KPMG: Australia’s AltFin Sector Worth $1B

KPMG, an advisory and audit company, has released numbers that say Australia has a 32 percent share of the APAC alternative finance market, according to reports.

The market has grown 88 percent year over year and it’s worth a total of $1 billion, the company said.

This news comes in advance of the fourth edition of the AltFi Australasia Summit, which will take place in Sydney at the Doltone House on April 15.

“This is the perfect time for challenger banks to enter the market. Through the use of technology and data we can provide our customers with greater control and transparency, and competitive rates,” said Volt Bank Co-Founder and CEO Steve Weston.

Weston will be presenting at the upcoming AltFi Australasia Summit, joined by several key players in the AltFi community, including global CEO of alternative lender OnDeck Noah Breslow, Jonathan Davey from NAB, KPMG partner Ian Pollari and Nick Molnar, co-founder and CEO of FinTech AfterPay.

“We’re increasingly seeing mortgage brokers exploring new opportunities to partner with non-banks and alternative online lenders as a means to provide their customers with greater choice,” said Peter White, a member of Finance Brokers Association of Australia, who will also be part of the summit.

White will be featured on a panel discussing how intermediaries can help support small to medium-sized business lending from alternative sources.

“Australia may be facing the same tipping point we saw in the U.S. and U.K. markets post-GFC, as disenchanted customers increasingly eschewed any organisations they thought were acting outside of their best interests, which in turn allowed the non-bank and online lending sector to develop significantly faster,” AltFi Summit Founder Glenn Hodgeman said. “When you add to this the fact that banks are not just competing with a burgeoning fintech scene, but with the arrival of Apple Pay, Google, and Amazon Loans also, it will be interesting to see what happens next for financial services in Australia.”