Australian FinTech company profile #161 - Bano

1. Company Name: Bano

2. Website: www.banosuperapp.com

3. Key Staff & Titles: Jarod Feng – Director/CEO, Randall Maccan – Head of Treasury and Financial Markets

4. Location(s): Sydney, Australia

5. In one sentence, what does your fintech do?: Bano is a SuperApp that aims to help Australians access a variety of high quality financial services from a singular app.

6. How / why did you start your fintech company?: Australia lacks a SuperApp that is able to conduct a multitude of financial services, unlike apps in the United States or the United Kingdom. Bano aims to bridge the gap by bringing a concept that has found success in other western countries and Southeast Asia to Australia. Bano’s goal is to educate the public on the revolution of Fintech and open banking.

7. What is the best thing your company has achieved or learnt along the way (this can include awards, capital raising etc)?: The most important thing we have learnt about is how Bano fits within the Australian market. With every new customer, Bano learns more about the needs and wants of the consumers and the features we can implement to “quench their thirst”. Bano is also the 2nd Australian company who was initially given the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox Exemption by ASIC in 2020, and successfully received the AFSL in December 2022.

8. What’s some advice you’d give to an aspiring start-up?: When you begin a start-up, you are taking a risk that may or may not be fulfilled. However, as long as you have the drive to work and use critical thinking to solve potential problems, your likelihood of succeeding becomes greater. The importance of understanding where you stand in the market and your value propositions are also extremely important; which is why having good PR & marketing tactics will be able to help you garner customers or clients.

9. What’s next for your company? And are you looking to expand overseas or stay focussed on Australia?: Bano would want to continue to support Australians and other Australian FinTech by providing a more personal service and open APIs. With more features to introduce such as travel cards, business cards, co-branded cards, higher amounts of cashback, stock trading, and a continued maintenance of security. Bano will always continue to be a business catered to the people and to facilitate a healthy relationship between our users and their finances.

10. What other fintechs or companies do you admire?: Chime, Venmo, CashApp

11. What’s the most interesting or funniest moment that’s happened in your company’s lifetime?: Bano receiving its AFSL the day of the expiration day of the ERS Sandbox (December 19 2022). Without the AFSL, we would have had to suspend our services but thanks to the hardworking people at ASIC, they managed to get us the AFSL right in time before the holidays.