FinTech Voice August 25, 2022 – EY FinTech Australia Census 2022

Tickets are selling fast this year in what will become the biggest Australian fintech conference yet! Book your tickets to Intersekt 2022 soon. We will soon share a separate email this week with what to expect at the conference. Until then, visit the intersekt website for all the updates on the program, roundtables, International Dinner events and more.

Our policy work is also now ramping up. The CDR Non-Bank Lending draft designation instrument consultation by Treasury and the tax treatment of digital assets and transactions consultation by the Board of Taxation are the two submissions we will be working on. You can also attend these roundtables at Intersekt this year to participate in the conversation directly with the regulators. We will soon be announcing our approach for a more proactive engagement with policy makers, government and regulators on our key policy priorities.

Fundsquire is a global fintech that invests growth capital in innovative businesses in Australia, Canada, and the UK. Through its advance funding and resources, Fundsquire helps clients accelerate and strengthen the value of their business. As an Intersekt sponsor and panel speaker, Fundsquire continues to empower the Australian startup ecosystem.

FinTech Australia EY Census – If you work with a fintech, the EY FinTech Australia Census survey is for you to help us understand the views of the ecosystem and help with our policy priorities. It is a highly valued source of information for both regulators and government. The survey is open till 9th September.

Policy Advocacy – Government released the final report of their sectoral assessment for non-bank lending, We recently made a submission to the crypto-asset reform consultation paper. ASIC outlined its core strategic projects and priorities for the next four years. The Board of Taxation launched consultation on the tax treatment of digital assets and transactions. For more updates on policy, check out the advocacy section below

Intersekt and following events – We’re excited to bring you this year’s Intersekt Pitch Night 2022. It is in collaboration with Seed Money, Mastercard, Dialpad and Seed Space . Express your interest to pitch your fintech to investors and to win amazing prizes.

In collaboration with Currencycloud, join the webinar on Reinventing wealth management as a part of our Intersekt 2022 pre-conference Digital Series. Hear from speakers from Pearler and Currencycloud as they discuss the landscape of wealth management in Asia-Pacific and Australia and more. Register for the event here

Lastly…

Austrade in collaboration with the RegTech Association of Hong Kong and The RegTech Association Australia are presenting webinar on Latest Developments in RegTech and Business Opportunities in Hong Kong. Register for the event – 25 August 2022

For any queries and support, please reach out to us.

Finally, we welcome our newest member this fortnight – DOX AI (Ezidox – Lakeba Group), CHIPPIT PTY LTD and DELTAPEER

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

Treasury consults on CDR Non-Bank Lending draft designation instrument

On Friday the Government released for consultation a draft designation instrument which sets out the scope of datasets and data holders proposed to be designated for the CDR in the non‑bank lending sector.

Treasury also released the final report of their sectoral assessment for non-bank lending, which informed the drafting of the designation instrument. The sectoral assessment was the first of Treasury’s assessments of ‘Open Finance’ sub‑sectors for inclusion within the CDR.

FinTech Australia contributed to the consultation on the sectoral assessment in April and we plan to make a submission on the draft instrument and subsequent related draft rules.

The consultation closes on 16 September 2022.

Government outlines next steps on crypto asset reforms

This week the Government announced work on crypto reform is underway. A ‘token mapping’ project will be the first step under the new Government’s reform agenda, with a consultation paper to be released ‘soon’.

It appears the Government is taking a more gradual approach to developing a regulatory framework for crypto assets, in contrast to the previous Government’s consultation before the federal election on options for licensing and custody requirements.

FinTech Australia made a submission to that consultation process and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Treasury during the token mapping consultation process.

ASIC identifies crypto assets and cyber resilience as core strategic projects

This week ASIC outlined its core strategic projects and priorities for the next four years.

Notably, ASIC flagged volatility in the crypto-assets market as having a transformational impact on the regulatory environment and that the regulator will take action to protect investors from harms posed by crypto-assets. This action will include a stronger focus on supervising and assessing product disclosure statements and target market determinations.

Cyber and operational resilience was also highlighted as a core strategic project, with ASIC to take a more proactive approach which will include implementing a cross-industry self-assessment to benchmark cyber resilience.

The Board of Taxation launches consultation on the tax treatment of digital assets and transactions

Consultation has commenced on a review into the appropriate policy framework for the taxation of digital assets and transactions in Australia.

The Board of Tax is seeking feedback to assist with identifying emerging tax policy issues associated with crypto assets, considering the current tax treatment of crypto assets, and considering the awareness of the tax treatment by both retail and wholesale investors.

The review was originally announced by the previous Government last December, with Terms of Reference released this March, shortly before the federal election. The current Government’s decision to proceed with the review is a positive sign that we might soon see progress on other matters that formed last year’s broader Government response to the review of Australia’s payments system and the regulation of digital assets.

The Board of Tax is seeking written submissions by 30 September 2022 and will provide a final report with advice to Government by the end of this year.

📇King & Wood Mallesons CRYPTO ASSET CONSULTATION ON AUSTRALIA’S HORIZON. Australia’s Treasury Ministers announced consultation on a framework for regulation of the crypto asset sector for industry and regulators. For more, visit here

💭Think & Grow are working on the most in-demand nationwide research project – the fourth iteration of the Australian Startup Salary Guide 2022/2023. Click here to participate in the survey.

📣The Stone & Chalk Group is extending exclusive offers to valued members of Fintech Australia. If you are a tech startup or a scaleup, visit their website for more information.

