Pelikin: Is this Aussie fintech about to shake up millennial travel?

It’s no secret that young Australians love to travel. Ask any millennial and they’ll likely be hard pressed to name a friend that hasn’t recently travelled overseas or isn’t planning to do so in the near future.
In fact, according to research from Roy Morgan released in May, millennials are the most likely cohort in Australia to have travel plans in the near future – 73.6% of those surveyed indicating that they intended to travel in the next 12 months.
And with so many young Aussies heading overseas, one local fintech is not only banking on the travel bug sticking around, they’re hoping to completely change the way Australian travellers pay while they’re away.
Melbourne-based startup and self-described market disruptor Pelikin is on the verge of launching a mobile-only, multi-currency account and prepaid Visa debit card targeting young, technologically minded Australians on the lookout for a different travel money experience.
“Pelikin has been built to reduce cash dependency overseas, reduce costs and stress, and reduce the burden of ‘travel tension’ between groups of travellers,” said Pelikin Founder, Sam Brown.
“Managing money when travelling is hard, particularly in groups as friends start to owe friends money and it can get awkward, so we’re combatting this issue within the app.”
Some of the features Pelikin’s app and card are set to offer include:
The ability to hold up to five different currencies at once
No fees
Card payment in over 200 countries with Visa
Instant in-app transfers to fellow users in multiple currencies
Use of unique @ handles instead of traditional account numbers