Afterpay CTO quits to join NAB’s digital arm UBank
The executive is leaving despite the BNPL provider’s share price hitting record highs.
Welcome to The Download, The Australian’s technology blog for the latest breaking tech news.
David Swan 3.30pm: Afterpay CTO quits
Afterpay‘s chief technology officer John Donoghue has quit the company to join NAB, where he’ll lead technology for the bank’s millennial arm UBank.
Mr Donoghue served at Afterpay for three years and previously worked at UBS for two decades, where he served as its chief information officer for Australia and New Zealand.
The executive joined Afterpay after its merger with Touchcorp in 2017.
His title at NAB is chief information officer, UBank and Enabling Functions, and sits within NAB’s technology and enterprise operations division.
“Jon joining our team is another step forward in our transformation to creating a simpler and faster bank, to deliver better experiences for our UBank customers,” NAB Group Executive for Technology and Enterprise Operations Patrick Wright said in a statement.
“The combination of Jon steering the technology for UBank and Philippa Watson leading the business will set the digital bank up for success to deliver great things for our customers into the future.“
“I’m excited to be joining NAB as it continues its technology transformation to providing a simple, secure and personalised banking experience for customers,” said Mr Donoghue.
As The Australian reported today Afterpay is now Australia’s largest tech company by market capitalisation — about $US13.5bn ($19.5bn) — andy is expanding across the US through deals with retailers including Anthropologie and Free People.
Since the Australian market bottomed on March 23, its stock has risen more than ninefold, while 1.6 million new US users started spending through its technology over the past four months.
Afterpay has been contacted for comment.
Chris Griffith 2.30pm: Telstra rejects Huawei claim
Telstra has rejected a claim by Huawei that the Australian telco has been installing 5G equipment made by Chines companies.
Huawei, whose gear is banned from Australia’s 5G network, claims the situation shows there is a “double standard” applying to the rules around suppliers.
Huawei says some Telstra equipment is made by China’s state-owned Panda Electronics Group, which according to the US Department of Defence, is among companies run by the People’s Liberation Army.
“There is a double standard here,” says former South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, on Sky News Australia. Xenophon now works as legal counsel for Huawei. “I have not heard ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) say anything about the fact that Panda Electronics in its joint-venture arrangement with Ericsson is providing 4G and 5G gear for our national carrier in the form of Telstra – where has the vetting been?
“What is extraordinary is that Telstra is getting its 5G kit as well as 4G and 3G for the last decade before that from a company, a joint-venture arrangement, with Ericsson and Panda Electronics,” he says.
“We have heard outrage about Huawei but we don’t hear anyone talking about the fact that Panda Electronics, that is providing equipment right now to Telstra – this is our national carrier that provides services to ASIO, ASD and other critical communications infrastructure!
“It seems that Huawei has been a convenient whipping post and yet Telstra – which by the way happens to be a corporate sponsor of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute – is fine.”
The claim involving Panda companies is not new. In 2018, Channel News reported that the board of Ericsson’s Chinese joint venture partner, Nanjing Panda Electronics, which was founded by Panda Electronics Group, includes directors who hold Communist Party positions. It says Nanjing Panda is a major supplier of communications equipment to China’s military.
In March, Reuters reported the existence of Huawei documents that shows Panda was also involved in acquiring hardware and software for Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator.
Both Ericsson and Telstra deny using Panda equipment. A Telstra spokesman today told The Australian that Telstra does not have any equipment from Chinese network vendors in its network now, nor has it in the past. In particular, it doesn’t have any equipment made by Panda.
“We work closely with our network partner Ericsson to ensure all components of our network are secure,” the spokesman says “We also engage closely with the Government on security measures but cannot comment on specific discussions.”
Ericsson this month told Reuters it is not sourcing products from Panda Electronics. “Ericsson does not source any products from Panda Electronics Group to be used in equipment used in any of Ericsson’s products, a spokesman said.
David Swan 1.45pm: TPG shows off new logo
TPG has unveiled its new logo, following the completion of its long-awaited merger with former rival Vodafone.
The telcos are now a fully merged $15bn entity, known as TPG Telecom, and its priority under new CEO Iñaki Berroeta is to bolster its 4G network and start switching on a super-fast 5G network.
The company began trading on the ASX as one company on Monday, and is down 0.9 per cent at 12pm to $8.30.
“It’s been almost two years since we announced the merger so to finally have the letters T-P-G up on the trading board is very exciting,“ Mr Berroeta told The Australian after ringing the ASX bell.
“When I was ringing the bell, I was really excited to reach this milestone but I was also hoping that the rope would break.
“I was really happy when the rope did break, and I dedicate it to the team which has worked very hard on this merger.”
David Ross 12.40pm: Deliveroo to roll out relief
Deliveroo has rolled out relief measures for selected restaurants in Melbourne in recognition of the lockdown that once again sees businesses back to takeaway in Australia’s culinary capital.
More than 5000 restaurants in Melbourne are now unable to take in-house guests after the Victorian government reintroduced stage three restrictions in response to surging cases of coronavirus.
Customers in Melbourne who spend more than $30 on and order will get 20 per cent off those orders, with the difference paid for by Deliveroo.
