British fintech players circling Aussie market ahead, Xero says

Savvy British fintech players could sweep into the Australian market en masse this year if the open banking regime kicks off in July, jostling with local start-ups and potentially kicking off a round of joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions.

That’s the scenario painted by Ben Styles, general manager of financial services at ASX-listed Xero, who has been central to the Kiwi accounting software company’s engagement with open banking regimes in Britain and Australia.

Open banking hit Britain’s financial services sector in January last year, giving the vibrant fintech scene there an 18-month head start on the similar regime set to launch in Australia on July 1, assuming the election does not delay it. As a result, British start-ups are eyeing the opportunities thrown up by a period of disruption and innovation.

“The reality is that’s happening now, and will happen more. Only a few of the companies have gone public – most of them aren’t yet public with their plans down here – but there will be a lot of movement,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

“It’d be simplistic to look at it as [Australia being] overrun with UK players, but there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for interesting mergers and joint ventures. It’ll be a pretty interesting period, to start to look at who will be the emerging players in data aggregation, or players looking at how to build the next generation of credit bureaus.”

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Source: British fintech players circling Aussie market ahead, Xero says