Xinja grows up to be a bank with APRA licence
Xinja has received a restricted banking licence from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), officially becoming a bank.
APRA has granted Xinja a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution licence (RADI), for its current 22,000 customers. This will allow the customers to make use of the card and pre-paid card.
“Xinja’s owners include not only local and overseas professional investors but our staff and thousands of cardholders who have invested, as part of our equity crowdfunding, and want to join with us to revolutionise banking,” co-founder and chief executive Eric Wilson says.
“[The Australian banking market] has been stagnant for too long when it comes to looking after the interests of ordinary Australians. We have built Xinja from the ground up, which means we have listened to people who want to bank with us, and used their feedback to help us build a better bank,” Xinja chair Lindley Edwards adds.
Xinja’s card allows anyone travelling overseas or shopping online in a foreign currency to see how much has been spent in both the foreign currency and Australian dollars.
The Xinja app lets people track their daily spend, split costs or bills easily with friends and top up their account instantly. The card can be frozen with a swipe, users can check their balance from outside the app, and access customer service via chat. What you’d expect from any new digital challenger bank.
Edwards says the bank has been looking to other innovators and disruptors around the world to get inspiration for its products and services.
Xinja already has an Australian Credit Licence, which allows it to offer home loans with Iress.
In November, it announced that, with its partner SAP, it has already gone live with its core banking system, which was achieved in record time.
Brett King was recently appointed to advise the Xinja board, with senior Tesla engineer Thomas Vikstrom joining the board.
Xinja has so far raised over AU$17 million ($12.2 million) in Series A and Series B capital raisings, including AU$2.7 million ($1.9 million) from 1,200 retail investors in Australia’s first equity crowdfund.
It has announced it will launch a second equity crowdfunding in January 2019. It has a target range of AU$10 million ($7.2 million) to AU$20 million ($14.4 million) for its current third funding round.
