Australian fintechs’ monthly revenue jumps 208%
(6 November 2017 – Australia) The median monthly revenue growth rate for fintech startups for the 2017 financial year was 208 percent, a new survey has found.
Additionally, the 2017 EY FinTech Australia Census showed just under a quarter (24 percent), reported revenue increased by more than 700 percent.
FinTech Australia chair Simon Cant said the results reflected that fintechs were starting to enter the consciousness of mainstream Australia.
“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,” he said.
“In saying this, there is a vast amount of work we need to continue to undertake to remove some of the barriers to our industry’s growth. This includes growing and diversifying our talent pool and driving ongoing policy and regulatory reforms.”
Local fintechs were also eyeing off overseas markets, with 54 percent saying international expansion would be a priority within the next year. The UK (49 percent), Singapore (40 percent) and the US (38 percent) were the most popular destinations.
“It is exciting to see that fintech firms are now sufficiently comfortable with their domestic positions to be increasingly planning international expansions. This is another sign of a healthy and maturing industry,” Cant said.
On the downside, the industry could not improve on gender diversity, with the level of female fintech staff only increasing from 22 percent in 2016 to 24 percent this year.
FinTech Australia deputy chair and census founder Stuart Stoyan said FinTech Australia was trying its best to increase female participation in fintech.
“Our programs have included a speaker gender equality target at the Intersekt Festival, ensuring at least 30% of the FinTech Australia board are women and by promoting a Female FinTech Leader of the Year award at our annual Finnies awards,” he said.
Lack of co-operation from traditional banks was nominated by 40 percent of the startups as a hurdle to their business, which was almost the same level of dissatisfaction last year.
Talent shortage was also a concern for many startups, with 61 percent worrying about recruiting sufficient engineering and software staff.