🔍 AusIndustry is hosting a a free information session to learn more about the Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI). This hour long session will introduce you to the R&DTI and guide you through key eligibility requirements. Oct-Nov 2022. For more info, click here

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Fintech Week 2022 is here – one of the largest conferences on the calendar, attracting more than 12,000 senior executives and featuring over 250 of the world’s top speakers including FinTech founders, investors, regulators, and academics. 31 Oct – 4 Nov. Book your pass now

💻 Join the #RegTechEdgeNoBorders program by The RegTech Association which is designed to showcase RegTech solutions that address the global challenges across a complex regulatory landscape – 8 Sept. Register for the event today!

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

  • Ziksu receives International Fintech Award One Year after launching
  • WNS is Becoming a Trusted Partner for FinTech Companies
August 25, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, Newsletter Comments Off on FinTech Voice August 25, 2022 – EY FinTech Australia Census 2022

FinTech Voice August 11, 2022

The EY FinTech Australia Census is an important initiative we conduct every year to gain a better understanding of the key issues that are affecting the fintech community. If you’re a fintech and haven’t yet participated in this year’s census, please do.

This study will help us demonstrate that our priorities truly reflect the views of the ecosystem. It is a highly valued source of information for both regulators and government.

Meetups – We are hosting a Going Global event in collaboration with Austrade to showcase how Australian fintechs are successfully scaling their businesses globally. We will be joined by speakers from Google Cloud & AssuranceLab to discuss how you can scale your fintech business with strong partners, and Fundsquire and Karta as leading examples of Australian fintechs succeeding overseas. August 24 – Register soon!

Policy Advocacy – RBA is working with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre to study use cases for a CBDC in Australia. APRA is working on a draft standard on new operational risk management. The Government is working on introducing legislation in the upcoming parliamentary sitting period to make unfair contract terms illegal. For more updates on policy, check out the advocacy section below

Please reach out to Nick Kavass to arrange a time to discuss your policy priorities and involvement in our Policy Working Groups.

Intersekt – Lots of excitement and interest for the conference this year and not enough space. Book your tickets soon. Visit intersekt website for all the info and updates on the program, networking events.

We have joined forces with Seed Money, Mastercard, Dialpad and Seed Space to deliver this year’s Intersekt Pitch Night 2022. Express your interest to pitch your fintech to investors and to win amazing prizes.

We recently released our year in review outlining our milestones and showcasing our journey and achievements from last year. Thank you to all members for your support.

Lastly…

ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission) hosted the Financial Innovation Regulator Meet-up, representatives from national bodies discussed issues and their latest experience with financial innovation and technology, details here.

For any queries and support, please reach out to us.

Finally, we welcome our newest member this fortnight – ARYZA, FMH HOLDING PTE LTD, GLOBAL PAYMENTS INC, BEHAVE AND SAVE and IDMETA PTY LTD

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

RBA to explore use cases for CBDC

The RBA announced it is working with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre on a research project to explore use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia.

Yesterday we met with the RBA to discuss this work and opportunities for FinTech Australia members to be involved. The RBA is keen to hear from fintechs with ideas for pilot use cases before a white paper is launched in the coming months.

This year’s Intersekt will feature a panel discussion and roundtable with the RBA, including Head of Payments Policy, Ellis Connolly. The roundtable, in particular, will provide an opportunity to engage directly with the RBA on CBDC use cases. We will also organise broader engagement opportunities with the RBA on this project after Intersekt.

If you have a strong interest in this work, please reach out to us.

APRA consults on new operational risk management standard

APRA is consulting on a new cross-industry Prudential Standard CPS 230 on Operational Risk Management.

Notably, the draft standard includes broadened requirements for APRA-regulated entities to effectively manage the risks associated with the use of third-party service providers with a comprehensive management policy, formal agreements and robust monitoring.

Banking as a Service arrangements and crypto-assets are specifically mentioned in APRA’s associated discussion paper as examples of situations where ADIs would need to meet the updated requirements.

APRA is seeking feedback on the draft standard by 21 October 2022.

Government to legislate ban on unfair contract terms

The Government announced it will introduce legislation in the upcoming parliamentary sitting period to make unfair contract terms illegal.

The amendments will introduce civil penalty provisions outlawing the use of, and reliance on, unfair terms in standard form contracts. This will significantly strengthen the current provisions, which can only result in a term being void if found ‘unfair’ by a court or tribunal.

The reforms will also expand the scope of small businesses protected by the unfair contract terms provisions. The small business eligibility threshold will increase from less than 20 employees to less than 100 employees, and an annual turnover threshold of less than $10 million will be introduced as an alternative threshold for determining eligibility.

Intersekt Regulator Roundtables

Intersekt this year will feature a range of regulator roundtables led by federal government departments and agencies, including Treasury, ASIC, AUSTRAC, the RBA and the ACCC.

We will soon announce registration details for participating in these roundtables.

📇Open Banking Excellence (OBE) has joined forces with Accenture, the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT), Innovate Finance, NatWest and the University of Oxford to develop a first-of-a-kind global Open Finance Index. The index helps to understand about Australia’s domestic readiness to develop Open Banking and Open Finance ecosystems. Take part in their quick survey here.

💭Think & Grow are working on the most in-demand nationwide research project – the fourth iteration of the Australian Startup Salary Guide 2022/2023. Click here to participate in the survey.

