How Australian fintechs can create competitive advantage in a cost of living crisis

By Ankit Jain, CEO of Australia’s leading comparison infrastructure tech company CIMET

High interest rates and inflation continue hurting the bottom lines of fintechs across Australia.

But some quick-thinking fintechs are leveraging creative tactics to carve out a unique competitive advantage beyond their primary offering, and focusing on the wellbeing of their customers.

By helping customers save on high fixed costs through a simple, integrated comparisons tool, these fintechs are empowering their customers to save, earn rewards and benefits - tactics that help to skyrocket customer loyalty.

And far from needing to build this complex infrastructure from scratch, implementing it in just a few weeks is simply a matter of partnering with Australia’s leading comparison infrastructure tech company, CIMET.

CIMET has already built the tech required for customised integration, which can be easily tailored to the customer’s needs, based on the primary offerings of the business.

So what are the benefits for fintechs of taking this approach?

Customer loyalty

Helping your customers navigate the soaring cost of living has never been more important.

On the one hand, it is simply the right thing to do in your role as a fintech seeking to improve the state of financial services in Australia for the good of all Australians.

But on the other, simply put, your customers won’t be able to afford your services if they can’t also afford basic necessities.

In this endeavour, customers are constantly seeking ways to save on their bills, and comparison is one of the best ways to help them achieve this.

If they are doing this already, why not be the fintech they do this through? What a fantastic way of garnering customer loyalty and keeping the customer within your environment.

An example of a fintech that does this well is financial wellness platform helping Australians pay down their debt faster, WeMoney.

WeMoney’s customers are dealing with debt concerns on top of the current cost of living pressures. Keeping costs down in general is an absolute priority for these customers.

So as part of their diversified product offering, WeMoney offers energy and broadband comparisons that help its customers compare products from leading retailers and switch to a lower-cost product.

By saving on common utility bills, these customers are now in a better position to pay down their debts faster - and WeMoney is now in a better position to demonstrate the success of its offering.

By helping customers not just fix the primary pain point their innovation solves, but to also address additional pain points around cost of living pressures, fintechs can show true care for their customers - and improve their own numbers in the process too.

This will increase the likelihood of customers recommending your product or service to their peers, helping to spread word of your good work, and cementing that all-important customer loyalty.

Online sign-up capability within your own ecosystem

Customers are already pressed for time and under financial duress, so it’s important to keep it simple and make it easy for them to find ways to save.

But you also want to keep them engaging within your own ecosystem.

With open and transparent comparison of products made easy with quick online sign-up and purchase, customers can access unbiased offerings of Australia’s largest panel of retailers and installers at the click of a button.

This can all happen while remaining on the same page and - critically - within your ecosystem.

A great example of this is Shopback, APAC’s largest rewards and loyalty platform that offers cashback options for purchases across travel, electronics, finance and utilities, among others.

By offering a simple comparison and online sign-up capability on its website, Shopback’s members can easily compare electricity, broadband internet plans and mobile plans - all while remaining in the Shopback ecosystem and receive cashback or rewards in return.

Since its launch, they’ve helped over 7000 members switch and save on their energy bills, giving over $1m in incremental cashback to their members. This empowers them to shop for a better deal and both save and spend their money wisely, all while ensuring brand loyalty and continued usage of Shopback.

Integrated compliance checks and full reporting capabilities

Whether it's insurtech, payments, banking, P2P lending or investment, comparison tech with integrated compliance checks and full reporting capabilities means that fintechs can effortlessly report on rewards and special offers back to the compliance authorities.

This significantly reduces the manual workload required for mandatory compliance checks and reporting, allowing fintechs to focus on nurturing customers and building that competitive edge.

For instance Australia’s #1 investment app Raiz Invest allows users to invest spare change from everyday purchases by rounding up the purchases to the nearest dollar and automatically investing it into a diversified portfolio.

To complement this offering, they provide a free tool for their customers to also make gas and electricity comparisons, and can even receive Raiz Rewards in the process, which provides additional funds to further their investments.

This is an incredibly clever way of integrating the additional customer perks back into the primary offering of the fintech.

In the process, it benefits the customer while easily taking care of the compliance and reporting heavy-lifting required to offer customers such a benefit.

Leveraging these benefits is a way for fintechs to remain true to their commitment to improving financial services for all Australians, creating better relationships with their customers, meeting their compliance requirements, and improving their bottom line, all in one go.

It’s the win-win-win-win all fintechs should be looking for right now - so please contact us at CIMET if you’d like to hear more!

Contact affiliate@cimet.com.au or visit www.cimet.com.au