Federal fintech framework supports Gold Coast's emerging financial technology cluster

Three Gold Coast-based financial technology companies have received Australian Securities and Investments Commission Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox approvals, enabling them to test innovative financial products with real customers under supervised regulatory conditions — a milestone that financial technology advocates say validates Gold Coast's emergence as a fintech hub beyond the traditional Sydney and Melbourne centres.

The three companies — spanning buy-now-pay-later insurance products, blockchain-based property settlement technology, and AI-driven financial advisory services — received their sandbox approvals under the federal government's enhanced fintech framework introduced in 2023, which doubled the maximum testing period and expanded the range of eligible products and customer exposure limits.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Australia's fintech sector was one of the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific and the regulatory sandbox was a key enabler of that growth, allowing innovative companies to test products under real conditions before committing to full regulatory compliance investment. "Australia should be the best place in the Asia-Pacific to build and launch a fintech company. Our regulatory framework is designed to make that happen," he said.

Gold Coast fintech advocates pointed to the city's combination of business costs 40 per cent below Sydney, lifestyle appeal for technology founders and engineers, and the established financial services sector in Southport's financial district as factors that supported fintech cluster development. The Gold Coast Innovation Hub at Varsity Lakes, which hosts 12 financial technology companies, reported its highest-ever occupancy rate.

ASIC's sandbox program nationally has approved 28 products since the enhanced framework took effect, with the Gold Coast companies among the most recent approvals.

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