A survey released by global professional services firm KPMG has revealed that investment in Australia’s fintech industry reached record levels in 2016.
Across last year, US$656m (AU$853m) was invested across 25 deals, according to the analysis released on 21 February. This equates to an annual average growth rate of around 90% over the four years prior to 2016.
While Australia trended upwards, global levels of fintech investment actually slid by 47% to US$24.7bn (AU$32.1bn).
In a statement, Treasurer
Scott Morrison said the government was “keenly aware” that the financial services sector played a critical role in the Australian national economy.
With the establishment of the FinTech Advisory Group, which held its first meeting in February last year, Morrison said the group had already made some real progress. This included:
- The CSIRO Data61 review of opportunities for distributed ledger technology (block-chain)
- The Productivity Commission’s inquiry into improving data availability and usage
- The introduction of a regulatory sandbox to support new fintech entrants
- The extension of venture capital tax concessions for early stage fintech investment
Morrison said the government is working on an enhanced package of further reforms to be released and implemented this year.
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