Xinja lands full Aussie banking licence
Australian independent neobank Xinja has received a full banking licence and has launched its first bank accounts, reports Jane Connolly.
Xinja was granted a restricted banking licence in December 2018 and has received the full licence from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) following an “incredibly thorough process” to meet regulators’ requirements. 
The 100% digital bank, designed for mobile, has launched transaction accounts that are accessed solely via the Xinja app and come with a Xinja Debit Mastercard. Savings, or ‘Stash’, accounts will be unveiled soon.
The bank says it has distributed more than 12,000 prepaid cards since 2018 and signed up over 28,000 people. Xinja plans to add lending products in the first quarter of 2020, along with other “fun, ‘unbanky’ surprises”.
“It’s enormously exciting that Australians have a new, independent bank,” says chief executive and founder, Eric Wilson. “It’s time Australia’s very old banking model was disrupted. We are 100% digital; we want people to have a real alternative to the incumbent banks, to have real choice to be able to bank with a bank that really looks after them.”
Referring to the regulation process, Wilson adds: “We have been really busy building the best systems, to the highest standards authorities rightly set, to get our bank up and running.”
The 65-strong workforce is led by a board that includes Monzo and Starling co-founder Jason Bates, former Tesla engineering team leader Thomas Vikstrom and Brett King, who is a former advisor to the Obama White House on the future of banking.
