Westpac New Zealand launched what it said was New Zealand's first debit card to earn Airpoints. Westpac replaced National Australia Bank's BNZ as Air New Zealand's official Airpoints partner in March and has since launched a range of Airpoints credit cards. The Westpac Airpoints Debit MasterCard can be used online, over the phone and overseas with customers earning one Airpoints dollar for every NZ$250 spent through the card. Westpac said "tens of thousands" of customers had already signed up for the new credit cards. Financial services intelligence and media provider RFi Group yesterday announced its acquisition of Asia-Pacific Banking & Finance (AB+F). In a media statement, RFi Group's CEO, Charles Green, said the acquisition "complements RFi's existing portfolio and also provides a great distribution platform for our intelligence and insights, which will enhance how RFi delivers its content across the region. AB+F also runs more than 80 events a year, including numerous industry summits." The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Digital platform operator OnMarket Book Build yesterday launched a mobile application and website that its CEO, Ben Bucknell, claimed would give "all eligible investors" access to the same IPOs and share placements opportunities, and on the same terms, as institutional investors. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, assisted by Bucknell, was on hand to place the first bid for shares in Bitcoin Group, a bitcoin miner hoping to raise $20 million via an IPO, assisted by the OnMarket platform. The PM - a former chairman of Goldman Sachs in Australia - wouldn't be drawn on the effect this app might have on investment bankers' fees. The Turnbull government is working on a major innovation agenda with crowdfunding for start-ups and tax breaks for "angel investors" in fledgling tech companies as top priorities, the AFR reports. Innovation Minister Christopher Pyne said governments had dragged the chain on crowdfunding and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had ordered him to "release his inner revolutionary" and fast-track measures to boost innovative firms. Changes to the Corporations Act to clear the way for crowdfunding are expected to be unveiled in the spring.