UBank is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

direct bank A direct bank (sometimes called a branch-less bank or virtual bank) is a bank that offers its services only via the Internet, mobile app, email, and other electronic means, often including telephone, online chat, and mobile check deposit. A direct ...

, operating as a division of

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

(NAB). It was established in 2008, providing savings and home loans online as well as over the phone. UBank operates under NAB's banking licence and uses its balance sheet, risk management and technology infrastructure. UBank also participates in the Australian government's

deposit guarantee Deposit insurance, deposit protection or deposit guarantee is a measure implemented in many countries to protect bank depositors, in full or in part, from losses caused by a bank's inability to pay its debts when due. Deposit insurance or deposit ...

scheme.

History and Growth

UBank was launched by

Gerd Schenkel Gerd Schenkel is an Australian-German businessperson. He is the founder of UBank, former Chair of Credit Clear (ASX.CCR), a former non-executive Director of Helia (ASX.HLI), and Senior Adviser at Kearney, a global consultancy. Educatio ...

and Greg Sutherland for National Australia Bank on 1 October 2008, with the purpose of establishing a presence in the "self-directed" customer segment. NAB stated it aimed to attract new retail customers while operating independently to its other retail brands, and in its 2009 annual report, NAB claimed that this strategy had been "successful". UBank operates under NAB's banking licence and participates in the Australian government's deposit guarantee scheme. Deposits were said to exceed over $500 million in one month. NAB claimed Ubank's " customer advocacy and satisfaction levels" to be "among the highest of any institution in Australia" In its 2009 annual report, NAB claimed "almost 10,000 new customers in a month" for UBank's USaver product. NAB's UBank has been compared to

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

Jetstar Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, doing business as, trading as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by the ...

in terms of a

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...

of internal innovation with the objective of opening new market segments for the parent company. In October 2012, in a media interview about NAB's results briefing,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Cameron Clyne claimed that UBank had "raised $15–16 billion in deposits". As of October 2015, UBank had $15.7 billion of customer deposits and $3.6b of mortgages. In March 2020, Philippa Watson was appointed CEO of UBank. As of July 2023, UBank reported $17b deposits and 700,000 customers.

Acquisition of :86 400

neobank A neobank is a type of direct bank that operates exclusively using online banking without traditional physical branches. They challenge traditional banks. In contrast to direct banks, in many cases, neobanks do not have their own banking license ...

founded by Anthony Thomson and Robert Bell and majority owned by payments company

Cuscal Cuscal Limited is an Australian company that provides payments and data to Australian Banks, credit unions, mutual savings banks, corporates and Fintechs. Cuscal is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) as an Aust ...

, :86 400 gained a licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution in 2019. In January 2021, NAB announced plans to acquire it for $220 million and merge it with UBank. This was approved by the regulator despite concerns about reducing competition.'Evans and Partners analyst Matthew Wilson said it was unlikely 86 400 would have been a vigorous competitor to NAB, but suggested it may have addressed “the excess profits” in retail banking' The transaction was completed in May 2021, with the 86 400 brand terminated a year later and incorporated into the Ubank branding. By February 2023, however, the acquisition had drawn criticism from some customers who faced issues such as being locked out of their accounts and :86 400 staff, who criticised the company's direction.

Products

UBank allows applicants to apply online or over the phone for a Term Deposit and deposit their money straight away using

BPAY BPAY (BPAY Group Holding Pty Ltd) is an Australian electronic bill payment SaaS company which facilitates payments made through a financial institution's online, mobile or telephone banking facility to organisations which are registered BPAY bil ...

. This was a first for the Australian marketplace at that time. In August 2009, UBank launched a new online savings account ("USaver") that was reported to differentiate through its online application process. In February 2011, UBank launched its first home loan product (dubbed "UHomeloan"). In August 2013, UBank launched USaver Ultra transaction account. In August 2020, UBank ceased offering new accounts and term deposits to Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF). During July 2022, UBank began terminating existing SMSF accounts, with an offer to transfer funds to existing NAB products.

Awards

* In December 2009, UBank's USaver online savings account was awarded

Money Magazine ''Money'' is an American brand and a personal finance website owned by Money Group. From its 1972 founding until 2018, it was a monthly magazine published by Time Inc. and subsequently by Meredith Corporation from 2018 to 2019. Its articles co ...

's "Best of the Best" award. * In October 2011 UBank won the BAI Financial Global Product Innovation Award for its refinance mortgage UHomeloan. * In the 2012 Australian Lending Awards UBank was named Best Online Operator * November 2012 UBank'
people like you
app wins best in show at Finovate Asia * 2013 AFR Smart Investor Blue Ribbon Direct Institution of the Year

Branding and marketing

UBank was cited as an example of effective use of nontraditional marketing such as

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, but also uses traditional

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

such as print and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. UBank's first TV Commercial was launched in 2009, and positioned its savings account using the tagline "Saving is the new spending", attempting to capture the spirit of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

at the time. UBank also launched a series of YouTube videos called Ubank Moneybox, meant to educate and entertain. In February 2016 Ubank launched a new visual identity, designed to reposition the bank as a "utility". In 2019, UBank introduced a digital assistant named Mia, who aimed at helping home buyers apply for their home loans. According to UBank, Mia is the "latest tech innovation, designed to answer any burning questions you have about your home loan application. Short for ‘My Interactive Agent’, Mia helps simplify your experience by giving on-the-spot answers to a huge range of the most commonly asked questions during the home loan application." In May 2022, UBank rebranded their logo to incorporate the style of the acquired :86 400 branding to reflect the merged entity.

Controversies

In 2016, UBank launched a controversial advertising campaign using terminally ill people which garnered many complaints. The company defended the campaign as being "disruptive". In 2022, a customer reported the bank to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority that they had not been able to access their account. In response, the bank sent a letter to a customer offering $100 compensation for their issues. However, according to the letter, the compensation was offered on the condition that they ceased taking further action against the bank and kept the agreement confidential. This comes only a few months after multiple customers had money drained from their accounts.

References

External links

* {{Banking Industry in Australia Banks of Australia Banks established in 2008 Financial services companies based in Sydney Australian companies established in 2008 National Australia Bank Neobanks