New opportunities will open up financial technology (fintech) in New Zealand in the coming years, FinTechNZ executive director Jason Roberts says.

Fintech will play a critical role in refining financial services, payments and online security, he says.

More than 26,000 fintech companies operated globally in 2021 and worldwide investment topped $US210 billion.

As the fintech sector matures further, and evolves from a disruptive to established technology, there’s good reason to believe that the trends outlined here will shape the sector in 2023 and beyond.

Global e-commerce recorded a decade’s growth during three months of the pandemic alone and transformed the context of customer behaviour.

“Digital banking is already used by most Kiwis with mobile devices replacing in-branch / store interaction, customers are demanding innovative fintechs who can make transactions so easily,” Roberts says.

Data in the cloud will continue to unshackle banks to introduce new features, let loose machine learning to beat fraud and phase out cash and physical cards in favour of virtual cards secured with robust biometric technology.

“It’s not just big banks focusing on fintech but big techs such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook are exploring opportunities for creating their own digital currencies, or refining their banking and lending capabilities.

“The finance market is accelerating drive for innovation, low fees and payment platforms such as Dosh, Dolla and the likes of Blinkpay.

“We are also seeing new products such as Sugar Wallet help saving management. Then there are the likes of Kernel, Flint Wealth and others moving into the KiwiSaver sector.

“All these fast moving changes will be major discussion points at the FintechNZ hui conference in Auckland on February 28 next year.

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