Last week, FinTechNZ was part of a 20 strong New Zealand delegation to the Singapore FinTech Festival where we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore FinTech which forms part of the ASEAN FinTech Network, so if you are considering business in Asia please get in touch.
Personally, a key Festival take away was the need for collaboration across the ecosystem, Government support, global reach and the agility and ease of doing business. Hot topics also included open banking, digital ID and KYC. There are certainly investment opportunities within Asia and New Zealand was seen as a place to explore.
Varun Mittal and Hock Lai Chai did an amazing job bringing together so many people and organisations, thank you! It was great to see how the Monetary Authority of Singapore took such a proactive approach to the festival, resulting in over 25,000 attendees. In due course, I am keen to speak with our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her cabinet to discuss the role they can play in supporting the FinTech community, which is now the third largest contributor towards New Zealand’s GDP.
Looking ahead, we are set to launch the FinTechNZ Insurance Working Group spearheaded by Jason Roberts from Augen. This working group will bring together a diverse group of people to explore the challenges and opportunities within the overall Insurance sector both locally and overseas.
Congratulations to Daniel Kieser of Shareclarity who won our membership competition at Finnotec 2017. Congratulations also to FinTechNZ member Delta Insurance, on winning the Underwriting Agency of the Year at the 2017 New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards.
“We’re here to stay and our ambition is to make New Zealand proud and out the New Zealand insurance industry on the global stage,” said Delta’s managing director, Ian Pollard.
Planning for next year is already well underway with the Digital Nations Summit in February, FinTechNZ Connect events scheduled and looking ahead to May, Techweek’18. I am looking at a fast finish to the year with a number of partnerships being finalised and more member onboarding. We are certainly building a large ecosystem, so please tell your FinTech friends to join us.
“Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress. Working together is success,” Henry Ford.
James Brown
General Manager, FinTechNZ
NEWS & EVENTS
Please don’t forget to RSVP for our Christmas drinks in Wellington on 30 November, Auckland on 6 December and Christchurch on 7 December. Connect, network and toast the year that was.
Join FinTechNZ at the inaugural Australian Payments Summit on December 13, 2017. Use our promo code for a 10% discount; APS_Partner. Learn more here.
Check out the key messages FinTechNZ shared at the Singapore FinTech Festival and this fun visual summary of the ASEAN FinTech launch. Watch the festival and conference highlights. Interested in doing business in Singapore? Learn more here. Also, a closer look at Singapore’s Financial Centre.
Applications for the Kiwibank FinTech Accelerator close 1 December. Feedback on the FMA’s robo-advice exemption notice is due by 15 December; read this summary by Simon Papa of Cygnus Law. This week, Priti Ambani was a judge at the Visa Everywhere Initiative in Sydney.
Join the Techweek’18 event planning forum and find the sponsors, speakers and support you need to run an awesome event next May. Invite your international contacts to attend the Techweek’18 Innovation Tour.
Helping to shape our digital economy, the Digital Nations Summit will feature a Future Finance Forum, read more here. In other news, read the FMA’s commentary on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies.
A special welcome this month to our new members. If your organisation wishes to join FinTechNZ please contact us. Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn and join the FinTechNZ forum!
Save the dates for 2018 FinTechNZ Connect Events in Wellington 8 February, Christchurch 13 February and Auckland 21 February. More details coming soon.
Want to know more? Sign up for the FinTechNZ update, it’s free and will take less than a minute!
