Following its inaugural joint industry and government roundtable event last month, the FinTechNZ lobby group has laid out a three-pronged plan to supercharge the local sector.
The FinTechNZ roundtable report says the industry needs to schedule more regular meetings with government, scope out the potential for an “ongoing regional fintech accelerator program” and embark on a new research program.
According to the report, the fintech industry, which could be worth more than US$300 billion globally by 2023, was the fastest-growing part of the NZ technology sector.
But to harness the fintech potential, industry and government need to work together to avoid regulatory overkill and keep NZ up with global trends.
“[Fintech]… is complicated, fragmented, challenging, and somewhat daunting for non fintech entities,” the paper says. “Regulation plays a significant role in both the financial and increasingly the technology sector, when they come together the landscape becomes even more complex.”
As well as encouraging collaboration between industry and government, FinTechNZ says the roundtable highlighted the need to invest now in “comprehensive research of the sector in New Zealand to close the knowledge gaps, and provide a quantitative baseline from which to promote and advance fintech in New Zealand”.
The paper also sketches out some longer-term goals for the local fintech sector including: a feasibility study on launching regional ‘fintech accelerators’; developing ‘digital ID solutions’ for the financial services industry; tackling the ant-money laundering compliance issue with technology; and establishing NZ “as a sandbox” to support innovation.
James Brown, FinTechNZ manager, says in the paper that the roundtable was a “first for New Zealand”.
“[The roundtable] was a great discussion about how government and industry can come together to help all New Zealanders prosper. The opportunity is huge and I for one don’t want New Zealand missing out because we didn’t have a cohesive strategic focus on FinTech,” Brown says.
Meanwhile, the Finnotec conference – NZ’s original fintech symposium now in its fourth year – has published a final agenda for the 2019 event slated for later this month.
Convened by Binu Paul, the Finnotec conference this year will cover a range of topical issues including artificial intelligence, digital ID, the future of cash and the ‘API economy’.
Tickets for the Finnotec extravaganza, to be held at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel on November 28, are available for purchase here.