MELBOURNEFRINGE2020
No conditions for the $10 bonus, just enter the code during sign up and it is already there when the account is opened.
$10 Bonus for Signing up to UP Bank
1640
Referral Links
Referral: random (1204)
$10-$15 for both the referrer and referee. Conditions
Bonus starts at $10 and $1 for each year referrer has been a customer, up to a cap of $10. Referee will see the exact bonus when you visit Up Bank.
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A down vote, clearly.
What are the risk associated with digital banks as such? And why would anyone choose this over actual banks?
Instant paywave digital card, better app UI, no international transaction fee etc.
Risks are pretty much the same as the big banks IMO—especially since Up actually offers accounts via Bendigo. All ADIs are under the govt's deposit insurance scheme up to $250,000 of deposits in the case that the bank fails (even the small digital banks), so I consider them pretty safe.
Since their costs are much lower, they can also offer much better products; Up's interest rate for savings was pretty much the market leader before they cut rates earlier this year. Their features are also much more modern than the big (boomer) banks—Up's app is far & away the best of the ~5 banking apps I've tried. You also get the benefit of not giving your money to a big bank (!)
Not sure why you are getting the upvotes.
Introductory high/low rates on deposit/loan accounts have always been used by banks to gain market share quickly. You’ll find that they don’t always stay a market leader and move to increase margins at some point. While they may have lower operational costs (due to not having branches, legacy systems and as much compliance personnel), they also don’t have the scale of the big banks, which means they don’t have the same access to wholesale markets. They are likely to have higher marketing spend as a percentage of revenue, amongst other things, in order to get their name out there, which would also put pressure on margins.
The hatred of the big Australian banks is often misplaced. Even if you don’t have direct investment in NAB or ANZ or CBA or WBC or <insert bank code> through your Commsec or Bell Direct or <insert broker>, anyone with a superannuation account should want them to be successful because your investment returns (through capital growth and dividends) and ultimately your retirement depend in large part on the health of our big banks. Whether you are with an Industry, Corporate or Self Managed Super Fund, I can guarantee that you have some or significant exposure to Australian banks.
We should encourage healthy, sustainable competition in the banking sector (or any other sector for that matter). Digital banks are the next disruptor (although overseas players like Citi and HSBC are already here, along with building societies and union banks) but it is simply not in anyone’s interest (pun intended) to bash the big banks - they are well capitalised, well regulated, employ a large number of people, lease a lot of real estate and sponsor sports teams/stadiums/community events. Yes, the poor experience of a wave of outsourcing (both contact centres and back of house roles), along with Royal Commission findings have angered many, but we should take comfort in the fact that we generally have a robust system to deal with wrongdoing in the big banks. Because there is so much focus on them, they are the first ones to have to provide repayment relief during natural disasters or COVID, and will work hard to avoid public backlash. They also invest heavily in fraud detection and prevention.
Getting $10 for free from a neo bank is a great deal and you should put your savings into an account that offers highest interest rate to you (or borrow from a bank that offers lowest interest rate) but it should not be just to get back at a big company (be it bank, telco, insurance company, supermarket etc).
You make fair points. From a wider perspective, of course the big banks play a large part in maintaining the stability of our economy, which flows through to individuals in e.g. returns on securities in superannuation funds. And you're right—the large banks are also significant sources of employment & capital in Australia.
However, from an individual perspective, I think it's best to stay away from big banks. You mention that it's important to encourage healthy competition in the banking sector, and I think this is entirely what "neobanks" (I hate the term) are encouraging. They're closing in on the large banks' profit margins in their products, which will obviously win willing consumers over. (As a note, these low rates & better prices tend not to just be "introductory"; so far we've seen neobanks continue to offer good products to both existing and new customers; see: Up, Athena, Tyro.) And ethics re. operations are definitely a consideration; you mention the royal commissions into banking as an indication of a fair system, but I (and many others) think that the rulings were little more than a slap on the wrist to these banks.