🔍 AusIndustry is hosting a a free information session to learn more about the Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI). This hour long session will introduce you to the R&DTI and guide you through key eligibility requirements. For more info, click here

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Fintech Week 2022 is here – one of the largest conferences on the calendar, attracting more than 12,000 senior executives and featuring over 250 of the world’s top speakers including FinTech founders, investors, regulators, and academics. 31 Oct – 4 Nov. Book your pass now

🇬🇧 Austrade presents First in a series of informative sessions with leading experts from across the UK to discuss how Australia’s most innovative Tech Businesses can access UK Markets, raise investment, and hire global talent. Aug 23. Click here to register

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

  • Frollo has announced that it’s phasing out screen scraping in its free money management app, where Open Banking is available
  • RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre to Explore Use Cases for CBDC
  • PEXA and Send Payments team up to streamline multi-currency property transactions
  • Change Financial announces $5.7 million capital raise
  • Sandstone Technology Positioned as the Leader in the 2022 SPARK Matrix™ for Digital Banking Platforms by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions
  • B4Real and Tribe Digital Ventures Partnership Announced
  • Jumio has introduced a guide on KYC and Digital Payment Compliance in Asia Pacific
August 11, 2022 FinTech Australia, FinTech Australia Announcements, Newsletter Comments Off on FinTech Voice August 11, 2022

Five Fintechs On Friday August 4, 2022 – Intersekt 2022

If you’re a fintech and haven’t completed already, please participate in the EY FinTech Australia Census to highlight the key issues that are affecting the fintech community. This is an important study to inform our dealings with policymakers and the media. It lends our commentary and policy suggestions weight as it allows us to demonstrate that our key points truly reflect the views of the ecosystem. It is a highly valued source of information by both regulators and government.

Networking drinks, Industry Dinners, Pitch Nights and more. Get your tickets for our annual flagship conference Intersekt soon

FinTech Australia, Seed Money, Mastercard, Dialpad and Seed Space have joined forces to deliver this year’s Intersekt Pitch Night 2022. Express your interest below to pitch your fintech to investors and to win amazing prizes.

The new edition of the five fintechs on Friday is here!

News from the industry…

Till Payments launches NextGen Pay By Link, offering a highly secure option for remote payments plus Apple Pay acceptance. WeMoney Announces Winners of Inaugural Home Loan Awards. Adatree Exchange launched recently providing one-stop shop to leverage data under the CDR. KOBA Partners with Birchal for Second Funding Round

Below are five fintechs to know about this fortnight!

Swoop

Swoop is an online marketplace for businesses and their trusted advisors to gain access to a range of funding and cost savings opportunities across loans, equity, grants, FX, business current accounts and credit cards. Swoop’s technology analyses client information which is provided from the client and accountancy software plug-ins. Their platform matches the client to the best options available to them in the market and their dedicated funding managers step in to understand the business and advise on what funding best suits their needs

Tanggram

Tanggram dedicate the mission towards helping everyday people build wealth through daily activities. Early this year, Tanggram launched a sustainability-focused superannuation option that uses SDGs as its metrics. Also, Tanggram successfully raised $1Mil from Aqueduct Venture last month. One of the reasons for Aqueduct Venture to invest in Tanggram is that they have found there are great synergies in their investment portfolio. The fund will be mainly used for Tanggram continued scale up as well as product development. Another big news is that Tanggram have been awarded the Best Workplace Diversity award at the Finnies 2022.

Superhero

With over 200,000 investors, Superhero is a leading share trading and superannuation platform that aims to make investing accessible, understandable and affordable for all Aussies. Co-founded by John Winters and Wayne Baskin, Superhero allows investors to trade Aussie and U.S. stocks in real time with no account fees. Investors have access to live AU and U.S. market data, instant PayID transfers and low cost trading across ASX and U.S markets.

Superhero launched its flagship superannuation product, Superhero Super, in July 2021 – giving Australians the ability to invest their superannuation in their chosen shares and exchange traded funds. In June 2022, Superhero announced an industry leading merger with leading Australian cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx. The merger will create an integrated app, allowing Australians to seamlessly trade equities and digital currencies on the same platform.

Yondr Money
Yondr Money is a technology driven fintech company based in Australia that offers an intelligent and streamlined, customer-first alternative to mainstream banks. Yondr was created to address some of the banking industry’s most pressing issues and to tip the balance back towards the customer. Yondr has developed a cutting-edge fintech platform that combines the advantages of both traditional and digital money experiences. After completing extensive closed-group testing, a public beta was successfully launched to market during February 2022.

Worldpay from FIS

Worldpay from FIS® payment processing solutions allow businesses to take, make and manage payments seamlessly across channels, geographies and industries. Over 1M+ merchants globally utilize Worldpay, enabling them to accept 300+ payment methods across mobile, online and in-store transactions. Offering industry-leading scale and an unmatched integrated technology platform, Worldpay solutions help businesses unlock new opportunities, manage payment processing more efficiently and deliver an exceptional omni-commerce customer experience.

Check out our previous issues here! 
August 5, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, Five Fintechs, Newsletter Comments Off on Five Fintechs On Friday August 4, 2022 – Intersekt 2022

FinTech Voice July 28, 2022

It’s that time of the year when events and policy advocacy are our main priorities

Policy Advocacy – Our recently appointed Policy Lead, Nick Kavass is reaching out to government and regulators and is keen to hear from members on priorities and challenges. Nick brings experience from across government, including Treasury, ASIC and ministerial offices, to the role.

