Angus Sedgwick, CEO of OptiPay, on trends in non-banking finance in Australia – ION Analytics
In this fireside chat with ION Analytics, Giovanni Amodo, Chief Influencers Officer, and Angus Sedgwick, CEO at OptiPay, deep dive on trends in non-banking finance in Australia. The discussion begins with introducing Angus’ experience, from his career in life insurance, spanning Australia, the UK and South Africa, where he played a pivotal role in creating secondary life insurance markets. Then, more recently, his move to non-banking finance and founding OptiPay.
The conversation then moves towards AI and Automation in finance, highlighting how advanced technology is reshaping processes in financial markets. For example, how AI is being leveraged in credit assessment and invoice verification, enabling improvement of fraud detection from a compliance standpoint, as well as improving operations from an efficiency standpoint.
Giovanni and Angus then discuss the growth of e-invoicing and blockchain, and the relationship between the two. The insights provided by Angus showcase how blockchain can secure invoice financing methods by creating an unchangeable record and indisputable history, significantly reducing risk of fraud and malpractice as well as ensuring certainty and transparency in all transactions.
As the final topic discussed in this fireside chat, Angus discusses the financial movement of small businesses who are preferring alternate financing methods in comparison to traditional banking methods. With this rising trend and from the insights he’s collected through his extensive history, Angus notes that banks are primarily now serving larger corporations and small to medium sized enterprises are preferring the flexibility of financing offered by modern day FinTechs, such as OptiPay.
As small business owners move away from traditional lending, such as bank loans, they lean into alternative financial services such as trade financing, equipment financing and invoice financing. A key influencing factor is because these services provide enhanced flexibility and customisation.
Key timestamps in this interview:
00:09 Introduction to the Fireside Chat
01:08 Introduction to Secondary Life Insurance Market
01:58 Expansion to South Africa
03:00 Challenges During the Financial Crisis
04:01 Return to Australia and Shift in Focus
04:45 Exploring Invoice Financing
06:25 Transition from Peer-to-Peer to Traditional Financing
07:24 Growth Potential in Invoice Financing
08:31 Understanding Client Relationships
09:15 Assessing Business Viability for Financing
11:00 Data Integration and Financial Monitoring
11:46 Criteria for Suitable Businesses
14:20 Predicting Trends from Aggregated Data
14:58 The Role of Insurance in Invoice Financing
16:03 Industries Utilizing Invoice Finance
16:50 Debtor Awareness in Financing Agreements
18:23 Risks of Fraud in Invoice Financing
20:33 Ownership and Verification of Invoices
21:40 International Expansion of Invoice Financing
22:47 Future of the Australian Invoice Financing Market
26:39 Automation and AI in Invoice Financing
28:24 The Evolving Role of Banks in Financing
29:49 The Role of Non-Bank Financing