I don't think it's fair to say neobanks are in any major way threatening the big banks, and in turn the stability that they provide. All I'm saying is they provide a much better customer experience, and for the individual, there's no real detriment to switching over to a smaller player. There'll always be those who prefer the perceived safety of a big bank, and I believe that will continue to be the majority of customers over the medium term. I doubt that convincing a few OzBargainers to sign up to a neobank is going to affect CBA's stock price materially.
I see these new players as encouraging competition, and lighting a fire under the big banks' arses to make them do better, rather than a bunch of cheap new players trying to grow their customer base at any cost. In my experience, the latter is not the case at all; I've been with Up for almost 2 years now and they have always provided a better service than any other bank I've been with. Although they might spend more by % on customer acquisition, this has not yet shown itself to be of any detriment to any neobank's products (not that I've heard of, anyways). I think we should welcome their entrance to the market, as they serve a place alongside the larger banks, rather than directly competing with them on all fronts.
(And in the far future, if the big banks begin to fall to smaller players, maybe that's when the market should stop placing so much trust in them… but that's a discussion for another time.)
Banks are pretty much like any other retail product for me. Whoever gives best experience and a better product. Because all are protected by govt upto certain amount.
If you’re a big time investor it may not apply for you (i’m not). Even if you are, therr nothing’s wrong in keeping a transactional and savers account in one that has better everyday experience.
When UP comes up with joint accounts i’ll say bye bye to my wbc and when they support loan accounts i’ll consider refinance mortgage as well. Simple as that.
"Even if you think Big 4 banks are shit please use them because I own shares in them."
Also, I had a big laugh at "HSBC the disruptor digital bank" :)
@lorikeet: HSBC is the most horrible, bureaucratic bank I have ever come across and I have/had accounts in over 20.
The traditional banking system has been controlled by a few big players for a long time. In our case by the big four. This may change in the next five to ten years.
Australian banks have the advantage of being physically cut off by the rest of the world and many of their customers uninformed about what is happening in other parts of the world. Changes are coming to places like the USA, the EU, SEA, the Americas, Africa, etc, that will slowly eat into those old school's profits.
The big four will eventually die like everything that is old when the Fintech come for their pie.
I had some scammer steal my identity and transfer $720 from my NAB account to an Up Bank account.
I got it all back eventually, but also looked into Up and ended up switching to them myself for their excellent app.
So choose the scammer's choice. Choose Up Bank.
"We've upped the standard of our app's UI. So, UP yours."
How on earth could that scammer taking your identity do that in NAB? Unless if NAB is not doing their job?
From the little I was told, the scammer was able to register a new device to my account, and made the transfers through the NAB app. I did ask NAB to put me through to their fraud department to find out exactly how it happened but I was put on hold for so long I just hung up. Then NAB started annoyingly blocking my legit purchases first at a petrol station then a restaurant, so I just gave up their crappy service. So yes, it was most likely NAB not doing their job.
I strongly suspect the scamming probably had something to do with a phone unlocking code I bought from a UK website (they only accepted bank transfer). So the lesson here is if you're innocently using an illegal unlocking service, pay for it with a fake name.
@ilovefullprice: I didn't use a pin for login to the app: complex password same as web log in every time. And I rarely used the app because it always sat in the background draining battery until I force closed it (another reason not to use NAB). Maybe after registering a new device (however that's done) the scammer got the option to set a pin? Otherwise possibly an internal data breach that NAB didn't want to talk about. Also it didn't help NAB doesn't allow transaction alerts under $400, which is why two <$400 transfers were processed in the middle of the night without me knowing.
it is an actual bank (parent company is Bendigo Bank).
If it's part of Bendigo Bank then I would 100% trust them, and as others have said they are all backed by the government anyway.
I haven't been with the big 4 for around 12 years now and I haven't looked back.
