Fintech revenue up 200 per cent, room for improvement
Australia’s fintech industry median revenue is up 200 per cent from last year, with firms now eyeing markets in Europe, Asia and the USA for potential expansion, the 2017 EY Fintech Australia Census has found.
According to the second annual Ernst and Young (EY)/Fintech Australia jointly released census, the fintech industry in Australia has matured significantly since 2016, with 14 per cent more fintechs now at post revenue, and a total of 54 per cent of local fintechs looking to expand overseas.
The census also said more work needed to be done for the industry to reach full potential however, with companies less than three years old mostly the consistent financial performers.
“There is a vast amount of work we need to continue to undertake to remove some of the barriers to our industry’s growth,” Fintech Australia chair, Simon Cant said.
“The fact that the industry has experienced a tripling in median revenue is a strong sign that fintech firms are acquiring customers and making strong inroads into the traditional financial services sector.”
Cant said diversification of Australia’s talent pool would contribute greatly to improvements for the industry financially, and reiterated that fintechs would also need to continue to make strong inroads into the traditional sector.
The main markets ranked for the potential expansion of Australia’s fintechs were the United Kingdom (49 per cent), Singapore (40 per cent), and the United States (38 per cent). New Zealand (27 per cent), Hong Kong (22 per cent) and Canada (22 per cent) were also on the radar.
Fintech Australia deputy chair, Stuart Stoyan said better representation of women and a more open regulatory system remained key challenges within the Australian market.
“…driving ongoing policy and regulatory reforms [and] a mandated open financial data platform are key policy priorities for fintech,” he said.
Six per cent of companies experienced a revenue decline over the past 12 months, while median revenue growth for close to a quarter of post revenue firms (24 per cent) was greater than 700 per cent.
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