What a fantastic Hui that goes from strength to strength.
Last year we reflected on the fact that nobody can be sure what the macroeconomic and geopolitical picture will bring. That position is alive and well in 2025! What is clear is that fintech innovation in New Zealand will continue to thrive. In large part that’s because of the continued collaboration that drives growth in our industry.
As an industry, we continue to embrace the spirit of exploration, move faster, mitigate risks and be bold. AI technology has caught up with the promise and 2025 is the year to truly leverage the potential. The ease of exploring and realising opportunities with AI is only growing. Combined with the forces of open finance, we are starting to see the next wave of financial services innovation.
Embracing these advancements is crucial for staying competitive and innovative – a picture reinforced by KPMG’s top 10 Global Fintech trends for H1’25.
Agentic AI is rightfully all the buzz. It’s simply described as the world where GenAI meets business process. Perhaps a more powerful viewpoint is to think about what this technology means for evolving customer experience and the opportunities it represents for banks and fintech. What resonates for me is the idea of the transition from Automation to Autonomy with the “Do It for Me” Economy that is reshaping how consumers interact with financial services.
Do customers just want to be handed tools to manage their money or do they want solutions that can take action on their behalf? We have started to see a shift and it is not too much of a stretch to see how Agentic AI will support this evolution, acting autonomously on behalf of the user and adapting to ever-changing financial conditions (Singapore Fintech Report 2024).
With these advancements will come the ability to deliver truly personalised banking experiences and increasingly democratise access to high-quality financial advice. But let’s not forget that there is extremely fertile ground for fintech to look at the next generation of solutions supporting the detection and prevention of fraudulent activity. With all tech, and arguably doubly so with AI, comes the good and the bad. As the level of sophistication from bad actors grows, so does the need for the sector’s response to overcome the threats.
In New Zealand, it is great to see fintech continuously gaining momentum and innovating in a competitive market. Success obviously requires much more than embracing the latest and greatest AI. How we reimagine customer experiences, will only be as good as the accessibility and flow of data.
At ANZ we are dedicated to delivering the benefits of Open Banking and providing key support in the evolution of the regulatory environment to address consumer needs, partner with fintech and mitigate customer risk. Collaboration and co-creation are real and represent fantastic opportunities to create mutual value both here in NZ and markets globally.
This was originally posted on fintechhui.nz
