Neobank Douugh wants to take HENRYs from the big four after Regional Australia Bank deal
Douugh, an Australian fintech start-up run by SocietyOne co-founder Andy Taylor, has secured the last piece of the puzzle it needed to join the race to knock off the big four banks as one of an emerging group of neobanks. The company, which has developed a so-called “smart” bank account, with an artificial intelligence-based personal finance assistant known as Sophie, has secured a wholesale banking deal with Armidale-based Regional Australia Bank, meaning it will be able to offer full bank accounts later this year. The partnership agreement means Douugh will bypass the need to go through the APRA approval process, which saw Volt Bank announced as Australia’s newest bank on […]
Chinese tech giant WeBank poised to disrupt Australian banking sector
Australian banks have a new reason to look over their shoulders as Chinese digital-only bank WeBank moves ahead with plans to establish a foothold Down Under. WeBank, which is valued at $US21 billion ($29.4 billion) and has written more than 100 million loans in its first five years in business, quietly began laying the foundations for its digital-only banking venture with a flurry of trademark applications on December 5 last year. With the aid of Adelaide-based legal firm KHQ Lawyers, WeBank is seeking to trademark the phrase “WeBank” and a series of Chinese characters that can be translated into English as “microloan”. The application lists the Chinese company’s Shenzhen headquarters […]
Collection House acquires $8.5m stake in Volt Bank
A pathway set up by regulators to incentivise new entrants in the banking sector is starting to gather momentum, with Volt Bank receiving an $8.5 million investment from listed company Collection House (ASX: CLH). The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) yesterday granted Volt a licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) without restrictions, as part of a framework set up in May 2018 to assist small firms with limited financial resources. At the time, APRA chairman Wayne Byrnes said making it easier for aspiring ADIs to enter the market would help enhance competition and potentially innovate new business models, while the scheme would also maintain safety and stability […]
Apple Pay goes live for CBA
Commonwealth Bank customers can now use their iPhones for tap-and-go payments, in a change that may up the pressure on the remaining big banks to follow suit and cave in to the tech giant. The country’s biggest bank on Wednesday started providing Apple Pay, a service that allows customers to make contactless payments with their phones, as well as streamlined purchases in apps and on the web. Until CBA announced its deal with Apple last month, ANZ Bank had been the only big four bank to provide the service in Australia, after CBA, Westpac and National Australia Bank reached a stalemate in talks with Apple in 2016 over access to […]
Big four banks consider creating their own digital brands
Each of the big four banks have considered launching new digital bank brands to attract new, young, digital-savvy customers. Apart from National Australia Bank’s UBank, the plans have been non-starters, getting lost among layers of bureaucracy, management changes and restrictions on new investment. But the pending launch of Volt Bank, which on Tuesday received an unrestricted banking licence from the prudential regulator, and with Up already in the market, the majors might be forced to reconsider whether creating entirely new standalone digital brands, or partnering with emerging players in the emerging “neobank” space, is needed to stay on the front foot in the fast-moving world of digital banking. NAB is […]
“High fives” as Volt gets full licence
“Tears and high fives” swept the office at one of Australia’s biggest challenger banks yesterday, as it was granted its full banking licence (22 January). Volt Bank was the first digital bank to be given a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) licence in May last year from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Since that time the team has worked “tirelessly” to put the technology and processes in place to become a fully licenced bank. With a full licence there are no restrictions on the amount the bank can lend or receive. CEO Steve Weston said they planned to introduce home loans at the back end of 2019, with mortgage […]
‘Grown ups’: Neobanking sector chases customer sign ups
Australia’s digital banking sector promises the sector is no longer in its infancy and this year the chase for customers is on. “I’m guessing that you’ll see four to five new neobanks start up over the next 24 months,” chief executive of Xinja, Eric Wilson, says. The banking startup kicked off 2019 by launching a new equity crowdfunding campaign, raising $500,000 in its first nine hours to build on its previous $2.7 million raise in January 2019. Revenues are currently in the tens of thousands, but the business is pitching long-term growth once its products are formally launched. The business has a restricted banking licence from the Australian Prudential Regulatory […]
You want cash with that? ANZ plugs Apple Pay into eftpos
Millions of ANZ debit card holders will now be able to get cash out with over the counter Apple Pay transactions, after eftpos scored a massive win over the dominance of US credit card companies in smartphone payments. From today ANZ customers will get a new choice of picking cheque or savings for purchases made via debit cards linked to Apple Pay, specifically the Access Advantage Visa debit card which ANZ customer engagement lead Kath Bray said amounted to three million cardholders. ANZ is by far the most dominant Australian bank in the Apple Pay space after it broke away from rivals boycotting Cupertino because of the size of the […]
