We made it. And guess what? It was not that bad. Please take a moment to consider those countries that are still getting more than 10,000 new COVID cases per day. We need to take advantage of our privileged position and continue to connect responsibly and plan for an ever changing future.
The Tech sector continues to grow, with new players entering the New Zealand market. However, there have also been the issues of working with large complex organisations and the opportunity falling over in the 11th hour. We have lost some good companies in this manner, so the question is, how do we prevent this? Happy to hear your views.
2021 will be a year of more collaborative projects being launched combined with lots coming down the regulation runway. Are you prepared? What impact will this have on your new or existing business? One thing is for sure, the way we interact with financial services products is changing and changing rapidly.
We have heard lots of talk about “bundling and re-bundling”. In Scotland a bundle is something completely different. This presents a question: what role do some organisations have to play in the future when consumers have other options? Yes, it might take some time to eat into market share, but we have more data at our fingertips, which helps make more informed decisions.
It was the 10 year anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake this week and watching the documentary really opened my eyes to what went on after the catastrophic earthquakes. It is a beautiful city and one that should be supported for the hard work done bringing the city back to life. I, for one, am looking forward to running the Christchurch Marathon in April (slowly).
So, looking forward to this year we are just in the process of putting the finishing touches to our events calendar. However, the first major event will be in Queenstown, the Fintech New Zealand Hui in conjunction with Huddle. This really is going to be the “who’s who” of the FinTech world and numbers are limited, so be quick. We will see events on Cyber, Governance, InsurTech, WealthTech, Regulation, what does good mentorship look like with AWS and, of course, Data. Do you have something you wish to share with the group? Please do get in touch.
Our main focus of the year will be to deliver the Open Banking project which is being supported by MBIE, The Digital Council and Minister Clark. This is going to change the future of financial services here in New Zealand. We will look into financial and digital literacy, financial inclusion, digital capability, the impact on Maori and Pasifika, SME’s, the aging wealthy and could it position us as a gateway to ASIA? Aligned with Depa and the FTA, we are negotiating with the UK as COVID and Brexit has prompted wealthy investors to diversify their portfolio away from Europe and are looking for a safe pair of hands.
This is going to be a good year for FinTechNZ. Just watch this space – more projects and momentum around Open Banking, new players into the market and, of course, some fun along the way.
James Brown
General Manager
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