Please reach out to Nick at nick@fintechaustralia.org.au to arrange a time to discuss your policy priorities and involvement in our Policy Working Groups. Thank you for your kind messages welcoming him.

Meetup – After the success of our introductory meetups, we’ve planned more regular meetups for our members combining networking and content led discussions. Each session will see discussions on pertinent topics, bringing in experts and providing insights for all in attendance. Kicking off this event series is Digital Transformations in Fintech in Sydney on August 10. Hope to connect with you there.

Intersekt – All steam ahead! The demand for this year’s conference is unmatched. This is your last week to access early bird tickets. I hope to see you all there as we plan the biggest conference yet for the industry to cement new professional relationships. We will update you shortly on panels, regulator roundtables and other key events through the week that you will benefit from attending.

In other updates…

Check out this week’s new episode in our FinTech Australia Podcast series – July News Roundup with Chris Hicks: Hope in the Turbulence. In this episode hear from Chris Hicks from Till Payments in conversation with our host Brian Collins talk about fintech ecosystem and more. Tune in for more here. You can also listen to them on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission) is hosting a Financial Innovation Regulator Meet-up, bringing together representatives from national bodies to discuss issues and their latest experience with financial innovation and technology tomorrow. For more information and registration, visit here.

For any queries and support, please reach out to us.

Finally, we welcome our newest member this fortnight – PATONA PTY LTD and CMSPI

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

 

CDR Sandbox

Last week the ACCC launched the CDR Sandbox. Originally announced last November, the sandbox is a hosted environment that behaves and functions like the actual CDR ecosystem.

It builds on the existing mock solution tools available from the Consumer Data Right Github and enhances the capability available to participants and vendors to test their own solutions in a hosted sandbox environment.

A sandbox-like test environment is an initiative FinTech Australia has advocated for in past submissions.

Survey on CDR Guidance

Earlier this week, the ACCC opened a short survey on their CDR participant guidance strategy. The 5-minute survey largely focuses on the accessibility and preferred channels for existing guidance, but also asks about areas where more guidance is needed.

If you have any detailed feedback raised directly with the ACCC CDR team, please reach out to us, as we are planning to meet with them in the coming weeks.

Engagement with the RBA

We recently met with the RBA to discuss their work on CBDCs, stablecoins and payments policy. The RBA is keen to increase their engagement with the fintech community and we expect to organise a member roundtable with them in the coming weeks.

We will soon share an update on this

Upcoming Engagements

Our new Policy Lead, Nick Kavass, will travel to Canberra next week for the Parliamentary Innovation Tech Showcase.

Nick will also participate in a roundtable on 10 August with the NSW Industry Policy Advisory Panel, led by Dr Ken Henry AC, on the ambitions and strategic directions for industry policy in NSW. This consultation process will inform a forthcoming NSW Industry Policy White Paper, which will set the directions to underpin the State’s economic performance over the next 15 years.

Regulator roundtables will feature prominently as part of the program for Intersekt again this year. We will soon announce roundtables with regulators across a range of policy issues including CDR and open banking, payments and crypto.

 

🏅2022 edition of the Australian Growth Company Awards are here to celebrate excellence and recognise companies that demonstrate high rates of sustainable growth, innovation, integrity and contribution to the community. Nominations are open till 9 August. Apply soon

📇Open Banking Excellence (OBE) has joined forces with Accenture, the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT), Innovate Finance, NatWest and the University of Oxford to develop a first-of-a-kind global Open Finance Index. The index helps to understand about Australia’s domestic readiness to develop Open Banking and Open Finance ecosystems. Take part in their quick survey here.

 

📣 Basiq and LUNA presents 2022’s biggest Fintech Pitch Night. Here is the opportunity to Pitch your startup to a panel of industry experts and a room full of potential investors and users – 4 August. Click here to register

🔍 Austrade is hosting a a free information session to learn more about the Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI). This hour long session will introduce you to the R&DTI and guide you through key eligibility requirements. For more info, click here

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Fintech Week 2022 is here – one of the largest conferences on the calendar, attracting more than 12,000 senior executives and featuring over 250 of the world’s top speakers including FinTech founders, investors, regulators, and academics. 31 Oct – 4 Nov. Book your pass now

 

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

  • Sandstone Technology appoints Abhish Saha as CEO
  • Till Payments launches NextGen Pay By Link, offering a highly secure option for remote payments plus Apple Pay acceptance
  • Main Roads recently selected Link4 as their eInvoicing partner
  • Adatree Exchange launched recently providing one-stop shop to leverage data under the CDR
  • Dock & Bay has joined TreviPay’s Payments and Invoicing Network to offer a line of credit to B2B buyers
  • WeMoney Announces Winners of Inaugural Home Loan Awards
  • Australia: home to a booming fintech industry
  • KOBA Partners with Birchal for Second Funding Round

 
July 28, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, General, Newsletter Comments Off on FinTech Voice July 28, 2022

Five Fintechs On Friday July 22, 2022

The new edition of the five fintechs on Friday is here!

8 days to go till the early bird ticket sales closes. Get your tickets for our annual flagship conference Intersekt soon

 

News from the industry…

Spenda announces company rebrand. Till Payments adds Alipay to its education offering through Alipay+ partnership. CreditorWatch awarded ISO certification for gold-standard information security management. Upcover raises $4.7m to disrupt “overcomplicated” insurance landscape and GoCardless launches free online course ‘PayTo University’ to support introduction of Australia’s new payment system

 

 

I am interested in Global Events!

