FinTech Voice, November 10, 2022

Dear community,

We travelled to Singapore last week for the Fintech Festival with 34 fintechs to showcase the opportunity in Australia. A very positive outcome with both investors and fintechs keen to explore the Australian market.

Our key announcement in the past few days was the EY FinTech Australia Census 2023. The sector has significantly matured but founders expect headwinds in 2023. See full report here and the panel session on youtube.

See also the advocacy section on our currently submissions and other key updates in the industry.

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

Regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,
General Manager,
FinTech Australia

Government releases Venture Capital Tax Concessions Review final report

The Government has released the long-awaited final report of the VC Tax Concessions Review. Generally, the review found the concessions have been well received, supported the growth of the venture capital sector and broadly have the support of stakeholders.

The tabling of the report follows consultation in mid-2021. The report makes several high level findings but does not make any specific recommendations. One of the key findings notes that although concessions have made finance more readily available for expanding businesses, fintech remains an area for further growth.

We are pleased to see the report acknowledge the positive effect these tax concessions and investment vehicles for venture capital have had, while acknowledging fintechs still face uncertainty. We flagged these risks and made a number of recommendations in our submission to this review last September.

New Zealand announces proposal for BNPL regulation

The New Zealand Government has announced it will consult later this year on a detailed proposal for regulating ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’, with final regulations to be made next year.

The proposal seeks to apply New Zealand’s existing consumer credit regulation “in a proportionate way”. The initial proposal outlines that:

affordability checks would apply to BNPL loans above a $600 threshold;
smaller loans, under the $600 threshold, would not have to go through the same process but comprehensive credit reporting would need to occur; and
all BNPL providers would be required to have hardship processes in place and belong to a dispute resolution scheme.

RBA and DFCRC receive more than 140 submissions for CBDC pilot

The RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) have received a strong response to their call for submissions on use cases for a pilot central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactional trial to be run in the first half of 2023.

With more than 140 submissions already received for the transactional trial, the DFCRC and RBA have decided to extend the submission period for CBDC research use cases that are not necessarily ready for implementation in the transactional pilot. These submissions will now be accepted until 31 March 2023.

Senate launches inquiry into ASIC

The Senate Economics References Committee, chaired by Senator Bragg, has commenced an inquiry into the capacity and capability of ASIC to undertake proportionate investigation and enforcement action.

The inquiry has opened for submissions until 3 February 2023 and will report by June 2024.

Current consultations

We are currently developing submissions to consultations on:

Startup Year Consultation Paper;

It was a busy October, with recent submissions made on:

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.

Currencycloud has witnessed the rise of the super app trend, and in some cases played a part through collaboration with their Fintech clients who have brought new super apps to market. Download Currencycloud’s super app ebook and discover more on the definition of superapps, its current state and what the future brings for superapps.

Stay or Go has revealed 1 in 2 credit card customers (6.1 million in total) would benefit by simply transferring to a more suitable product with their current bank. Remaining on their current product is estimated to be costing these customers a collective $1.5 billion each year. Consumers can access Stay or Go at stayorgo.com.au

BSI is offering FinTech members a special discount on Information Security and other training courses. Please use the promotional code EOY2022 at checkout to activate your 20% discount. Offer valid 1 November to 9 December 2022. Email sam.street@bsigroup.com for more information on how BSI can help you. See here

Helping Consumers Navigate the Financial Crisis by Boosting Financial Literacy and Responsible Lending Join the webinar and learn more about interest rates and inflation rising and the share market decreasing in Australia and New Zealand, consumers are understandably stressed. Nov 9, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. Register here.

How to become a carbon neutral business Join them to learn the 3 steps to become carbon neutral (before Christmas!). Spots are limited, book here: https://bit.ly/3DTHYd8. 16 Nov, 12:30 pm – 1:15 pm

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

Spenda offers cash flow relief to businesses as banks tighten the grip on lending.
A new survey of mortgage brokers from leading Australian home loan marketplace Joust asked a range of questions regarding future cash rate rises both for November and over the next 12 months
Lauren Applegate, Director Customer Success & Marketing at Envestnet | Yodlee penned about how technology can help Australian’s make better financial decisions to support cost of living pressures
Tanggram announced that their Co-Founder Erica Xie has received the coveted Women in Finance Awards accolade for ‘Young Leader of the Year’.
Revolut Australia launches 22 new crypto tokens following a 73% YoY increase to crypto users
CreditorWatch launches automated receivables management solution to help Australian companies get paid faster
Superhero has released its first conditional order option via a Stop Loss feature, allowing investors to limit losses and minimise their downside risk for Australian trades.
FreightInsure will provide embedded goods-in-transit insurance integrated into the freight booking process of Australia’s most trusted freight carriers, launching with many of FreightSafe’s largest clients.