Xinja Bank, one a clutch of digital-only challengers to Australia's Big Four banking behemoths, has rolled out its first accounts after winning a full banking licence from the country's Prudential Regulation Authority.
Xinja joins fellow challengers Volt Bank and 86 400 in gaining regulatory approval for its digital-only banking proposition.
Initially launched in February 2018 as an app and prepaid travel card, Xinja has 28,000 prospects on a wait-list for its first transactional banking accounts. Once bedded in, the company plans the immediate launch of a range of savings accounts followed by the addition of lending products in the first quarter of 2020.
The startup, which has raised $45 million in capital, is using the SAP Cloud for Banking platform as its technology backbone, promising rapid customer onboarding and real time risk and financial assessment
Chief executive and founder, Eric Wilson, contends that zero legacy systems and state-of-the-art technology gives Xinja a massive advantage over both traditional and Australian digital banks.
“We don’t have bricks and mortar branches or old technology that we are constantly patching to meet the needs of customers," he says. "Our costs will be significantly lower than traditional banks."