The changing face of Australian technology in the road out of COVID-19
By Zubin Appoo, Chief Technology Officer at LanternPay & InLoop
Australia is experiencing a technology boom that has accelerated the rate of digital adoption, but it will be the imminent wave of local tech innovation that will ultimately transform how we do business.
According to a recent report by McKinsey, in just eight weeks we’ve seen technology adoption advance by five years as businesses seek digital solutions to cater to a growing consumer appetite for new technologies and to minimise the disruption caused by COVID-19.
Videoconferencing services such as Zoom and Teams have been popular platforms of choice to overcome social distancing, travel restrictions and business premise shutdowns. They’ve enabled businesses to stay connected to consumers and clients while maintaining business-as-usual to the best extent possible.
From an employee perspective, digital adoption has allowed for greater acceptance of working-from-home as the new normal, which has delivered a significant productivity boost and increase to team morale.
But this acceleration of technology adoption is just the beginning of a much larger digital revolution.
We’re about to enter a new phase where user demand shifts from mass-market to bespoke solutions as businesses begin to think more strategically and long-term about how innovation and technology can re-engineer their businesses models and allow for better engagement using more sophisticated, domain-specific digital solutions.
Technology will be seen not just as a tool to connect but as the backbone of business services, and it’s this shift that presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Australian fintechs to thrive.
Embracing a new world of innovation and technology
In the new world of digital innovation, savvy businesses which recognise the opportunity ahead will adopt new attitudes and behaviours towards what fintech can enable.
Off-the-shelf solutions will be replaced by technology designed by experts who have deep domain experience and can help the customer navigate the complexities of that business domain.
Companies will demand a level of technology uniqueness and a point of difference. Gone are the days where businesses want technology partners that say ‘yes’ to everything that is asked of them. It is absolutely vital that the relationship is a true partnership – with both the business and the technology partner deeply vested in the final outcome.
This is where fintechs can step up. They are designed for this new world of technology. By their very nature, their purpose is to be innovative, nimble and niche to offer deeper experience in specialty areas.
It’s this fintech model which has underpinned the rise of many of Australia’s most successful technology companies. It’s the reason behind the success of WiseTech Global and its growth from local innovator to global powerhouse. It went deep and built an enterprise in its field. It revolutionised how supply chain and logistics operate, globally.
That’s the benchmark and the model for Australian fintechs moving forward.
Take local fintech payments provider LanternPay, for example. They have huge depth in knowledge and expertise in health and disability services, providing real time claims payments to specific sectors such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which has been plagued by outdated legacy IT systems.
LanternPay was developed specifically for the NDIS and processed the first NDIS digital claims payment in 2016. This year, they will process more than $600m in NDIS payments, while they are used by more than 70 Plan Managers and their platform benefits a network of 15,000 participants and 20,000 providers.
LanternPay is part of the InLoop stable of digital payment companies, which includes the Flexischools ed-tech and school payments system. Flexischools has deep expertise in the education industry and has 600,000 active users and processes up to 75,000 unique digital transactions per hour in peak periods.
This model of deep domain experience is proven to work and represents the future way of business technology for many companies in Australia.
We’re going to see an acceleration in fintech innovation driven entirely by forward-thinking organisations who will transition from mass-market solutions to dedicated, sector-specific technology services.
This transformation is good not just for fintechs, but specifically Australian fintechs. Technology has a huge role to play in Australia’s economic recovery and our nation’s fintechs can be the backbone of this recovery.
Local fintechs have a comparative advantage as they know the market and are built for purpose. Companies won’t need expensive and complex transformations, they’ll demand unique services and rapid outcomes.
With this mindset, we can expect the current acceleration of mass-market technology adoption to pale in comparison to the rise of Australian fintech innovation we will see over the next few years.
*Zubin Appoo is the Chief Technology Officer at InLoop & LanternPay and the former Head of Innovation and Technology at WiseTech Global.
