Christopher Walsh
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
MoneyHub
Financial services are traditionally a paper and pen business. Historically, most New Zealanders have engaged mortgage brokers, insurance brokers, bank managers and/or sharebrokers. MoneyHub was founded two years before the first case of COVID to democratise access to financial information and make it free to all. COVID and the subsequent responses have accelerated our reach to levels we can efficiently serve by staying solely digital.
There’s a lot to do. Around one-third of New Zealanders don’t have any savings, consumer debt is getting more expensive, and general costs are rising with super-sized inflation. People of all incomes need (and want) to save money. They also need to know about what they’re investing in, avoid outright scams and be cautious of pie-in-the-sky investment proposals. Our company’s digital commitment means we can, and do, reach every corner of New Zealand. We can respond instantly to the demands and needs of our people. Best of all, we do it at a minimal cost.
I believe if you’re not doing business digitally, your business isn’t going to reach its potential. The more digital you are, the more scale you have. I am proud to say that MoneyHub has always been paperless, we work remotely, meaning no office footprint, and we thrive with flexible working. Digital is the only way we can do this.
Social media and financial education are not commonly linked. However, we’ve seen a need to educate younger New Zealanders and meet their everyday money needs. Our foray into TikTok has amassed millions of views and tens of thousands of followers. Young people often don’t know anything about money until suddenly they need to.
Whatever the future brings, a commitment to digital ensures we can meet the needs of the millions of New Zealanders who rely on our business. I encourage all entrepreneurs to be digital from day one – the costs you can eliminate will give you much flexibility to build out a business. Digital also lets an entrepreneur test and prove demand for a product or service quickly, cheaply and accurately. There’s no better time to put the pens and paper down.
