Doug Goodwille from Kayne Anderson speaks to Drew Meredith from The Inside Network on market thinkers.
While a surging gold price is on hold as the world adjusts to a Trump presidency, all the factors that saw its price rise more than 50 per during his first term in office – trade disputes, fiscal deficits and geopolitical tensions – are almost certainly guaranteed the second time around.
Douugh gears-up to launch its three-in-one banking app
After collecting dust for almost a year, neobank Douugh (ASX:DOU) has been quietly positioning itself to take over the world with its cutting-edge global fintech technology. It’s been roughly a year since the company listed on the ASX and in that time the neobank has garnered significant interest in its full-service fintech banking app.
Douugh is an open banking play, in which bank customers allow their banking data to be collected and analysed by Douugh, which then offers a range of budgeting and financial tools. Douugh describes its AI-led proprietary app as a “financial wellness platform,” which helps users manage their finances more effectively – to budget, save and invest money, all in one app.
Douugh’s initial public offering (IPO), conducted via a reverse takeover by telco ZipTel, raised $6 million thanks to strong demand from investors. Issuing some 200 million shares at just 3 cents each. The shares hit the ASX screens in October 2020 at 6 cents, touching 6.7 cents at one point. They stormed to 36 cents, in November 2020, but have since subsided to 4.8 cents.
Earlier this month, Douugh shares also commenced trading on OTC Markets in the USA, under the code OTCQB: DOUUF. The company said that with the USA being its “core market,” listing on PTC Markets was “the first step to accessing a deeper pool of retail and institutional investors, prior to a potential dual listing on the NASDAQ in future.”
The fintech sector itself is expanding at a rapid rate with investors spreading money over a number of funds to better create a one-stop shop that manage savings, budgeting and investing. That’s exactly the three way offering consumers will receive all in one app.
In its most recent update, the company recorded a 60% increase in total customer numbers across the US and Australia, pushing past 80,000 in Q2; and that figure has exceeded 90,000 already. To add to it, Douugh will also launch EarlyPay, a service that allows members access their pay up to two days early. This helps members set budgets at the beginning of their pay. This is especially useful in the US because its banking systems still take up to two days to process payments.
In the US market, it’s still common for banks to charge their customers overdraft fees – a scenario that happens up to 10-20 times a year for lower-income savers.
And finally, EarlyPay is a by-product to attract more customers on the platform. By using EarlyPay gaining access their pay up to two days earlier, it makes it easier for users to set a budget at the beginning of their pay cycle.
“Within that addressable market, what our customers told us was the No1 feature they need is a platform that gives them early access to pay,” says Douugh CEO Andy Taylor.
