The first Intesekt Festival of FinTech in Melbourne, incorporating the second Collab/Collide Summit, ran from October 27th to November 3rd, and included an academic symposium, a hackathon, various co-working space open days and corporate field trips, a Blockchain Day, a pitch competition, as well as the 2-day Collab/Collide event. Plans are already being made for 2018….

Like all such multi-stream conferences, you have to be selective, and hopefully pick out the most interesting and relevant sessions and events. Overall, the event attracted solid numbers, a great selection of overseas speakers and delegates, and managed to debate some of the hot topics in FinTech today.

First, kudos to the Victorian Government, and in particular Minister Philip Dalidakis and his team for again partnering with FinTech Australia to bring this event to Melbourne (especially after a difficult year, with the LaunchVic and 500 Startups debacle).

Second, respect to the Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison, for again speaking at the conference. Last year, he announced his open banking data policy; this year, he announced the comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) policy. (Needless to say the Treasurer found himself having to discuss Parliamentarians’ genealogy with the press pack outside the conference hall.)

Third, over recent times I have been encouraged by the level of engagement between the FinTech sector, and the Australian regulators, most notably ASIC and its Commissioner, John Price. (Good to see a number of ASIC staff at the conference as well, as it’s critical for them to see and hear what is going on in the industry.)

Some of the overarching and consistent themes of the conference were (understandably): Big Data, AI, machine learning, regulatory oversight, digital disruption, financial literacy, FinTech startup inclusivity, and the future of financial services.

I covered the hackathon and the pitch night previously – as well as the reverse pitch night by some leading VC funds. There were also some engaging presentations from challenger banks and disruptive FinTech brands. Always interesting to hear from other markets.

On the Blockchain day, and at the Collab/Collide conference, there were a number of presentations on ICOs and token issuance programs. Unfortunately, there was a lot of misinformation and confusion about the regulatory and other legal issues associated with this new phenomenon – even among lawyers.

Elsewhere, there were updates on the EY FinTech Australia Census, various regulatory developments, and a session on alternative funding models with the introduction of new equity crowdfunding rules. P2P lending also made an appearance, as did robo-advice and the New Payments Platform.

Finally, the dilemma of the major banks in responding to the new world of financial services was illustrated by the announcement of NAB’s job cuts, in response to technology and automation – which sort of goes to the heart of FinTech.

Next week: Consensus: Invest and Blockchain Expo