KPMG: Lack of government alignment causing issues for fintech startups
A new report has called on the NSW and Commonwealth Government to coordinate or risk stunting fintech growth.
A report released this week has urged better alignment between the NSW and Commonwealth governments in order to facilitate international pathways and growth for fintech startups.
The Scaling the Fintech Opportunity: For Sydney and Australia report, which was developed by the Committee for Sydney and KPMG, detailed the growth of the fintech industry and the importance of infrastructure in facilitating this growth.
The report found that Sydney is home to over half (59.2%) of Australia's fintech companies. The reasoning behind Sydney's dominance in fintech is infrastructure and organisational support.
"Perhaps the key differentiator in the growth and development of fintech in NSW and Sydney is the fact that both Stone & Chalk and the Tyro Fintech Hub are located here. This provides two physical locations purpose built to support fintech ventures to start and grow combined with education events and accelerator capabilities. Sydney is also home to three specific fintech investors in Reinventure, H2 Ventures and Apex Capital," the report said.
One of the report's 10 recommendations called on NSW and Commonwealth Governments to better coordinate to assist startups and leverage our growing position as a leading fintech hub.
"Compared to other regional fintech centres, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, it was frequently cited that the lack of alignment and coordination between agencies of both the Commonwealth and NSW Government (as well as other states) is an issue," the report said.
It continued on to say that this alignment was evident in fintech startups misunderstanding availability of programs that could help them expand globally and in promotion the strengths of Australian fintech internationally.
The report recommended that we use the strong track record of our financial institutions to "sell" our fintech industry internationally and attract global startups, talent and capital. The NSW Government was also urged to work with the Commonwealth, other states and Fintech Australia to facilitate a greater alignment of programs, marketing and promotional efforts internationally.
National association for the Australian fintech startup community FinTech Australia has welcomed the report and says it is ready to assist government agencies implement the recommendations.
“This report provides a strong and much-needed overview of the Australian fintech industry, including illustrating how it has grown since 2014 and also giving some indication of how we are standing against other jurisdictions,” said FinTech Australia CEO Danielle Szetho.
“We are currently rolling out an international public relations program in support of Australian fintech and some of the insights given by this report will be hugely beneficial for this program."
“We are also keen to assist State and Australian agencies to help create a robust model of collaboration and promotion to help grow the nation’s fintech industry."
Read the full report here.
