Fintech payments innovation in China and Australia - Divergence or convergence?

May 27 2019

The Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) hosted a panel discussion on ‘Fintech payments innovation in China and Australia – divergence or convergence?’, centred around a forthcoming report for ACRI by Dr Luke Deer from the University of Sydney Business School.

Dr Deer’s report for ACRI, Fintech payments innovation and cross-border payments integration between Australia and China, examines the patterns of digital payments innovation in China and Australia as well as their increasing integration in the Australia-China context. It details the scale and drivers of recent mobile-centric payments innovation in China and the increasing spill-over from China’s payments innovation into global payments networks within the region and within Australia. The report also details how the emergence of a new digital payments environment within Australia, despite its very different starting point from that in China, is intersecting with the expansion of China’s new global payments networks with implications for participants across the payments landscape in Australia.

Dr Deer presented his findings, then joined a panel discussion with industry experts, moderated by ACRI Acting Director Professor James Laurenceson. This was followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Time: 6.00pm - 7.30pm

Event audio is available below.

About the panellists:

Luke Deer

Dr Luke Deer is a researcher and writer with a focus on finance, banking and financial technology in China and Australia, and on emerging digital technologies and climate change actions. He was the research director for first Asia-Pacific China Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report published in March 2016. He has co-authored research on peer-to-peer lending in China, marketplace lending in Australia, and on digital financial services for financial inclusion and climate actions in developing countries. Dr Deer is the co-host of The Fintech in China Show podcast, which features in-depth interviews with people involved in some of the most exciting developments in financial technology, including blockchain in China. He has a PhD in Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney, and he teaches in banking and finance in the Finance Discipline at The University of Sydney Business School.

Lucy Anderson

Lucy Anderson is the Head of Payments Innovation at Australian Payments Network Limited (AusPayNet); the self-regulatory body set up by the payments industry to improve the safety, reliability, equity, convenience and efficiency of the Australian payments system. She has been working in the Australian payments and financial services industry for over 15 years. She has worked with a number of organisations, in roles that cross the payments value chain including operations, product, strategy, business development and commercial negotiation. A key part of her role involves promoting innovation, balanced by security controls and risk management practices to deliver improvements for all users of the payments system. One of her key initiatives is to lead strategic thinking in the development of solutions to effectively manage Card Not Present (CNP) fraud on an industry wide basis.

Harry Zheng

Harry Zheng is the Chief Risk Officer of RoyalPay, a start-up fintech company specialising in cross-border payments. He is a qualified accountant and risk management professional with nearly 20 years of experience in accounting, risk management and prudential supervision. Harry worked at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) for more than 13 years, and was responsible for supervising a portfolio of regulated entities in the banking, insurance and superannuation industries. He worked in a number of large multinational companies in various accounting roles before joining APRA.