Some of Australia’s leading neobank and fintech upstarts have seen a recent and significant drop in media exposure following their prolonged period of profile growth, according to a study of major metropolitan newspapers and news websites that ran from June 2019 to May 2020.
The analysis by Streem found usage of the term “neobank” within the country’s media has fallen 74% from its peak earlier this year, with several brands experiencing deep cuts to their profile which seem to be correlated to the COVID-19 lockdown which began in March.
The research highlighted that non-bank lender Prospa was the “notable exception” given the media attention it received in April after having been named as a participant of the government’s Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme.
However, after this bump, Prospa’s media mentions fell 97% in May.
Over the past 12 months, the newer market players have been locked in “fierce competition” to build profile.
Going off a list of major metro publications, Prospa charted 495 media items ahead of Xinja (444) and 86 400 (402).
Comparatively, among larger traditional banking institutions, ING had 2,507 media items, ME Bank 657 and UBank 392. Each of the big four had between 15,000 and 19,000.
Athena had the leading profile of the “new breed of digital home lenders” with 296 mentions, which compared to the 409 media items for established brand Aussie Home Loans and 177 for Rams.