Up user here for eight months, great app updated often, recommend. Current bonus rate on savings is 1.6% (activates/applies after your fifth successful debit card or digital wallet purchase each month).
Up supports real time transfer right?
Via Osko only, but yeah.
I believe they all do now (Osko)
Some banks (eg HSBC) don't support Osko.
@ezzaf: They must be the only one? Even Citibank does now.
https://osko.com.au/osko-your-bank
I went through all the banks I could think of and HSBC and Macquarie were the only ones I could find not supporting it.
Bank of Queensland does not have OSKO.
The interest rate on savings will drop to 1.1%p.a. from 1 November though.
Thankyou. I was tossing up whether to move from 86400. Bank saver rates are abysmal right now, but I am wary about getting into the stockmarket at this point in time with all the uncertainty happening around the world. 86400 is 1.35% interest (after bonus activation), but they have been regularly dropping over the last few months.
ING is still 1.5% but will probably follow suit
As somebody else mentioned that interest rate is only current for another three days.
I hate Bendigo Bank
Why's that?
Where do I start?
Crap internet banking. Other banks use the same Sandstone technology but has better implementation. Unhelpful customer service. Average mortgage rates. So I've moved on.
I’ve found their customer support to be the best.
I'm a bit surprised to hear you say the internet banking is crap. It used to be pretty terrible but I've found their current one very good. Is there specific things that you hate about it?
@SeaWolf au: Well I don't know what their internet banking is like nowadays. I left them a year ago when refinanced.
@kyle: They have a demo site you can have a play with, see if it's still the same internet banking that you remember.
https://demo.bendigobank.com.au/banking/sign_in
UP is NOT Bendigo. It's an entity on it's own.
@[Deactivated]: But it's still owned by Bendigo, isn't it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(Australian_bank)
@kyle: Nowhere does even Wikipedia mention UP being owned by Bendigo… it's only a parent organisation allowing UP to trade under it's license. Not the same.
Presumably the 1.6% will drop in the next month or so?
Does anyone know what the new rate will be?
1.1%, November 1st
Is that gonna still be better than most banks?
There's a few banks that have a better rate, but they're all moving around so much at the moment (all downwards) that the 'best' today is not likely to stay that way for long. The rates are so low at this point that it's almost not worth chasing anyway unless you're putting a very large amount of money in there. For example, the highest at the moment is 1.5%, which would be 0.4% better than Up. On a $10,000 deposit that would be an extra $40 per year, before tax. It's probably not worth the effort to chase that when the odds are good that the rates will shift around in a month or two again anyway and the amount is so small.
There's a good comparison sheet that lists most of the banks rates if you're curious though.
https://goo.gl/FufTQP@SeaWolf au: Thanks I'm on Macquarie at 1.35% last I checked. Not sure if they will also reduce in Nov. Xinja has a better rate but they stopped that for new customers. As you said it's probably not worth it to switch around considering small percentage and only have $15 in it, I guess the ozbargain spirit in me trying to get better deal
Have a look at this comparison chart https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/145iM6uuFS9m-Rul65--e…
Edit: Didn't see seawolf already linked it haha
yes, from next month onwards it will be 1.1%
What’s UP bank?
Up yours
Wtf that's trippy. I didn't see your username at first and I was thinking, "why is this guy just assuming he is bank…?"
Then I saw. Damn. Nicely done.
I was really hoping that this was an existing account. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
You made this account just to make this comment. Commendable.
Utar Paredesh Bank
Worth pointing out that you get the same amount ($10) from referral links, although conditional on 5 purchases.
If you plan on the 5 purchases, I would suggest using referral links and helping others out.
Where's the referral system?
UP there just after all the description
You can also use Beem IT and just transfer money between your cards a few times to meet the 5 purchases requirement
So just beam it to up then up to beam it a few times? you've tried it and it worked?
@macr0hard: Yea I do it for the bonus interest rate. Just send from your Up account to your other cards using transfer in the beem it app.