 

Below are five fintechs to know about this fortnight!

 

Spenda

Spenda is a business ecosystem that facilitates the transfer of both operational and financial data between businesses as they buy and sell from each other. They have over 20 years’ experience in delivering smart B2B software applications, flexible payment and lending solutions, and integration services that help improve the way businesses trade and get paid. Spenda recently launched a rebrand, showcasing a new logo which they say better aligns with the continued evolution and growth of the business.

UPPLFT

Upplft is re-imagining the hiring experience by directly connecting top talent with verified businesses, making it a faster, more transparent and direct way of hiring. Removing key friction points from the search and hire process, Upplft believes in the power of creating connections and increasing retention by building lasting working relationships. With a foundation in data, behavioural science and AI, we match talent & businesses using values, culture, personality, and technical & soft skills, in a non-bias way.

So you can re-Imagine the hiring experience with UPPLFT! No more CVs and job descriptions
Upplft Your future. Shaped by you.

Downsizer

Downsizer is a property-focused fintech on a mission to help a whole generation enjoy their downsized life, with more money and more freedom. Using an automated property valuation model, Downsizer unlocks home equity to back a cashless deposit bond for exchange of contracts. This allows empty nesters to secure their new dream home, without having to sell their current home first. The Downsizer Deposit Bond is available for both off-the-plan and existing dwellings and it can be used by owner-occupiers, investors and SMSFs. There is an instant eligibility and affordability.

Lift Women
Lift Women is a female-led FinTech startup and Australia’s first women-focused crowdfunding platform that connects female entrepreneurs to pivotal resources and relationships, while also operating on a social impactful model. Their mission is to close the funding gap for female founders by making funding accessible and possible for all women and girls in Australia and beyond. Empowering women to start their own business, attain financial wellness and live a life to its fullest potential are at the heart of everything they do.

Jacobi Strategies

Jacobi Strategies (Jacobi) helps investment firms streamline their multi-asset investment processes with a unique, customizable platform for portfolio design, analysis and client engagement. The cloud-based software allows users to combine complex financial modelling, portfolio design and intuitive visualisation and reporting. Its unique “open architecture” platform allows firms to build their own code, analytics and applications on top of the platform.
Founded in Brisbane in 2014 Jacobi’s clients include some of the world’s leading pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, wealth managers and investment consultants.

Check out our previous issues here! 
July 22, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, Five Fintechs, Newsletter Comments Off on Five Fintechs On Friday July 22, 2022

FinTech Voice July 14, 2022

Dear Community,

The Intersekt Fintech Festival 2022 tickets are now available for purchase. After an overwhelming response at the Finnies with tickets selling out within three weeks of launch, we are expecting a huge turnout for this year’s conference. Book your discounted early bird tickets now! Expect sub-industry dinners (Sept 6), pitch night, roundtable discussions, International delegations, stellar speakers, networking events and much more on the 7th and 8th of September in Melbourne.

We are continuing to drive the fintech policy agenda with the new government. We recently sent a letter to the Treasurer requesting to discuss the approach the office will take towards supporting the recommendations made in the ‘Payment Systems Review’. We also plan to highlight to the Treasurer other issues in the industry such as BNPL, CDR and Crypto regulation.

ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission) is hosting a Financial Innovation Regulator Meet-up. It is bringing together representatives from national bodies to discuss issues and their latest experience with financial innovation and technology on 28 July. For more information and registration, visit here.

Finally, we welcome our newest member this fortnight – JACOBI STRATEGIES, SWOOP FINANCE PTY LTD AND LIFTWOMEN GROUP

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

Crypto-Asset Roadmap – 2022-23

The International Organization of Securities Commissions recently published its Crypto-Asset Roadmap for 2022-2023 that sets out its regulatory policy agenda and work program for the sector over the next 12 to 24 months

It will prioritise policy-focused work on crypto-asset markets and activities in its initial 12 to 24 months of operation, while continuing to monitor market developments associated with broader Fintech-related trends and innovation.

 

🏅2022 edition of the Australian Growth Company Awards are here to celebrate excellence and recognise companies that demonstrate high rates of sustainable growth, innovation, integrity and contribution to the community. Nominations are open till 9 August. Apply soon

📇Open Banking Excellence (OBE) has joined forces with Accenture, the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT), Innovate Finance, NatWest and the University of Oxford to develop a first-of-a-kind global Open Finance Index. The index helps to understand about Australia’s domestic readiness to develop Open Banking and Open Finance ecosystems. Take part in their quick survey here.

 

📣 Basiq and LUNA presents 2022’s biggest Fintech Pitch Night. Here is the opportunity to Pitch your startup to a panel of industry experts and a room full of potential investors and users – 4 August. Click here to register

🔍 Austrade is hosting a a free information session to learn more about the Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI). This hour long session will introduce you to the R&DTI and guide you through key eligibility requirements. For more info, click here

🤝🏻 Lift Women is celebrating its 1st year Anniversary founders and backers who have realised their dreams and changed lives collectively by uplifting each other – Join the inaugural in-person event on 14 July. Register today.

