Australian FinTech company profile #181 – TermPlus
1. Company Name: TermPlus
2. Website: www.termplus.com.au
3. Key Staff & Titles:
Nehemiah Richardson – Pengana Credit CEO
Dean Weinbren – Managing Executive
Keith McLachlan – COO
Adam Rapeport – CIO
Ryan Falkoff – CTO
Aiden Dunne – Marketing Manager
Paula Ferrao – Company Secretary
Kitty Tang – Customer Service Specialist
4. Location(s):
Australia
5. In one sentence, what does your fintech do?:
TermPlus helps everyday Australians confidently put their savings to work with online term accounts offering better target rates for monthly income payments, which can be paid to your bank account, or reinvested for compounding returns.
6. How / why did you start your fintech company?:
Our parent company, Pengana Capital Group, is a 20+ year old established funds management business listed on the ASX. Pengana has unparalleled access and capability in the global private credit sector (having recently seeded a master portfolio with over AU$200 million). Add to this a relationship with Mercer, who act as Investment Consultants for Pengana Credit, and that put TermPlus in an extremely unique position to reinvent how Australian’s put their money to work with fixed-term accounts.
7. What is the best thing your company has achieved or learnt along the way (this can include awards, capital raising etc)?:
From a ‘goal’ perspective – we set out to deliver a fixed-term investment option that would offer Australian investors better returns from their savings – and we have definitely delivered.
From a ‘build’ perspective – we have delivered on what we set out to create, a completely purpose-built customer experience for customers to easily access, track and manage their term accounts.
From an ‘achievement’ perspective – that would have to be in line with our sole purpose, hitting and paying our monthly target rates to account holders, every month…
8. What’s some advice you’d give to an aspiring start-up?:
Focus on the customer. Find where you can add the most value, and strap in. Nothing is ever as ‘straight forward’ in execution as it seems on paper – you have to be prepared to go the extra mile if you want to deliver the best possible outcomes. There is no well-trodden path when you are innovating, but if you focus on delivering the best possible outcome for the customer, you will always have a ‘northern star’ to guide you into making the right decisions that align with your intended destination
9. What’s next for your company? And are you looking to expand overseas or stay focussed on Australia?:
We are, and always will be, an Australia-first financial services company. Our aim is simple, give as many Aussies as we can an easy solution to ensure that their hard-earned-savings are hard at work.
10. What other fintechs or companies do you admire?:
Any companies delivering differentiated and enhanced outcomes that improve the lives of their customers more than what has historically been available to them.
11. What’s the most interesting or funniest moment that’s happened in your company’s lifetime?:
Working with a wide range of talented people across all spectrums and fields towards the launch of TermPlus has been an exceptionally rewarding and interesting process. Probably the most unique was being on set when we filmed our first round of TV ads and seeing the film crew ‘in action’ – coming from the world of finance, this is a very different way to spend your working day!
