The upcoming NZ Fintech Summit will highlight open banking, customer engagement and cyber security as key industry trends, according to conference founder, Binu Paul.
Paul, who launched the symposium under the Finnotec brand in 2016, has teamed up with local industry body FinTechNZ to host the 2018 event.
In a release, he said while open banking is “still in its infancy in New Zealand”, the trend was taking off in other parts of the world including the UK.
“… on the back of open banking regulations that set in earlier this year, several of the largest [UK] banks, including HSBC and Barclays have started rolling out tools and features utilising the features of Open Banking regulations,” Paul said.
Open banking, which essentially requires traditional banks to share customer data with approved external service providers, is also scheduled to go live in Australia next year.
In a speech earlier this year, Kris Faafoi, Commerce Minister, also pushed for opening banking standards in NZ using the Australian rules as a model.
Faafoi said in 2019 NZ should see the first fruits of open banking with the establishment of online payments services that don’t require a debit or credit card.
From next year on he said open banking could bring a suite of other benefits, including:
- making it easier to individuals to build their financial capability and access good quality financial advice;
- aggregating financial data together for consumers and businesses in one place;
- ensuring that consumers are able to access the best deals across the financial sector by making it easier to shop around and compare options; and,
- making payments faster and more efficient.
Paul said the Fintech Summit would include a panel discussion on open banking as well as an in-depth look at the “flip-side” of data-sharing – cyber-security.
“… as more and more personal data gets distributed and aggregated in digital pools the rising risks of cyber security are shaping up to cripple confidence among consumers to adopt new technology solutions and software platforms,” he said.
While the presenter list is yet to be finalised, to date the Fintech Summit speakers include: Carole Barnay, Xero head of data science; Ashley Broatch, Harmoney user experience researcher; and, Danny Tomsett, founder of NZ-based ‘human touch’ digital avatar firm, FaceMe.
The one-day NZ Fintech Summit is set down for November 29 at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel. Early bird tickets are now available.