British Australia Fintech Forum
19–21 April 2017, London, UK
In March, AgriDigital was proud to be selected by the British Australia Chamber of Commerce to attend the British Australia Fintech Forum, hosted by the Chamber in London. AgriDigital was one of seven Australian fintechs that headed to the heart of global fintech to learn and share. Our CEO, Emma Weston attended the Forum and participated in the blockchain panel on its opening day.
The Forum addressed some of the key themes of fintech: payments, identity/KYC (know your customer), blockchain, cyber-security, RegTech, building and scaling fintech businesses and partnering with incumbents such as banks and other financial institutions. Delegates were also taken on a tour of the start up eco-system in London visiting Level 39 and Rainmaker Loft as well as more traditional financial bastions such as the London Stock Exchange.
One of the most thought provoking sessions centred on the rise of the challenger banks in the UK — new banking applications or organisations that have been authorised to operate under limited banking licences in order to provide competition, innovation and consumer-centric banking models in the UK. These challenger banks include Monzo and Starling Bank, in essence mobile applications with a banking licence. Starling Bank presented as part of the Forum and it was fascinating to hear the story of building a digital-only bank from the ground up in only seven months! Starling Bank launched in January 2017 and had 500 customers by April.
Also very different was the position of the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates the provision of financial services in the UK. In her words, Emma was “blown away” by how open the FCA was, the breadth of its service offering and its commitment to its competition mandate. The genuine desire for competition in the banking and financial services sector and the resources being deployed to ensure a responsible competitive landscape evolves in the UK seemed to leave Australia playing catch up and arguably at a global disadvantage.
Apart from the Forum itself and the amazing talent that was brought together for three days of highly charged activity; highlights also included a reception hosted at Australia House and the Forum dinner held in Churchill War Rooms where Forum delegates gained fascinating insights into Churchill as a man, leader and legacy builder. AgriDigital is grateful to the British Australia Chamber of Commerce for the opportunity to head to London and be immersed in the local fintech scene there for a few days.