💻 Stone & Chalk will be opening a Scaleup Hub at Tech Central in July 2022 to power scaleups that are shaping Australia’s economic future. This is Stone & Chalk’s second Hub in Sydney. To know more about the tour of the hub, visit here

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Fintech Week 2022 is here – one of the largest conferences on the calendar, attracting more than 12,000 senior executives and featuring over 250 of the world’s top speakers including FinTech founders, investors, regulators, and academics. Book your pass now

📊 Databricks presents The Scaling With Data + AI OpenHack Challenge that aims to inspire the most audacious data + AI ambitions of Australian companies from across startups, fintech, FSI, media & entertainment and retail. For more info, visit here.

 

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

  • Superapp Bano partners with Currencycloud to simplify finance for Australia’s Gen Z
  • GoCardless launches free online course ‘PayTo University’ to support introduction of Au`stralia’s new payment system
  • Spenda announces company rebrand
  • Fintechs Mitrade and Azupay partner for real-time payments
  • Link4 Helps Government Organisations Embrace the New Era of eInvoicing
  • Till Payments adds Alipay to its education offering through Alipay+ partnership
  • CreditorWatch awarded ISO certification for gold-standard information security management
  • Change Financial launches global payment API sandbox in a New Zealand first
  • Upcover raises $4.7m to disrupt “overcomplicated” insurance landscape
  • Monoova announced its merger with foreign exchange organisation Moneytech FX to deliver a single platform that enables businesses to consolidate domestic and international payment processes

 
July 14, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, General, Newsletter Comments Off on FinTech Voice July 14, 2022

Five Fintechs On Friday July 8, 2022

The new edition of the five fintechs on Friday is here!

 

First, news from the industry…

Link4 is expanding its services to the United States with the support of an export grant through the Government of South Australia. Nano announces major B2B expansion plan to bring fast, digital mortgages to all. WeMoney Announces Winners of Inaugural Personal Loan & Car Loan Awards

 

Below are five fintechs to know about this fortnight!

iPayd

iPayd is a payment protection service for private buyers & sellers where it receives the payment from the buyer (the money being paid for goods or services) and holds it until both the buyer and the seller agree to the release of funds.
iPayd was created by car enthusiasts and fintech developers to protect people from private marketplace scammers.
They are on a mission to open up the potential of the Consumer-2-Consumer economy by solving the issue of trust; between private buyers or sellers.

apickle

Running a business is tough. By the time SMB’s have paid all their rising fixed cost there is nothing left over.

Sounds like you’re in a bit of a pickle…

APICKLE’s intuitive lending-based platform offer SMB’s small little unsecured loans for businesses that think BIG.
Merchant Unsecured business loan – Repay as You Trade
Line of Credit – Use it when you need it.
Now that’s a BIG DILL.

Their platform aggregates consumer demand for unsecured business loans and connects it to its network of APICKLE enabled partners.

Brighte

Brighte is on a mission to make every home sustainable, offering consumers a fast and easy way to pay for solar, battery and home electrification. Brighte has to date helped over 110,000 households get solar sooner, partnering with over 2,000 solar retailers nationally and processing more than $1.3 billion in finance applications. In Dec 2021, ten percent of solar installations nationwide was financed by Brighte. A purpose-led business supporting the power shift to the home, Brighte financed installations reduce household CO2 emissions by 800 million tonnes each year, representing 650MW of solar generation capacity.

Paytron
Paytron is a sophisticated payments platform that lets SMEs manage all their business payments in one place, with built-in approvals workflows. Paytron is the only platform in Australia to streamline accounts payable, receivable, FX payments, payroll, and employee spending corporate cards. The platform allows businesses and their accountants to eliminate 5-6 different apps, and remove ABA files, manual processes, and duplication of work. Paytron also has a two-way sync with Xero, allowing for real-time data visibility and automated reconciliation. Paytron has been selected by Austrade and Investment NSW as one of Australia’s leading Fintech’s.

Card Access Services (CAS)

Card Access Services (CAS) is an Australian provider of payment technology and services, specialising in design, development & integrations to facilitate payment collection, data reporting and automated reconciliation.

The platform is used by merchants around the world servicing online, phone, mobile, traditional retail, and self-service channels.
In the APAC region, CAS is connected to 30+ banks and additionally has its own merchant acquiring business: Paymate, providing online merchant and settlement services in AU and NZ.

CAS is also a successful exporter of our payment technology and managed services to Governments in SE Asia and Africa. CAS was established in 1987.

Check out our previous issues here! 
July 8, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, Five Fintechs, Newsletter Comments Off on Five Fintechs On Friday July 8, 2022

FinTech Voice: Finnie Awards – June 30, 2022

Dear Community,

It’s been an exciting fortnight with Finnie award winners announcement at the Gala night in Melbourne. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists. Pictures and videos from the night are also now available. Thank you to all for making it a huge success.

It’s business as usual at FinTech Australia. We will strengthen our focus on driving the policy agenda with the new Government. We will also be engaging with all the regulators to discuss the key priorities.

Our immediate priority is regarding the independent review of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). we welcome this review and support a holistic consideration of the RBA’s performance and mandate. We are also excited about the launch of Payto. While we wait for the banks to enable it to their customers, we look forward to the ramp up of the system and use cases that come from it. We will be advocating on behalf of our members for reforms of payment regulation alongside decisions about CDR.

We are also close to finalising the program for Intersekt this year. It’s going to be bigger than ever and will have more updates to share soon. Early bird tickets are now available for purchase. If you have any suggestions, please reach out.

We’re headed to our next meetup in Brisbane on 13th July. Register early as we have limited space for the event.

For any queries, feedback or suggestions please reach out to us.

