Neobank Xinja has launched its second equity crowdfunding campaign after being granted a restricted banking licence twelve months ago. Xinja was granted a restricted banking licence by APRA early last year and in the year since has developed a whole suite of new products. The crowdfunding raise is being run from Equitise and passed the minimum raise of $500,000 within nine hours when it opened to existing investors less than a month ago.

Financial and insurance services continued to have the highest gender pay gap out of any Australian industry in 2017–2018 at 30.3 per cent, according to a report by the government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The study, titled ‘Australia’s Gender Equality Scorecard’, revealed that although the pay gap in finance remains the highest, it had also continued to decline, dropping by 1.6 per cent in 2016–2017. Australia saw the largest single year drop in its pay gap for the past five years, with the divide in total full-time remuneration falling by 1.1 per cent to become 21.3 per cent.

Men are now paid $25,717 more than women on average. The difference in average total remuneration in Financial and Insurance Services was $48,884. Construction came second in the industry ranking, with a gap of 29.4 per cent, and a total salary difference of $39,950.