FinTech Voice, February 15, 2024
Hi Community,
We've had a massive start to the year as we continue to prioritise initiatives that will lead to tangible outcomes for the industry
Last week we had the inaugural 'Parliamentary Friends of Fintech' at the Parliament House in Canberra. All pictures here. Fintechs had the opportunity to connect with ministers and advisers to reiterate the value created by the industry.
Entries for the 8th annual Finnie Awards are open until the 15th of March, 2024! Submit your applications here and win the most prestigious fintech awards.
The Banking Reverse Pitch Night is just a week away. In-person tickets are almost sold out but online tickets are available. Make sure to attend the event to hear the banks pitch their statements live and pitch your solutions.
For all Sydneysiders, you are invited to our first gathering of the year 'Sydney Summer Meetup' on Wednesday, 28 February, 2024.
We are bringing our first sustainability-focused event, Fintech for Net Zero, on Tuesday, 12 March, 2024. Register now and join us for a thought-provoking panel discussion and hear multiple company pitches.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is conducting a survey to understand the challenges Financial institutions and Fintechs have encountered in their journey to deploy and innovate with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Top concerns include talent and data access. If you're considering hiring AI talent in Singapore, we invite you to participate here.
Kind regards,
Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia
Policy Update
FinTech at Parliament House
Last Wednesday, Fintech Australia hosted members and partners at our inaugural FinTech at Parliament House event in Canberra as the launch event for the new 'Parliamentary Friends of FinTech' group, a non-partisan forum for parliamentarians co-chaired by Dr Daniel Mulino MP and Senator Andrew Bragg.
FinTech Australia will support the group by organising events and creating opportunities for parliamentarians to meet and interact with fintech leaders about the industry, starting with the launch event last week. Its aim is to foster a greater understanding of fintech-related issues and over time greater collaboration with parliamentarians on regulatory challenges facing the sector.
The evening featured a welcome address from Minister Stephen Jones during which he spoke about fintech's important role as part of the digital economy and its rapid growth over the last decade.
He also highlighted the regulatory wave coming, with new licensing frameworks for payments, digital asset platforms and BNPL, and the important role fintech can play in tackling the sharp rise in scams. Notably, he addressed the recent reporting on potential changes to the sophisticated investor threshold test and clarified that in considering next steps, he does not intend to restrict investment in early stage fintechs.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who traveled to Canberra to support the event.
Check out photos from the event here.
Pre-budget Submission
FinTech Australia recently made a pre-budget submission to inform the Government's priorities for the 2024-25 Budget.
Our submission highlights six key priorities which require support through the Budget process:
Address the challenging funding environment for fintechs
Continue fintech trade and investment support
Ensure ASIC is adequately resourced to deal with upcoming licensing influx
Expand the NRF to clearly capture fintech
Provide targeted support for CDR promoting initiatives
Review the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox
You can view our submission here.
Payments Licensing Submission
We also recently made our submission to the latest payments licensing consultation paper.
Thank you to members who got involved and supported this process, which ran over Christmas and involved a series of group calls and discussions throughout January.
Our submission supports the overall direction of the proposals to implement a new licensing framework for PSPs but details concerns about a number of definitional and practical implementation issues which could inhibit the new framework’s effectiveness in delivering the long-awaited goal of a more modern, fit-for-purpose payments system which supports fintech PSPs to compete and innovate.
We expect the next stage of consultation will be on draft legislation later this year.
You can view our submission on our website.
We recently made submissions on:
Payments System Modernisation (Regulation of Payment Service Providers) consultation paper
Reforms to the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 – Exposure draft legislation consultation
CDR Consent Review and operational enhancements design papers
Modernising Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing consultation.
See our recent submissions on our website.
FinTech Australia regularly makes submissions to consultations across a wide range of policy and regulatory issues. Communications about how to get involved in these processes are distributed to our Policy Working Group membership.
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
Get excited for events and opportunities from FinTech Australia and the community!
Banking Reverse Pitch Night — Join ANZ and Westpac as they pitch their problem statements live, followed by a Q&A and networking session.
Date: Wednesday, 21 February 2024. 5 PM
Date: Wednesday, 28 February 2024, 5.30 PM
Date: Tuesday, 12 March 2024, 4 PM
FinTech Australia will be working with APAC Outlook Magazine on a feature edition on the industry in Australia, showcasing the sector to the world. If you'd like to pitch regarding key business achievements or points of interest within the Australian ecosystem or put up an advertisement in the magazine, please reach out to the FA team.
Save these dates! For more events and opportunities, click here.
Community Updates
Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.
Parpera Appoints Global Fintech Innovator Scott Bales as New Advisor to Accelerate Growth. Read More.
1H24 Trading Update: MONEYME continues to deliver statutory profits. Read More.
Arctic Intelligence launches 14-day free trial of AML Accelerate. Read More.
iGoDirect awarded Principal Member Issuing License by Visa in Australia. Read More.
National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) added to Diversiview's growing list of portfolio analytics. Read More.
Parpera & Emu Money Partner to Make Accessing Business Finance Easy. Read More.
LIC Housing Finance Implements Pennant's Lending Platform for Driving Business Agility and Superior Customer Experiences. Read More.
Court Dismisses Part of ASIC Case Against Block Earner Products. Read More.
DoxAI (a Venture of Lakeba) Collaborates with Perpetual Corporate Trust and Microsoft to Enhance Financial Services. Read More.
For more news, click here.
New Members
Let's welcome FinTech Australia's new members!
FinTech Australia's Podcast
Listen to the challenges, opportunities, and stories from our community faces across the fintech industry in Australia!
In our most recent Business Spotlight episode, we had the chance to dive deep in a discussion with Matt Vitale, Co-Founder at Birchal, on the business' goals, what they are doing locally, and how they are involved in the fintech ecosystem in Australia.
