It has been another good couple of weeks, and we are pleased with the announcement that Hon Clare Curran has picked the first eight members of the Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Advisory Group. It’s great to see Frances Valintine as the Chair; I am sure the group will look to other countries for some quick wins around how the group will work.
FinTechNZ representatives recently met with the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Unitec, to discuss how we can support and attract more people into this exciting sector, and help drive GDP contribution; a number of initiatives were discussed in this regard.
Meanwhile, because we don’t have a robust regulatory framework in place, companies like Centrality are looking at Singapore to do business.
“I have access to a $1billion of funding, but I don’t want to place it here without knowing what the rules are,” said Centrality’s CEO Aaron McDonald at The Future of Money, held recently in Auckland.
There has been much discussion about the need for a Sandbox, and if losing out on the opportunity of $1billion of investment isn’t enough incentive to reconsider our position, I don’t know what is!
Marsh shared their Cyber Risk report findings and a couple of things stood out for me:
- only six percent of New Zealand companies have cyber insurance and
- on average it takes a company seven months to find out they have been hacked.
Only 40% of people surveyed at the event knew what cyber insurance is available. Clearly we can do more to create awareness and educate, which is why we are pulling together a Cyber Task Force with the likes of RedShield and Delta Insurance.
Membership and global engagement is continuing to grow with both FinTechNZ and InsurTech; a number of our collective will attend the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) conference; and don’t forget to put the Financial Services Future-Proofing (FSF) conference dates in your diary. We are also finalising the details on a couple of new partnerships which will be announced shortly.
I am also looking for expressions of interest for London FinTech Week on the 6 July and attendees for the Singapore FinTech Festival to be held later in 2018; so please get in touch so we can start to shape the schedule. We also have our next InsurTech event on the 5 April, so come along and get involved.
I would also like to welcome Natalie Chapman, who has joined us in a volunteer capacity as project administrator, and brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm.
Regards
James Brown
General Manager,
FinTechNZ
Join us for AI-Day 28 March #AIDay18
Check out #twnz18 it’s #goodfortheworld
NEWS & EVENTS
InsurTech is currently dominating the FinTech sector; if you want to know more, come to ANZIIF’s second Insurtech Conference being held in Sydney 2-3 May.
Cyber insurance is a growing market with increasing cyber security risks. Meanwhile, brokers need to innovate and take risks says FinTechNZ’s James Brown.
FintechNZ is attending London FinTech Week and the Singapore FinTech Festival, and looking for expressions of interest; and don’t forget to put the Financial Services Future-Proofing (FSF) conference dates in your diary.
Digital transformation including automation and AI is set to impact many current jobs. The TechLeaders Executive recently met with Minister Curran to discuss how industry can work with Government to prepare for digital disruption at work. Read the briefing paper here.
FinTechNZ’s Leigh Flounders shares his insights on the recent Digital Nations 2030 conference, and shares the insights he gained on FinTech best practice.
Early bird registration for The Asia InsurTech Summit closes soon for the summit in Singapore, 23-24 April.
Join FinTechNZ at the next InsurTech Meetup on 5 April. Payments NZ brings you The Point 2018 in Auckland, 26-27 June. Early bird registrations close 30 March.
Missed the European Payment Summit in the Hague? Follow the news updates here.
Is New Zealand ready to jump on the global Open Banking bandwagon?
We’re already seeing innovation in the sector with an Australasian banking first; ASB is introducing an AI-powered digital assistant next month.
The Capgemini and LinkedIn World FinTech Report 2018 explores approaches and engagement models traditional firms and FinTechs can adopt for successful collaboration.
Read MYOB’s special New Zealand report on Women in Tech. Meet TechWomen’s newly appointed executive director, Edwina Mistry and @TechWomenNZ on Twitter.
Don’t forget to register for #AIDay18 on 28 March in Auckland. The following day, take a deep dive into tech platforms and methodology using AI. Check out all the workshops here.
The Edmund Hillary Fellowship is now accepting cohort 3 applications until 20 April. EHF’s Yoseph Ayele says Blockchain is the next Internet, read about its opportunities for New Zealand.
Would you like to showcase your brand or product? A limited number of exhibition space is available at Techweek’18 headline events; 10 Billion Mouths, The Fourth Revolution or Creative Realities.
A special welcome this month to our new members. If your organisation wishes to join FinTechNZ please contact us.
Want to know more? Sign up for the FinTechNZ update, it’s free and will take less than a minute!
