Within a month of launching its savings account, a neobank has reported a “whopping” $200 million has been deposited by over 20,000 customers – about half of which came from Australia’s four major banks.
The response to the launch of the account has been “remarkable”, according to Xinja Bank CEO and founder Eric Wilson.
"We have been well and truly inundated. It shows that people badly want a different kind of bank," he said.
The Stash savings account was launched on January 15. Within three weeks, $100m had come in; before a full month had passed, over $200m had been deposited.
The account offers a 2.25% interest rate, from the first dollar deposited up to $245,000, with few conditions.
As Wilson put it, “What you see is what you get.”
"In the past, the big banks would tell you that customers were inert and lazy about their banking. We've all seen those surveys that show a very large number of people held on to the same bank account they had as a kid,” he continued.
"But this really shows that Aussies will try something new, won’t be taken for granted on low interest rates, or sold a shiny new brand owned by an old bank. They want change and real competition."
The idea of Xinja was conceived in May 2017. By September 2019, APRA had granted the neobank its full banking licence.
"We have built a bank from the ground up in a remarkably short amount of time," said Wilson.
"People of all ages are very used to using apps for ridesharing and holiday accommodation bookings to make their lives easier and better. We want that same seamless approach to making your money work harder."
At the time of writing, Xinja Bank has over 20,000 customers holding over 32,000 accounts.