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

The Council of Financial Regulators

The Council of Financial Regulators highlighted in their release about their immediate focus areas including debanking, crypto assets, stablecoins (& payments), CHESS replacement, dispute resolution, interest rates, & sustainability & climate disclosure standards.

Thank you to all the members who participated in the debanking roundtable. We will continue to engage with the Council and individual regulators.

 

🤝🏻 Monetary Authority of Singapore is hosting its Global FinTech Hackcelerator 2022. It is a great opportunity for fintech companies to gain access to some of the fastest growing markets in Singapore and the region. Applications open till 10 July. For more info, visit here

📇Open Banking Excellence (OBE) has joined forces with Accenture, the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT), Innovate Finance, NatWest and the University of Oxford to develop a first-of-a-kind global Open Finance Index. The index helps to understand about Australia’s domestic readiness to develop Open Banking and Open Finance ecosystems. Take part in their quick survey here.

 

🤝🏻 Stone & Chalk powered by Pivott presents the Pivott Talent Jam. Get a chance to pitch your company and ideal candidate criteria in under a minute. Passionate jobseekers will then participate in a speed networking session – 5 July. Get your tickets here

💻 Stone & Chalk will be opening a Scaleup Hub at Tech Central in July 2022 to power scaleups that are shaping Australia’s economic future. This is Stone & Chalk’s second Hub in Sydney. To know more about the tour of the hub, visit here

 

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

  • Mambu partners with CommsBank to develop Unloan, the CBA group’s new digital home loan
  • WeMoney Announces Winners of Inaugural Personal Loan & Car Loan Awards
  • Zai waives PayTo fees, saving Australian businesses thousands of dollars
  • TreviPay has teamed up with payment processor Compaynet to power its B2B trade credit product
  • Link4 is expanding its services to the United States with the support of an export grant through the Government of South Australia.
  • Bendigo and Adelaide Bank partnered with Sandstone Technology to transform and streamline their loan processing systems and processes.
  • Lensell releases an article – part of 4th in the in the “OpinionaTech” leadership series
  • Nano announces major B2B expansion plan to bring fast, digital mortgages to all

 
June 30, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, Newsletter Comments Off on FinTech Voice: Finnie Awards – June 30, 2022

Five Fintechs On Friday – June 24, 2022
The new edition of the five fintechs on Friday is here!
 

Firstly, thank you all for attending Australia’s most prestigious fintech awards Finnies 2022. It was great to have leaders and industry stalwarts gather under one roof. We congratulate all the winners for their accomplishments and thank all the sponsors for their support. For more information on the winners, visit here

News from the industry…

FinTech Australia signed up five new major corporate partners, securing a total of 11 partnerships within the past five months. Zai waives PayTo fees, saving Australian businesses thousands of dollars. TreviPay Helps Compaynet Power B2B Trade Credit

 

Below are five fintechs to know about this fortnight!

Amfin

Amfin is one of the fastest growing Finance Companies in Australia. They however, would call themselves a customer experience business first – they just happen to solve their challenges or meet their needs through finance products. Since their inception in 2017, they have secured exclusive asset finance partnerships with industry leading organisations, accounting for approximately 40% of the total mortgage broker market. Amfin provides streamlined asset and cash flow finance in the consumer and commercial space as well as asset sourcing, insurance and commercial property solutions. Combined with a personalised application process, product matching technology and client portal, their experienced team have helped tens of thousands of clients to purchase assets and secure funding to help grow their businesses. Amfin’s mission is simple; to deliver a customer experience like no other.

 

BankiFi

BankiFi is a technology company that enables banks to reimagine business banking and help small business customers to thrive. BankiFi’s platform seamlessly connects to multiple sources of financial data, can be white-labelled and is ready to go “out-of-the-box.” It transforms the bank channel into the go-to place for businesses to manage their financial needs. Small business customers can get a complete picture of their finances and use their mobile or internet banking service for bookkeeping, invoices, payments, collections and setting aside tax – not just checking an account balance. The result is “embedded banking” and it’s a powerful win/win for banks and their small business customers.

Ebonex

Ebonex is a newly launched Crypto exchange dedicated to creating a seamless trading experience for Australians. Ebonex prides itself on being customer centric, secure, and transparent. Ebonex is committed in ensuring that all Australians have equal opportunity in understanding it and leveraging it. Women, people of colour and those who have a lower socio-economic status, were never included in previous financial institutions. As a result, they were unable to profit from it and when these institutions dictated social structures, their voices and needs were not considered. Ebonex is here to ensure all Australians know, because knowledge is power and power, should be equally accessible.

Think and Grow
Think & Grow are partners for bold technology businesses, helping tech startups compete globally in a world of rapid change, with a variety of services targeted for different stages and the people-side of growth. These services include Retrained (a digital upskilling and people-focussed program), Advisory (growth consulting), Land & Expand (international expansion) and Talent (exec & board search + onsite). Think & Grow was born to provide support to the ecosystem we identified as missing to help Australian businesses scale globally, and have worked with a number of early to high-growth Australian Fintech companies such as Zepto, Unhedged, Afterpay, Zip, Banxa, 1derful, Immutable, and have brought companies like GoCardless, Square and Stripe to Australia.

Nano Digital Home Loans

Nano digital home loans is a technology company that is disrupting the lending industry with a fully end-to-end digital home loan. Nano offers refinancers and property buyers full approval in minutes, not weeks, eliminating the stress and anxiety that comes with waiting for home loan approval. Since their launch in June 2021, Nano has achieved Australia’s record fastest home loan approval in less than 10 minutes, and just last month, announced that their technology will also power AMP Bank’s digital mortgage.

