FinTech Australia Urges Government to Open Procurement Pipeline and Fix Funding Settings for Fintechs

FinTech Australia is calling on the Federal Government, as part of its 2026–27 Pre-Budget Submission, to broaden its procurement pipeline to better include fintechs and small and medium businesses. In addition, to recalibrate existing funding mechanisms – including venture capital tax concessions, superannuation settings and the Research and Development Tax Incentive – to create stronger, more predictable funding pathways for emerging fintechs.

As part of a broader suite of measures, FinTech Australia argues that more SME-friendly procurement settings would lower barriers to entry and improve cash flow certainty for high-growth technology businesses.

“Australian fintechs have the capabilities and knowledge to solve many of the Federal Government’s key financial challenges, and in turn grow their business, unlock further productivity and create jobs,” FinTech Australia CEO Rehan D’Almeida said.

“Securing government work would also have a compounding effect: it gives fintechs credibility, which in turn helps them win more local customers and scale more quickly. Yet extensive government tender processes that are almost designed for larger players lock smaller and emerging companies out of participating. We often see the same contracts awarded to large companies, simply because they are the only ones with the resources to participate, or the terms blatantly disqualify smaller firms” he said.

The call for further funding-related support comes as recent Cut Through Venture data revealed a 17 per cent decline in the number of funding deals last year, despite an increase in the total amount of capital invested. Early-stage fintechs – those most likely to become the next generation of export-ready Australian scale-ups – are finding it increasingly difficult to access capital on reasonable terms.

“We’ve called this out before, but the two-speed fintech ecosystem still persists,” D’Almeida added. “Existing funds and VC are largely fuelling established players, leaving our next-generation unicorns behind. It’s in this space that the Federal Government can make a tangible difference with targeted reform – both to the ecosystem and, in turn, Australia’s economic outcomes.”

In addition to procurement and funding reforms, the submission also outlines several other key focus areas, many of which persist as long-standing pressure points in the ecosystem, including:

• Continued support for the Consumer Data Right and core digital infrastructure, alongside scam and cyber initiatives such as the National Anti-Scam Centre, so that consumers and small businesses can safely benefit from data-driven services.
• Strengthening national AI capability and support for emerging technologies, including investment in AI testing and assurance, and improving tools such as the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox to help early-stage fintechs responsibly trial new products.
• Smarter, better-resourced regulation – ensuring bodies such as ASIC, APRA, ACCC and AUSTRAC can manage expanding mandates while modernising rules to support home ownership, digital lending and a more unified framework for the digital economy.
• Boosting international competitiveness, including through coordinated export and trade support, stronger collaboration via FinTech Bridge arrangements and recognising fintech as an “enabling capability” within programs such as the National Reconstruction Fund.
• Incentives for sustainability and green fintech solutions, ensuring tools that support climate reporting, green lending and ESG data analytics are accessible to SMEs as well as large institutions.

D’Almeida added: “The stakes are higher with this Federal Budget than others in the past. Australia’s fintech industry is well placed to deliver on the economic outcomes the Government is searching for – boosting productivity, creating jobs and ultimately raising our standard of living.”

“With the right policy settings, we can supercharge fintech growth and realise its impact right now, where it’s most needed. Our regulators and policymakers have by no means neglected the fintech industry, but a renewed focus on it will, in our view, deliver outsized dividends for Australia’s economy.”