutions in the next few weeks and is likely to exceed 20 by year's end.
Of the future Jewell is exceedingly optimistic, "our timing couldn't have been scripted better - equity market uncertainty, the Government guaranteeing of deposit accounts ..."