ACCC wants to protect neobanks â and their customers â from big four bank takeovers
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FebFebruary 2021 at 10:49pm
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Australia s competition watchdog has put the country s big banks on notice, warning it is keeping a very close eye on their efforts to buy up emerging fintechs and digital banks.
Key points:
Rival neobank Xinja closed down last year and returned customers deposits
Fintech researcher Cynthia Cai says neobanks need to offer more than just high interest rates on savings
Xinja returns customer deposits in Australian first
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The prudential regulator has noted that Xinja has made history by becoming the first Australian bank to undertake a return of deposits to its customers.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released a statement following the move by Xinja Bank to relinquish its banking licence and return customer deposits.
APRA outlined that Xinja Bank had transferred the remaining tail of customer deposits to National Australia Bank (NAB).
According to APRA, this is the “first time an Australian authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) has undertaken a return of deposits to its customers”.
Xinja returns all customer deposits as it finalises exit from banking scene
Xinja founder and chief Eric Wilson. Source: supplied.
Neobank Xinja has become the first authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) in Australia to return its deposits to customers, after finalising its exit from the local banking scene.
Xinja began returning millions of dollars in deposits to customers in December, following its shock announcement it intended to cease operating as a bank and return its ADI license to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
This return of deposits process was finalised on Tuesday, said APRA, with Xinja transferring its remaining customer accounts to NAB.
Mortgage Business
Xinja takes pay facilities offline By Annie Kane 15 January 2021
The fintech’s debit card and pay facilities will come offline today following the neobank’s decision to exit the banking business.
Today (15 January) marks the final step in the closure of Xinja’s banking operations, as it takes its debit card and pay facilities offline.
All bank accounts that had zero balance were closed on Tuesday (13 January). Xinja customers have not been able to make any payments into their accounts since late December, and had been urged to transfer funds out of their accounts before Christmas.
The move comes just a month after the neobank announced that it was shutting down its banking operations, returning all funds to depositors and relinquishing its ADI licence.