NEWS BITES

VanEck has launched a new ETF that offers investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of Australian floating rate notes. The VanEck Vectors Australian Floating Rate ETF (ASX: FLOT) tracks an index that includes about 208 Australian-issued FRNs from over 84 issuers and costs 0.22%pa. Peer-to-peer lender RateSetter has teamed with self-managed super fund (SMSF) administration provider Xpress Super to provide investors with direct access to their RateSetter account on the Xpress Super platform, which will make it easier for SMSF investors to lend money using RateSetter’s platform. RateSetter says investors can get returns of up to 9.2%pa using the service. Excessive payment surcharges will be a thing of the past from September 1, when the ban also kicks in for small businesses. This means that any surcharges on card payments can no longer exceed the cost of processing the payment. This covers Eftpos, Visa, MasterCard and American Express transactions. This ban was applied to large businesses in September last year.