Another busy week concluded with a meeting with Minister Kris Faafoi, New Zealand Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister. We spoke about investment, regulatory sandboxes, support for emerging tech companies and a whole host of other topics; the Minister was keen to understand what the industry has been doing and what our plans are for the future. He gave the impression that if there are barriers in the way of industry initiatives, he will act as an advocate and set the right wheels in motion for us; a big win for FinTechNZ to progress innovative programmes of work.
This year we are going to see more collaboration between big incumbents and FinTechs; InsureTech is transforming the way we think about insurance, and is dominating the FinTech space as a hot topic at the moment. The Global InsureTech Alliance also continues to grow with Insurlab Germany recently coming on board.
In the banking space, Open Banking, Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), and Banking as a Platform are topics of the moment. PSD2 aims to provide lower costs and higher security for consumers, and to afford merchants greater flexibility to differentiate customer experiences. Open Banking may press fast forward as banks move to a platform ecosystem, as Kristen Lunman from Kiwibank predicts on the FinTechNZ blog.
As RegTech continues to expand, we will see more adoption to Blockchain. Join us at our next Connect events in Auckland and Wellington to hear from Inland Revenue, the Financial Markets Authority, and other industry experts on how Blockchain could be adopted, and how regulation might impact cryptocurrencies.
We are setting up a Cyber Security Task Force, so if this is an area of interest please get in touch with me. On average it takes seven months for a security breach to be uncovered, and it’s estimated that only 6% of New Zealand companies have adequate cover, so the majority of NZ businesses are still extremely vulnerable to attacks.
There are a host of exciting and thought-provoking events on the FinTechNZ calendar in the coming months, which just goes to show how much traction the FinTech industry is gaining on a national and international scale.
Regards
James Brown
General Manager,
FinTechNZ
Join us at our Connect Events in Wellington and Auckland
Check out #twnz18 it’s #goodfortheworld
INSURTECH, SECURITY and EVENTS
Celebrate Kea’s World Class New Zealand Awards on the 21st of June.
FinTechNZ is attending London FinTech Week with NZTE, Kea, Barclay’s Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Blockchain Boutique, Emirates NDB, and a delegation of 10 companies from New Zealand; please send any expressions of interest to join us by 30th April.
FinTechNZ will take a New Zealand pavilion at the Singapore FinTech Festival in conjunction with Kea, NZTE, ATEED and Xero, please get in touch if you wish to join us.
For those travelling or based in Asia, RegPac’s pitch competition on May 15th will give you an insight into startups in the AI and Blockchain space.
On May 3rd, join Tech Futures Lab for a one-day workshop on Business, Disruption and Innovation: Finance and Blockchain.
Payments NZ brings you The Point 2018 in Auckland, 26-27 June. Hear first-hand Kai Dwyer from Vallum’s experience presenting at the Global Insurtech Roadshowevent in Frankfurt, Germany.
InsurTech is currently dominating the FinTech sector; if you want to know more, come to ANZIIF’s second Insurtech Conference and workshop being held in Sydney 2-3 May with Jason Roberts and Craig Kirk.
Early bird registration for The Asia InsurTech Summit closes soon for the summit in Singapore, 23-24 April, hurry and don’t miss out.
The next InsurTech meetup is scheduled for Thursday, 7th June at 5.30pm. Put a note in your diary – invitations will be emailed closer to the time.
The Trans – Tasman Business Circle is organising the 2018 AU/NZ CyberSecurity & FinTech Delegation to Israel, more details here. New Zealand is now highly regarded for global tech talent; so much that a Kiwi company has been selected in a women-only Australian tech accelerator, and top Kiwi tech talent is sought-after overseas.
The AI Forum’s research report, Artificial Intelligence: Shaping a Future New Zealand launches in Wellington on 2 May and Auckland on 8 May. Also, register here for AI-DAY 2019 event announcements.
Ben Rose of nib recently presented at the IBM Think conference in Las Vegas. He shares his thoughts on the future of AI and what it means for business. New Zealand is becoming a global blockchain centre; a living laboratory for global tech developments and inventions.
In other areas of financial technology, such as the platform economy, New Zealand needs to evolve in order to remain internationally competitive. CERT’s latest quarterly report has been released with 390 incident reports. Reported financial losses were $3.4m; including nine incidents that involved losses of over $100,000. Increasingly sophisticated phishing campaigns are a common threat. CERT has also reported a growing interest in cryptocurrencies which is contributing to an increase in scams. Event submissions for Techweek’18 have now closed. Check out these events celebrating women in techand encouraging the next generation. Learn about Blockchain at Techweek’18. Also, experience VR at these events. A special welcome this month to our new members. If your organisation wishes to join FinTechNZ please contact us.
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