The future of fintechs is a hot topic and one of the most important trends in the financial service sector in Australia and around the globe. Creditorwatch’s Future of Fintechs 2021 thought leadership paper is a comprehensive overview of the state-of-play across Australia’s vibrant fintech sector. We hope you enjoy our analysis and the opinions of some of the leading players in the industry.
This year has been a watershed for the local fintech sector, with a number of pivotal transactions, including US digital payments leader Square’s $39 billion acquisition of buy-now-pay later pioneer Afterpay and, more recently, digital wallet Airwallex’s highly successful $275 million capital raising, which valued the business at more than $5 billion.
These are just two of a slew of deals that have been completed in the local fintech sector this year, which has been buoyed by the strong uptake of digital technologies as a result of COVID lockdowns, among other trends.
The local fintech sector has never been hotter, and our Future of Fintech 2021 thought leadership paper outlines just why this is. The paper is part of our commitment to bring new thinking to the market through thought leadership.
This research explores how fintechs are defining the future for financial services, examining new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, new business models and new regulatory and market structures, such as open banking.
The paper was developed following an extensive research process, as well as exclusive interviews with leading members of Australia’s fintech sector, including global payments platform Adyen, digital payments leader Airwallex, business load disrupter Prospa and industry body FinTech Australia.
Some of the report’s highlights include:
- Consumer confidence in digital technologies is supporting demand for fintech products and services.
- Cross-border partnerships such as Westpac’s tie up with fintech 10x will become more commonplace in the future, improving consumer choice for banking products and services.
- Consolidation is a key trend. Fintechs are banding together to create multifaceted solutions for consumers and businesses.
- Big banks see fintechs as partners that can help them tap into a new wave of consumer demand.
- Australian Payments Plus, a merger of the National Payments Platform, BPAY and EFTPOS, will support faster payments and new payment mechanisms, such as an industry standard for making payments with QR codes.
- Open banking is at a critical juncture. Draft rules for intermediaries have recently been published, supporting a similar model to the UK’s, through which affiliates are sponsored into the system.
The challenge for fintechs is to work out how to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive market, while navigating new regulations and an ever-changing global marketplace.
Join our Webinar
Join our webinar and the all-star future of fintech contributor panel guests including Rebecca Schot-Guppy, CEO of FinTech Australia, Hayley Fisher, Country Manager from Adyen, Gregory Moshal, CEO of Prospa and Sam Kothari, Director of Growth at Airwallex on Wednesday 29th September at CreditorWatch’s Future of Fintech Webinar where we will be discussing how fintechs are defining new ways for the financial services system to operate and the multiple industries impacted, as new technologies, business models and regulatory structures find their place in our economy.
