Since 2021, Zip has been supporting Young Change Agents to deliver financial literacy and entrepreneurial education programs across Australia. This year, we’re helping them run the Future of Finance Design Challenge, where young people are empowered to ideate solutions, create prototypes and pitch ideas to change the face of finance.

ANZ Zipsters Lucy Lindsay and Jimmy Kelly recently volunteered to judge the finalists from over 100 entries. These winning teams will soon be joining us at Zip HQ as part of an Incubator, where they’ll get support from Zip mentors and SMEs to help bring their ideas to life! We sat down with Jimmy and Lucy to hear more about their experience.

Tell us who you are, how long you’ve been a Zipster and what you do day-to-day in your role

Lucy: My name is Lucy Lindsay and I am a Program Manager in our Merchant Optimisation Team. I have been at Zip for nearly five years now, starting in our Customer Care team, before moving into the Underwriting and then finding my current home in the Commercial team. My role involves helping our Commercial team maximise their sales potential and drive growth through data driven strategies and collaboration.

Jimmy: I am Jimmy Kelly and I’ve been with Zip about ten months. I started out in our Performance Partnerships Team within the Marketing function and looked after our affiliate and rewards program. I’ve recently transitioned into our Business Development team working across enterprise clients.

What appealed to you about getting involved with the YCA initiative?

Lucy: I had heard about YCA in previous conversations at Zip and I always looked to get involved. It is an awesome organisation that looks to excel the great innovative ideas of Australia’s future finance minds!

Creating innovative, entrepreneurial ideas has always been something I’ve been interested in since I was at school, where I was lucky to be involved in similar initiatives. Making these initiatives more accessible to a larger range of Australian kids is awesome to see and I am proud to be a part of it.

Jimmy: Getting involved with the YCA initiative was really appealing as it's such an inspiring program that gives so much back to the community. The ideas that these future leaders of finance created were ideas that I wish I had available to me when I was their age. I also saw my involvement in the program as a great opportunity to grow my network across the industry.

Why is it important that Zip gives back to the community in this way?

Lucy: Giving back to the community and our customers is a true reflection of our Values and what we stand for at Zip. We are lucky to have a great platform and extensive resources that enable us to support and give back to Australians from all sorts of different backgrounds. Educating and investing in the youth of finance is just one way that we can contribute to and empower the community.

Jimmy: Since Zip’s inception, it has always been about making finance simple and easy to understand for our customers. Partnering with YCA is a great way to educate the community about finance and also to increase awareness and consideration for future careers in finance.

What was your biggest takeaway from judging the ‘Future of finance’ design challenge, and which of the finalist ideas resonated most strongly with you?

Lucy: I would say that the future of finance is very bright! All of the ideas really brought to light some very relevant problem statements and looked to solve them with some awesome ideas. Some of these standout ideas incorporated gamification to educate the youth of today on budgeting and financial literacy. Consistently we noticed a very real interest and desire to help young Australians learn more about financial wellbeing and how to manage money before leaving school.

Jimmy: The biggest takeaway would be how engaged the next generation is with finance. They have such a thirst for knowledge, which is so inspiring and extremely different to when I was 8-16 years of age. The idea that resonated the most with me was JobJrny, which was an app that includes all things “first job” for young people. It includes information on store locations that are hiring, resume templates, information, recommendations and trial questions for job interviews.

What one thing that people outside of the organisation may not know about Zip makes you proud to work here?

Lucy: Zip really does provide you every opportunity to develop as a person, as well as in your career. Our leaders provide a platform to help you set your career goals and guide you on the path to achieving them. At Zip, I’ve found that everyone is willing to listen, share and learn about all aspects of the business, and whether it’s an executive leader or a customer service agent, there really is no judgement or ego involved.

Jimmy: Zip is like a family. It’s hard to explain exactly how it works, however I can safely say that the culture is second to none and if you choose to lean in, you will be afforded every opportunity to grow both personally and professionally.

Lucy and Jimmy, thanks for all you do for Zip and for your valuable contributions to our partnership with Young Change Agents! Keep up the great work #StrongerTogether