Australia’s newest bank has launched with a suite of features designed to help customers to keep better track of how they’re spending their money.
86 400 is the first retail bank to launch in Australia since the 1980s, although Xinja began taking people off its waitlist on Monday after getting its full banking licence.
Volt Bank is also gearing up for launch, while Up banking has done so in partnership with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
Together these digital banks, which have no physical branches and rely heavily on cloud computing platforms, are hoping to shake up Australia’s financial sector the same way neobanks have in the UK and the US.
86 400 chief executive Robert Bell says the bank is trying to use smart technology to help customers stay on top of their finances.
Its app automatically scans through past transactions to spot recurring transactions from Australia’s top 200 merchants, giving customers a snapshot of upcoming payments for gym memberships or streaming subscriptions that they may have forgotten.
“Banking has always been what has happened in the past,” Mr Bell said.
“No one’s actually using data in a clever way to look forward.”
86 400’s research shows that Australians waste about $2.7 billion each year on subscriptions they have forgotten about, Mr Bell said.
Mr Bell said 86 400 is hoping to get customers to “just try us” rather than switch banks, noting the bank’s app can also displays customers’ accounts with other financial institutions.
Customers can sign up for an account in just two minutes using just one piece of identification.
“It’s an incredible task, because there’s a lot of smart technology in the background,” Mr Bell said.
The system scans registers such as electoral rolls in real time to allow customers to sign up so quickly, Mr Bell said.
New iPhone customers will also be able to start using their new debit card immediately via Apple Pay and their phone’s NFC (near field communication) functionality.
Payment and banking services provider Cuscal is backing 86 400.
“After two years of building we’re excited to get it out to the public,” Mr Bell said of the bank.
The bank is launching with payment and savings accounts, with plans to offer mortgages within a few months via mortgage brokers.
AAP
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