Australia’s first next-gen digital bank is live
In a two-month beta trial involving more than 1,500 customers, Australia’s first fully cloud-hosted bank, Up, reached transactions of more than $2.2 million, with customers saving more than $250,000 – including thousands saved through more than 15,000 purchase round-ups – and provided visual (logo) recognition to more than 6,000 merchants through its intuitive ‘super powered’ app.[1]
To mark the bank going live to public, a special was event held where Up’s creators – South-Melbourne based technology developer, Ferocia – presented the wide range of benefits this next-gen digital bank will offer customers. A second, with further partnership announcements, is taking place in Sydney today.
“There’s been a lot of chatter about new-age banking alternatives arriving on the market. But the team has just been focused on actually getting one live. Up exists to simplify peoples’ lives and help them to create financial freedom through technology, innovation and creativity. We are immensely proud of the enhanced customer experience that will help people spend wisely and save effortlessly,” says Ferocia and Up Co-Founder, Dom Pym.
Up’s benefits include:
- Naked Truth: See when, where and how you spend your money with complete clarity – time of day, clear merchant ID, location, automated weekly spend tracking and spending analysis – e.g. how much you’ve spent at one shop in the last year or from month-to-month.
- Kill Bills: Up predicts upcoming charges automatically, pays them on time, automatically generates reports to help you budget, and can show you how much you’re spending with a provider in one click.
- Life Savers: Get more out of life with 2.75% [2] interest on savings in multiple saver accounts (and you can name them with your goals). Save with round-ups on purchases, with no monthly transaction fees, or minimum deposits.
- Roam Free: No international purchase fees online or in-store, and no need to transfer money back and forth between multi-currency accounts. NB: There are currently charges on international ATM cash withdrawals and enquiries.
- Digital Native: Smart instant push notifications, second-to-none security, and Siri integration are just some of the innovations released so far. Up will take a ‘Tesla’ approach – constantly updating its products, features and benefits and sharing them with early adopters to test, and then regularly releasing to all customers automatically.
- Backed by the Best: Including Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which provides the licensed financial products. Up also works with Mastercard for payments, and Google Cloud Platform for hosting (as the first cloud-hosted bank in Australia).
For digital payments, Up makes it easy to pay your way. With Up’s implementation of Apple Pay™ there’s no need to wait for a plastic card, customers can provision a digital card from within the Up app instantly and start making purchases immediately. Up also supports Google Pay™, Garmin Pay™ and Fitbit Pay.[3] Up has no account fees and withdrawals are free from most Australian ATMs.
“Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s strong track-record provides us with a credible banking partner, coupled with the creative licence to design Up in the most ‘non-bank’ way possible. It has meant we can offer customers a new way to manage their money ahead of everyone else.”
“The alternative would have been to apply for a restricted banking license and be in the same boat as all other upcoming digital banks – unable to launch in any meaningful way until at least 2019.”
More partnerships and features will be announced within the week. “We like to dream big and then walk the talk. We’ll keep working at a fierce pace to add new and exciting features at a consistent rate. We’ve been averaging about five deployments per day, which is unusual for a bank, to say the least, and we’ll continue to do so.”
The other Co-Founder of Up is former AFL coach of St Kilda and media personality, Grant “Thomo” Thomas, who alongside Pym’s technological prowess, underpins the strong cultural backbone of the team.
“In order to deliver a completely different banking experience, we needed to approach this with a completely different cultural play to the industry. And this tech-led team is the perfect nucleus for this new banking community. From the moment you register your interest on the Up app, you’ll enjoy a vastly different customer experience,” says Grant Thomas.
To register your interest in joining Up, visit the App Store (for iOS) or Google Play (for Android) and search for “Up”. The app will show you what to do from there. Further information around Up’s products and benefits can be found at up.com.au
1. Up public beta trial 26 July-30th Sept 2018
2. Variable introductory interest rate. Base rate 0.75% + Bonus rate 2.00%. Both subject to change. Bonus interest rate applies across multiple Saver accounts up to a combined balance of $50k for a four-month period from when you join up.
3. Apple Pay, iOS, and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Google Pay, Google Play, Android, and Google Cloud Platform are trademarks of Google LLC. Garmin Pay is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries, registered in the USA and other countries. Fitbit Pay is a registered trademark or trademark of Fitbit, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries.
