New FinTech Australia board member will fight the corner of WA fintechs

Tim Dean, founder and chief of family loan app startup Credi, is set to join the board of FinTech Australia, and he’s on a mission to raise the profile of Western Australian startups.

Dean is replacing Jack Quigley, founder and chief executive of CrowdfundUP, who has recently departed the organisation’s board.

In a post on West Australian startup news site Startup News, Dean said he will be working closely with recently appointed FinTech Australia chief executive Brad Kitschke to help “give fintech WA its own identity”.

“It’s simply us being part of making sure that WA fintechs are part of a bigger conversation piece, and it’s the access point through networking with like-minded companies,” he said in the Startup News article. 

Having built Perth-based Credi over the past four years, Dean said he is more than aware of the challenges facing fintech startups in the state, especially because a “disproportionate amount of their client base” is located elsewhere.

However, he said WA has the potential to play a larger part in Australia-Asia relations, providing a base for helping Australian fintech to realise opportunities in Asia.

FinTech Australia could also help build relationships at federal and state government levels, to give WA-based startups access to better networking opportunities nationally, he said. 

But, in a statement from Credi, Dean also said in his new position he won’t just be banging the WA drum, and will also contribute to the fintech space all over Australia.

“As a fintech business owner, it’s always important to have access to any advocacy groups that are in your space … I suppose I work on the basis that if you are in something, you should also be prepared to contribute to both your good and everyone else’s as well,” he said.

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