At the start of 2025, the Australian fintech sector was valued at around AUD45billion ($35billion), but according to industry experts from the region, this is not achieving its full potential.
With the upcoming Australian federal election taking place in a week’s time (3 May), the political parties are doing all they can to swing final voters who are waiting to cast their votes on polling day. One area that could still tie over some voters is in fintech’s development, as according to a new letter written to both the Labor Party and The Coalition, the industry is in need of support.
Over 100 industry participants, including ClearScore, Wise, Worldpay, and FinTech Australia, have signed a letter explaining how the fintech sector can help address pressing issues in the country including productivity challenges and the cost of living crisis.
The letter
Supporting Australia’s Fintech Sector to Address Productivity and the Cost of Living Crisis
“To the Labor Party and The Coalition,
“We are writing today as an industry to urgently request your support in empowering Australia’s fintech sector to address the country’s pressing productivity and cost of living pressure.
“Numerous fintech initiatives—such as the digital economy frameworks, digital asset regulation and payments reform, privacy safeguards and responsible lending reforms —were introduced by both sides of government as key means to ease cost pressures faced by consumers and businesses and drive new efficiencies.
“Yet progress on finalising these policy settings has stalled, with political inertia now the norm. Not only have these policies faced delays, but they’ve encountered further hurdles in the form of inquiries into work already completed. These unnecessary delays have become existential threats for many fintech businesses.
“For instance, the Consumer Data Right was passed into law with the promise of reducing utility prices and supercharging competition within Australia. Six years later, that vision remains largely unrealised, with no firm deadlines or commitments to fully implement it. This could enable Australians to save hundreds of dollars annually on energy bills and thousands on mortgage repayments through easier comparison and switching services.
“In a recent survey of our members, we found that:
- Sixty-two per cent of fintechs see regulatory compliance as the greatest challenge for running their business—outpacing funding issues in what is a difficult funding market.
- Sixty-five per cent report regulatory and compliance barriers are impeding their ability to grow their business, with 11 per cent indicating these issues threaten their very survival.
- Beyond regulatory issues, a large portion of fintechs cited debanking and a lack of regulatory intervention in this regard as a key concern for their business.
- Forty-three per cent of fintechs stated access to capital a key challenge and, 57 per cent flagged grants and incentives as a priority area for government support, demonstrating the importance for guidance on the future of the Research and Development tax incentive and amendments to the Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP) and Venture Capital Limited Partnership (VCLP) programmes to better include and support fintech investment.
“We feel compelled to put these concerns in a letter, as there’s a direct alignment between the fundamental issues of this election and the solutions the fintech industry can deliver through its growth.
“These are issues we, however, as an industry cannot address without the government’s immediate and clear support.
“While we welcome Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor‘s campaign promise to reform financial services policy — including key fintech initiatives — within the first 100 days of taking office, we truly believe such policies should be bipartisan as they serve the interests of all Australians.
“Australia’s fintech industry employs thousands and continues to grow. We rank among the most sophisticated fintech sectors globally. However, as other nations catch up and our policy work slows, we risk falling behind, especially as technology evolves.
“The benefits we can offer the Australian public will diminish significantly as a result of continued inaction. Built on the premise of encouraging competition and choice, the fintech industry has already put downward pressure on prices across all areas of financial services while improving financial literacy across the country.
“More than any other sector in Australia’s growing startup ecosystem, fintech is uniquely positioned to positively impact both productivity growth and cost of living—one of the greatest challenges in this election. In this letter, we’ve only outlined a fraction of the actions we can take to push the fintech industry forward. Additional practical recommendations on this can be found in our pre-budget submission.
“The time for action is now. Australia cannot afford further delays to reforms that will directly address the cost of living pressures facing everyday Australians.”
Making a commitment to innovation
The world is going through a very turbulent economic time. As such, governments are beginning to have serious discussions about funding and support and where it goes. Political parties have a tendency to make promises in the election campaigns, but more than a promise is going to be needed from the winners.
Exploring the situation in Australia ahead of election day, Kristofer Rogers, SVP Australia and New Zealand at Volt.io, the global real-time payments platform, explains that political parties are quick to make promises of change.
Commending the industry for coming together and signing the letter, Rogers said: “It is encouraging to see that all political parties have supported the advancement of fintech innovation in Australia over the past decade — not least the launch of Australia’s New Payments Platform. There are also global fintech success stories, including AfterPay and Atlassian.
“But it is crucial that the industry lobbies for continued support despite the macroeconomic headwind. We are in a complicated global political environment, but we are hopeful that continued innovation can deliver real benefits to consumers across the globe. Every industry is under the same pressure, so it is important to think outside of an election campaign and focus on what will really change the dial.”
Improving the regulatory landscape
Highlighting and agreeing with the point on regulations raised in the letter, Rogers added: “The more important floodgate to open in order to foster real outcomes is to improve the regulatory landscape and innovation agenda. Australia is a highly regarded global innovation hub. For instance, the infrastructure and regulatory framework for account-to-account, real-time payments in Australia is a great case in point, and this has enabled Volt to gain traction at great speed, in the year and a half since we launched our operations in Australia.
“But red tape is still the key barrier for the wider fintech industry. Any incoming Government needs to make a commitment to innovation.
“It is hard to be convinced that any election campaign can be effective without a longer-term plan for change. During any campaign, it is easy to pay lip service. But no party is able to make a commitment. It is all based on promises, but can any industry bank on a promise?
“The Australian fintech industry is recognised globally as a key innovation hub. But we have to rise above election promises and lobby for real change. Volt is hopeful that the current reforms being driven by the Reserve Bank of Australia will lead to positive change that delivers better outcomes for consumers. This should, of course, be a bipartisan aspiration.”
Specifics are needed
For Joerg Nottebaum, fintech expert at Hello Millions, the lottery-focused consumer education platform, the sheer number of industry signatories will be enough to act as the major wake-up call for whichever party wins the election. Though he says specific demands could have been made clearer, the number of industry participants signing the letter will make it impossible to ignore.
“This letter sends a clear message: fintech is no longer a fringe disruptor. Instead, it’s an essential pillar of Australia’s innovation economy. With over 100 industry voices uniting, it highlights a systemic lack of follow-through on initiatives that could unlock productivity and lower consumer costs. While political momentum can be slow, the timing ahead of a federal election makes this particularly impactful.
“However, beyond signatures, action hinges on specificity. The letter might gain more traction by attaching clear, measurable asks, like regulatory sandboxes, real-time payment support, or digital ID adoption. That said, the sheer weight of the signatories and the growing public awareness around cost-of-living issues make it politically risky to ignore.
“If Australia wants to maintain its edge in fintech and attract global capital, both parties must move beyond platitudes and deliver policy frameworks that nurture, not stifle, innovation.”
