Bank of Sydney has "confirmed" its full participation in the Australian Bankers Association's reform program, following a report that it was not participating. On Friday the ABA gave an update on the program by its independent governance expert Ian McPhee, which said five ABA member banks, including Bank of Sydney, had opted out of the reforms. Yesterday a Bank of Sydney spokesman issued a statement saying the bank confirmed its participation on Friday. After the fintech rush comes an "insurtech" boom. According to research being discussed at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on the Gold Coast, 64 per cent of the world's 25 largest insurance companies have already invested directly or indirectly via their venture capital arms in "insurtech" startups. Gartner predicts that by 2018, up to 80 per cent of life and property and casualty insurers worldwide will partner with or acquire insurtechs - aiming to share in technological innovations, processes and models that promise to make the insurance value chain more competitive. The Reserve Bank of Australia's August rate cut led to a surge in refinancing of residential mortgages, according to Aussie Home Loans. The mortgage broker's loan data for 2016 September quarter showed an 11 per cent rise in refinancing deals to A$1.8 billion, while the share of refinancing "surged" from 35 per cent to 40 per cent of Aussie's total loan volume over the three months, compared with the previous corresponding period in 2015.