In today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, technology has emerged as a catalyst for transformation across industries, delivering a profound impact on efficiency and growth. However, despite Australia being one of the world’s top 10 FinTech markets, some businesses are yet to embrace the benefits of FinTech. So how exactly can investing in FinTech infrastructure and employing FinTech roles within your ranks accelerate your business growth? We take a look.
Enhancing Efficiency and Automation:
FinTech has accelerated change in the financial services industry quicker than any other field, so much so that it is projected to be a $1.5 trillion industry come 2030. By implementing cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), FinTech professionals can streamline mundane tasks and automate data analysis, risk assessment, and compliance processes.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) introduced regulations in 2016-2017 to promote the provision of digital financial advice, commonly known as robo-advice. These regulations enable automated advice platforms to provide financial planning services at a lower cost, making financial advice more accessible to a broader range of consumers. In our experience, the businesses that invest in these technological innovations and the people to support it have been able to allocate resources more effectively and focus on higher-value tasks, ultimately enhancing their business agility while boosting productivity and profits.
Improving Customer Experience:
While originally closely associated with the banking sector, FinTech has expanded into all financial services sectors, such as broking, investing, super, wealth management and beyond. With the meteoric rise of digital banking and online investment platforms, we are seeing growing demand for seamless and personalised experiences to accompany these advances in technology and customer service. FinTech roles enable your business to leverage customer data and analytics to gain deeper insights into individual preferences and behaviours. By harnessing these insights, you can tailor services to better meet the needs of consumers while enhancing customer satisfaction, fostering loyalty, and attracting new clients.
Enabling Financial Inclusion:
Employing FinTech professionals have been instrumental in driving financial inclusion. Through the adoption of mobile banking apps, digital wallets, and online investment platforms, FinTech professionals have democratised financial empower individuals whom traditional financial institutions previously underserved.
The Australian Government initiated the Consumer Data Right (CDR) legislation, allowing individuals to access and share their banking data with accredited third parties securely, known as “Open Banking”. This promotes competition and innovation in the financial sector, fostering the development of FinTech solutions for financial planning and other services. These technological advancements provide convenient access to financial services, allowing individuals to manage their finances, make payments, and invest easily, regardless of location or socioeconomic status. We see this as a huge leap forward, as better access for everyone means greater growth for the industry.
Workplace Satisfaction & Retention:
Research from Future Forum shows that workplaces that invest in technology have better employee satisfaction and retention. Based on a survey of 10,243 workers across the U.S., Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the U.K. in 2022, it was evident that the employee experience was enhanced through technology as it improved productivity, agility and flexibility while creating a sense of belonging. But how? The FinTech ecosystem is helping prioritise a people-centred and digital-first approach by allowing businesses to pay staff quicker through better payroll infrastructure. HR, such as Sage and Visier, are helping address employee turnover issues with data.
Facilitating Regulatory Compliance & Better Security:
According to Investopedia, financial services are among the most heavily regulated sectors in the world, making compliance a key concern as we transition toward a ‘digital economy’. In an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, compliance can be challenging to stay ahead of, as you’ve no doubt seen in the media of late, financial scams running rampant, making security and risk mitigation a top priority for financial institutions. However, FinTech professionals possess the expertise to design and implement robust compliance frameworks that reduce the risk of fraud and safeguard the integrity of financial operations as they evolve. By leveraging technologies like blockchain and smart contracts and investing in FinTech roles, you can ensure secure and transparent transactions while maintaining compliance with evolving regulations.
Empowering Data-driven Decision-making:
We all know just how important data can be, which is why FinTech roles are critical to unlock the full potential of this valuable asset. Through advanced analytics tools and techniques, FinTech professionals can extract actionable insights from vast volumes of financial data and utilise them to inform strategic decision-making, risk assessment, and investment strategies. This can help to identify new opportunities, optimise performance, and stay ahead of market trends.
RegTech (Regulatory Technology) solutions leverage technology, such as automation and data analytics, to help financial institutions comply with regulatory requirements efficiently. RegTech solutions enable financial services companies to monitor compliance, identify potential risks, and automate reporting processes. The adoption of RegTech enhances data-driven decision-making by providing real-time insights and reducing the administrative burden of regulatory compliance.
The convergence of finance and technology has revolutionised the wealth management and financial services sector. In turn, we must embrace FinTech roles to protect our data, inform decision-making, enhance efficiency, streamline operations, and deliver superior customer experiences to ultimately accelerate growth.
FinTech is not the enemy; instead, we encourage clients to see this growing industry as an opportunity and to embrace fintech to remain competitive. If you are looking to build a strong FinTech team to help you cut above your competitors, our recruitment consultants are experienced in delivering top talent within the industry; get in contact today by calling 02 8004 9350 and find out how we can help you cut above your competitors in a changing market.