Fast food restaurant chains and bottle shops are not included in the offer and will receive no discount.
The offer will run for two weeks from today until July 23, Monday to Thursday.
The relief comes on top of additional measures already rolled out by Deliveroo.
Deliveroo Australia CEO Ed McManus said the last few months had been especially tough for businesses.
“Deliveroo has stood side-by-side with our restaurant partners and supported them through these difficult times. With Melbourne now back in Stage 3 lockdown we are giving back to them at a time when they need it the most,” he said.
10.35am: STEAM skills ‘will help recovery’
Australia’s shift towards a more flexible way of working will open up brand new opportunities for all kinds of people, according to the founder of Adorebeauty.com.au Kate Morris, who recently announced an initiative to raise $50,000 for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Morris is appearing at a VOGUE CODES virtual event on Tuesday July 14, to speak about the Business of beauty: Lockdown lessons, and what’s next.
“This has really levelled the playing field, because that requirement of sitting in an office for 12 hours every day is gone,” she told The Australian. “Going forward, work is going to be much more measured on what value you’re able to add, that’s it.”
Ms Morris started Australia’s first beauty e-commerce site in 1999 from a garage in Melbourne at the age of 21, starting with just $12,000 and two little known cosmetic companies on board.
Adore Beauty has now grown to a $100m business, boasting more than 250 brands, over 13,000 products, a 4,000 square metre warehouse and hundreds of thousands of customers.
She says the pandemic will likely lead to a new wave of entrepreneurs starting tech businesses.
During COVID-19 Adore Beauty has continued to grow and hire new people, and launched an new YouTube channel.
“We find ourselves suited to a crisis, I think,” Ms Morris said. ”We’ve been through the GFC, and it’s a skillet that you absolutely develop over 20 years in terms of managing different scenarios and communicating regularly with the team. It definitely presents an additional challenge when you have kids at home but we are continuing to grow, which is great.”
Ms Morris is the latest keynote speaker at VOGUE CODES, a free series of virtual webinars designed to inspire more females to pursue a career in STEAM.
Speakers participating in the online series of events will share insights into the impact caused by COVID-19 to their businesses, leanings from this period and thoughts on what the future holds.
Registration for the events are now open.
“VOGUE CODES is our crusade to see women empowered by technology,” Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann said.
“With the past few months showing us the importance of technology more than ever, embracing tech and the learning behind it is so important for girls and women, so that we can play a role in our shared digital future. Of course we want women to be decision-makers and influence the direction of our society; this means engaging with the technology that’s driving change.
“The response to VOGUE CODES since we launched five years ago has been overwhelmingly positive. Westpac has been our presenting partner from the very beginning and we are thrilled to have them with us again for 2020. We’re excited by the opportunities of our expanded program of virtual events this year, which will allow us to take the campaign across geographic borders and audiences, and play in the virtual world.”
8.45am: Facebook considers election ad ban
Facebook is considering imposing a ban on political ads on its social network in the days leading up to the November 3 elections in the United States, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the company’s thinking.
The potential ban is only being discussed and has not been finalised, the report adds.
A Facebook spokesman said the company had no comment on the report.
The social media company has been under fire for its policy of exempting politicians’ ads and speech from fact-checking. Last year, smaller rival Twitter banned political ads, but Facebook has maintained that it does not want to stifle political speech.
Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month Biden’s campaign published an open letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg calling for the company to fact-check politicians’ ads in the two weeks ahead of the election.
In a Twitter post on Friday, Biden’s digital director Rob Flaherty pointed to the issue of misinformation in unpaid content on the site.
“Requisite reminder that Facebook’s problems are 80pc about unpaid content and so anything they do about paid content is an attempt to distract you,” he tweeted.
Facebook has drawn heat from employees and politicians in recent weeks over its decisions not to act on inflammatory posts by the president.
More than 900 advertisers have signed on to an ad boycott on Facebook, organised by civil rights groups to pressure the world’s largest social media network to take concrete steps to block hate speech and misinformation, in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody.
Reuters
8.00am: Amazon reverses TikTok ban
Amazon has reversed a demand that employees delete the TikTok app from company mobile devices, a shocking turnabout from a dictate that just hours before had stoked concern about the app’s security and ties to China.
The first message was dramatic enough, as the email directive to employees appeared to buttress recent scrutiny of TikTok security issues from governments in the U.S. and India.
Then, the second message, in which a spokesman called the email an error, backed away from what briefly appeared to be a major policy change. It was a rare instance in which such a shift played out in public for one of the world’s most valuable and closely watched companies.
What remained unclear was how many people within Amazon, if anyone, harbour concern about TikTok to such a degree that would have prompted the memo in the first place.
The now-retracted email was sent as an alert to thousands of Amazon employees early in the business day in Seattle: “Due to security risks, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email. If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email. At this time, using TikTok from your Amazon laptop browser is allowed.”
The Wall Street Journal
Copilot a time saver but workers at odds over who benefits
Microsoft’s AI assistant saves workers an average of about 20 hours a month allowing them to concentrate on important work. But a debate has emerged about how to share those time savings.
Regulators ‘overlap’ in scam prevention draft
The draft Scam Prevention Framework could penalise telcos for abiding by one code while breaking another, the Communications Alliance has warned.