A tech leader and software company director has said that the setup of a national FinTech organization will push New Zealand’s economic growth.
Mitchell Pham, tech leader and director of NZTech, said that New Zealanders should care about FinTech as electronic interactions will play an important role across the country’s economy, according to Scoop News, a New Zealand news website.
After gathering support from NZTech and the New Zealand government, FinTechNZ was launched last week.
Pham is reported as saying that e-commerce as a subset of FinTech is important for the future of small to medium businesses, enabling them to export globally. He added that on March 24, FinTech experts from the U.K. and Australia, two of the biggest FinTech communities, will be connecting with FinTechNZ members when they visit New Zealand.
He said:
This will help expand connections for our fintech community to grow, which in turn will contribute to New Zealand’s economic growth.
Not only that, but it means that financial technology companies within the country can focus on the best strategic global opportunities for them to build on innovative aspects within the FinTech sector.
FinTech Boost in New Zealand
In a bid to increase agreements within the financial technology space in New Zealand, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade (DIT) will be sending 11 U.K. companies to Australasia next month.
Aimed at promoting the sector in Australia and New Zealand, the trade mission will see ‘eleven successful UK fintech companies’ taking part in a five-day program held between March 20-24.
New Zealand is keen to produce a strong financial technology sector within the country.
While it may seem that news within the country hasn’t taken off as much as it has in other countries, the nation is certainly not taking a back seat.
Bitcoin Woes in New Zealand
The country, however, has recently experienced a setback with one of its bitcoin exchanges after it was forced to shut down.
BitNZ, a bitcoin exchange in New Zealand, announced this month that it was closing due to the refusal of New Zealand banks to permit bank accounts to trade bitcoin.
According to BitNZ, it said that banks had an anti-competitive stance, which raised questions as to whether there is a fairness regulator in the country.
While this is just one instance where banks have prevented bitcoin exchanges from advancing too far, it remains to be seen whether FinTech companies will receive the same reception from banks or whether there will be more mutual corporation between the two.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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