FinTech Voice, March 9, 2023

Hi Community,

It's that time of the year again to complete your Finnies award applications before the deadline. To ensure you have sufficient time to build an award-worthy application, we are extending the date to March 14th, 2023. The competition is stiff and we don't want you to miss the opportunity to showcase your work. Please reach out if you have any queries.

You may have also noticed a few things look different when you receive comms from FinTech Australia. Exciting updates from us

We have updated our branding and website - We are taking a content-first approach to our website to promote the recent successes of our members and share updates in the industry
We have moved to a new member portal, to help you better manage your memberships, add colleagues, participate in policy working groups and update your company information. Details here (if you missed our last email)
We are updating the ecosystem map to better showcase and promote fintechs in the industry. This is a free map for any fintech to be listed. Please update your company details on the member portal to ensure the most updated information is displayed when the new map is live.

This International Women's Day, we honour and commemorate the outstanding accomplishments of women in fintech and the strides taken towards gender equality. We acknowledge that more work is needed to remove obstacles that prevent women from achieving their full potential. We are committed to this cause and continue to showcase successes, highlight biases and create new initiatives.

On that note, the proportion of new deal capital going to women founders fell to 10 percent in 2022, from 21 percent in 2021 based on the State of Australian Start-Up Funding Report. Check out the article by Amelia Hamer, Director of Strategy ANZ at Airwallex, on where we're at and what can be done.

Kind regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,

General Manager,

FinTech Australia

Policy Update

Consultation beings on new Australian Cyber Security Strategy Discussion Paper

The Department of Home Affairs recently launched a short discussion paper on a new Australian cyber security strategy. To advise on the development of the strategy, the Department has appointed an Expert Advisory Board.

The paper seeks feedback on the policy areas that should be included and specific actions that should be taken to improve Australia's cyber resilience, including:

Establishing national frameworks to respond to major incidents;
Improving public-private threat sharing and blocking mechanisms;
Supporting the cyber workforce and skills pipeline;
Improving community awareness and victim support.

FinTech Australia will make a submission. Contact our Policy Team if you have views on the discussion paper and would like to get involved. Submissions close on 15 April 2023.

Roundtables with Treasury on crypto token mapping consultation paper

Over the last week, members were involved in policy roundtables with Treasury to discuss crypto token mapping. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to the discussion. We are currently finalising our submission to this consultation.

RBA announces successful CBDC use case proposals

The Reserve Bank of Australia recently announced the Central Bank Digital Currency (CDBC) use case proposals, along with their providers, which have been invited to participate in the RBA's live pilot. The pilot, which will take place over the coming months, will explore potential use cases and economic benefits of a CDBC in Australia.

Selected use cases included corporate bond settlement, tokenised FX settlement, GST automation, livestock auction, web3 commerce, funds custody and construction payments.

Congratulations to our members and partners MasterCard, Moonova, Cuscal and Intuit for being invited to participate in the pilot.

Further information on the selected use cases can be found here.

Current consultations

We are currently developing submissions to the consultation on:

1. Treasury’s consultation paper on crypto token mapping;

2. Attorney-General's Department consultation on the Privacy Act Review Report;

3. Home Affairs' 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy Discussion Paper.

We have recently made submissions on:

1. CDR Bill (Action initiation) - Senate Legislation Committee Inquiry;

2. Strategic Plan for the Payments System Consultation Paper;

3. APRA’s proposals for PPF minimum capital requirements;

4. National Reconstruction Fund Consultation Paper;

5. AUSTRAC’s draft guidance on de-banking;

6. Feedback to Treasury on the CFR’s de-banking report;

7. CDR Non-bank lending sector design paper;

8. Treasury’s BNPL Options Paper.

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.

If you would like to get involved, please check out our GlueUp Platform to register or reach out directly to our policy team.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

EMDG Round 3 information sessions

Round 3 of the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) program is opening to applications AEDT 9am on Wednesday 15 March 2023 and will close AEST 4pm on Friday 14 April 2023. Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) is inviting you to register for an information session on 1 March to learn about EMDG and how to apply for a grant in Round 3.

More Information Here!

New York Fintech Program

Austrade invites expressions of interest from Australian fintechs interested in the US in-market program taking place in New York from 8 May-16 May, exhibiting at Fintech Nexus on 10-11 May.

Learn More

Crypto Discovery Day

Join Chainalysis for an afternoon of DISCOVERY - of new trends and ideas, capabilities, customer insights and for a Game of Treasure Hunt! Get 'hands on' with Chainalysis blockchain analytics and visualisation tools to hunt for answers to the riddles and win a prize!

Register - Sydney

Register - Melbourne

Lost in translation: Bridging the Business and IT divide

Many tech leaders find it difficult to communicate the business value of their engineering achievements. So how can tech leaders deepen trust with business stakeholders and influence future investments? Join us for our upcoming Tech Talk event. In-person event (Melbourne, Australia) and also live streamed via Youtube.

Register Here!

Community Updates

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

OCR Labs joins FinTech Australia as a Gold Partner
nCino expands nCino IQ offerings through partnership with Rich Data Co.
Weel launches new payment tools in response to high rates of employee 'spending anxiety'.
Monoova powers PayTo early adopter Wagepay and customers jump straight despite ongoing bank delays.
Butn announce strong 1H23 performance.
Bloom Impact Investing has released the 2023 Complete Guide To Cleantech Investing.
Interview with Fintech Nexus reveals what experts are looking forward to the new year in fintech.
Shaype successfully completes fifth consecutive SOC 2 audit.
Ross Horsburgh joins Shift as Treasurer.
CreditorWatch launches fast and easy debt collection service.
Basiq shares Open Banking Insights on customer conversion.
Anneke Thompson, Chief Economist at CreditorWatch shares her insights on rising costs and falling demand pressuring businesses.
TreviPay offers an all-in-one outsourced solution for in-house trade credit program.
Revolut released their annual report for the year ending 31 December 2021.