Check out our previous issues here!

June 24, 2022 FinTech Australia, Five Fintechs, Newsletter Comments Off on Five Fintechs On Friday – June 24, 2022

FinTech Voice June 16, 2022

Dear Community,

It’s almost the Finnies Gala Night! If you are unable to make it for the in-person event in Melbourne, we will still have it streamed online! Plan your own little home/office party. Add the details to your Google or Outlook calendar or save the Youtube link.

Watch this space for the Intersekt fintech conference launch and more updates about our plans for the new financial year. After our three successful roadshows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, we’re headed to Brisbane on 6th July. Register early as we have limited space for the event.

We’re also excited to have recently added five new corporate partners – 1835i, OneSpan, Endava, Palo Alto networks and Thales. If you are require any support from them, please reach out to us. We thank them for their support and look forward to working with them closely. Exciting initiatives planned.

For any queries, feedback or suggestions please reach out to us.

We recently made our submission for the Treasury’s Crypto asset secondary service providers Consultation. Rest can be accessed through the Policy section below.

Finally, we welcome our newest member this fortnight – DINEIRO PTY LTD, CARD ACCESS SERVICES PTY LTD and APICKLE

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

Two consultations to enhance the digital asset ecosystem

Thank you to all members who shared their inputs on the call with our policy partner King and Wood Mallesons.

Please find the final submission to the Treasury’s Crypto asset secondary service providers Consultation.

Roundtable on debanking

The Council of Financial Regulators which comprises of Treasury, APRA, RBA, ASIC, AUSTRAC and ACCC are tasked with writing an options paper on de-banking. We will continue to seek suggestions/feedback from our members and follow-up with the council to ensure there is further action taken.

🤝🏻 Monetary Authority of Singapore is hosting its Global FinTech Hackcelerator 2022. It is a great opportunity for fintech companies to gain access to some of the fastest growing markets in Singapore and the region. Applications open till 26 June. For more info, visit here

📇Open Banking Excellence (OBE) has joined forces with Accenture, the UK Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT), Innovate Finance, NatWest and the University of Oxford to develop a first-of-a-kind global Open Finance Index. The index helps to understand about Australia’s domestic readiness to develop Open Banking and Open Finance ecosystems. Take part in their quick survey here.

📣 Tune into a Breaking Banks Fintech Podcast’s 444th Episode on Rise of Embedded Finance in Australia & Digital for good. Sponsored by Austrade, some great minds will join the session to talk about how Australian capability can act as a launch pad for global innovations, and investments within the fintech and insurtech ecosystems. Check out the 30-min session here.

💻 Join ASEAN Online Workshop Series presented by AWS to learn how to approach modernisation journey, sustainably. Learn more about specific application workloads such as Windows, SAP and Databases on AWS. Register for the session here

📁 Oracle is hosting its Fintech & Cloud Native webinar. The team will come together to talk about the best practices for adopting cloud native architecture in Fintechs on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure – 21 June. Click here for more info and registration

🤝🏻 Stone & Chalk powered by Pivott presents the Pivott Talent Jam. Get a chance to pitch your company and ideal candidate criteria in under a minute. Passionate jobseekers will then participate in a speed networking session – 5 July. Get your tickets here

💻 Stone & Chalk will be opening a Scaleup Hub at Tech Central in July 2022 to power scaleups that are shaping Australia’s economic future. This is Stone & Chalk’s second Hub in Sydney. To know more about the tour of the hub, visit here

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

  • LAB Group integrates with Praemium to deliver secure onboarding and improve user experience
  • Nano Digital Home Loans is extending its product suite to help home buyers and property investors navigate Australia’s complex housing market.
  • Radium Capital in funding boost for Spacecubed Accelerator
  • Currencycloud gains ASIC licence to operate in Australia
  • Mambu released a new report on how banks can be more sustainable
  • Basiq launches Smart Payments to accelerate Australian fintech ecosystem
  • Dacxi conducted a research Australia’s wealth health
  • InvestHK introduces expanded programme for Global Fast Track 2022 to help fintech companies connect with Asian corporate clients and investors
  • Change Financial announced its partnership with Finzsoft to sign agreements with four New Zealand mutuals to offer direct issuing, processing, and card management solutions
  • Mambu partners with Western Union to integrate its solution into the latter’s next generation real time multi-currency digital wallet
  • TreviPay recently teamed up with payment processor Compaynet to power its B2B trade credit product
  • Zai waives PayTo fees, saving Australian businesses thousands of dollars
  • WeMoney announces winners of inaugural personal loan & car loan awards
  • Mambu partners with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to develop Unloan, the CBA group’s new digital home loan
June 16, 2022 FinTech Australia Announcements, Newsletter Comments Off on FinTech Voice June 16, 2022
Upcoming Events

  1. October 11 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

  2. Tech Industry Collective – Connect and collaborate as a collective

    October 25

  3. Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) 2022

    November 2 @ 7:00 am - November 4 @ 6:00 pm

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Videos

Ep 2: Fintechs Acceleration of Growth Since COVID

Ep 1: The Evolution of Payments

Scaling Product Globally

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Lee Hatton – Afterpay: FinTech Australia Podcast

Anthony Jones – Visa AUS/NZ

Tim Cameron – TransferWise

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