Ready, set, start-up!

Kiwi’s and start-ups go hand in hand, and while we’re a tad late to the party, we’re catching up fast!

Anand Ranchord joins us in this episode to talk about the ‘KFA’. The Kiwi Fintech Accelerator is an intensive 3-month long programme responsible for the birth of many new start-ups such as Hnry (EPISODE 41)and Sharesies (EPISODE 10).

You could say, many of the firms currently in gestation have the ability to disrupt the incumbents, specifically banks. So why would two banks, in this case, Kiwibank and SBS, get behind such a programme?

In this episode, we also explore some solutions, that companies who’ve come through the programme already, have provided:

  • User experience. Reduce friction, increase accessibility, and you win. It’s not about how smart you are if you’re keen to invest.
  • Democratising access. Lowering price or ‘buy-in’ barriers increases accessibility to the everyday
  • Lowering other barriers to entry. A customer-centric problem-solving approach dictates what needs to be solved in order to bring new users on board.

Some of the solutions from the latest round of founders?

  • All of the above and…
  • Fractionalisation. By breaking down substantial assets into more divisible units, you invite more parties to the transaction and provide higher levels of liquidity to that asset class.
  • Shared ownership. This is an excellent example of an already established ‘problem to solve’, waiting for better technology to facilitate it. Now with maturing blockchain developers in the fintech space, shared ownership will soon be an easy thing to facilitate.
  • Values alignment. Ultimately this expression of ESG-based investment principles will continue to be played out in the fintech space, specifically with payments and investment planning services.
  • Reg Tech. Regulation is good for us all, but often clumsy to implement – here’s a problem begging for a solution.

There are some other macro-themes that we cover in today’s episode:

  • The world may move closer to open architecture with a decentralised governance structure. The existing players in this field can resist change for only so long – for financial services provider to survive in the new world, being open to ‘open’ is critical.
  • If the pie grows, we all win. You can see that ‘change is changing’ when you see competitors joining forces to help grow ‘NZ Inc’, as evidenced by SBS Bank and KiwiBank with their support in the KFA.

To learn more about the KFA check out:

Nzfintech.kiwi

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Where to find Darcy Ungaro:

Ungaro &Co (registered) financial advisers https://www.ungaro.co.nz

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