Yes I do this every month also for the bonus.
Does this bonus replace the signup bonus?
Love this bank, scored a free coffee yesterday too.
At the risk of sounding ungrateful, this is way too much work for very little reward especially compared to the $50 that is typically handed out for account opening.
Takes 5 mins… Even if it takes 10 mins, that's an average of $60 an hour. No fees so you don't even have to bother with transfers or minimum purchases. This is, after all, Ozbargain.
would it cost me a credit check?
not for a transaction account
That takes a lot more effort in Westpac's case where you have to go into the branch to verify your ID and deposit $2k so you don't get charged their monthly fees as well as make 5 transaction. Now that's a lot of work.
for the purpose of getting just the free money; yes, Westpac is easier since you don't need 5 purchases
in saying that, up's app is significantly superior to Westpac archaic system
Thanks OP, free $10 for me + free $10 donation to Melbourne Fringe!
Recently completed 2 years using UP bank. Has great UI and supports OSKO Payments, track different categories of card usage, international transfers via transfer wise, track AfterPay purchases and viewing regular direct debits are some of the best features offered by them. I think at some point they might offer a credit card as per their future tree/plans.
What is the daily maximum transfer limit to an external account?
$30k. I think you can request a higher limit though.
Been on UP for about 5 months now! Has an amazing & clean UI.
I use ANZ, ING and Commbank daily, and have trialled Up, Xinja and 86:400.
My hot take on Up:
Yes, the app is very good. Their emails are a bit cringey, but then again all of the neo banks are doing the ‘how do you do, fellow kids’ thing.
They’re missing home loans, which is a deal breaker as I like to leave all my savings in an offset. I think it’s been on their roadmap for nearly a year now but I stopped checking.
Their savings rate is dropping from 1.6% to 1.1% in a week’s time. This used to be around 2.5% so it makes even less sense for me to put money there as it has better utility in the offset.
The ‘big banks are bad’ rhetoric is a bit tired and realistically, their small print is all there for you to read. I’ve never had a problem with any of them - they each have different products and fee structures, but there’s no reason why neo banks are going to takes better care of your money. They are all regulated by APRA as ADIs.
$10 is a good deal to download their app and sign up (it’s basically instant, with all the neo banks), but the app features are really the only reason to move for many people.
That said, if I was a student and didn’t have a home loan, I’d be using them as my main banking platform.
How about Up v 86400? I have to delete one, was thinking of keeping the latter as I don't think it has the 5 transaction requirement for the bonus interest ( I could be wrong)
86:400 requires $1000 to activate the 1.35% savings interest, which dropped down from 1.6% one week ago.
Better rate than up, but you really need to be putting away a lot of money to make it worth while, and as I said before, you might be better off putting it in an offset.
Ah ok. Is that $1000 coming in per month to activate the bonus interest?
@Shane34: Yeah - you can deposit the money and withdraw immediately to activate. It is a pretty easy criteria to meet.
I second this, couldn't have said better.
I am sure UP app is good but I don't think anyone can argue that comm bank app is a bad one.
I have used actively Nab, Anz, Citibank, st George and comm bank app really stands out with features and the speed and overall user experience is really good. Apart from "big 4 banks evil" rhetoric no reason to not to use it.
The $10 bonus must be funded by the drop in interest rates from 1.6 to 1.1% at the end of the month.
They gave $10 via referral system with old users like us for a long time, this is just another referral (for organisation)
This device isn't compatible with this version. No Up money for me.
You might want to consider getting a new phone that actually gets security updates then…
Anyone else get "unable to register at this time"?
Yes I always get that after trying to submit. Have never found a solution
Current user of this bank/App (It's actually the Bandido Bank in the back). Am also an employee of another bank and I can only say the Dev team is brilliant, very happy with the experience, and the most incredible thing is that you can chat with their customer service and get answer from them almost instantly.
This chat feature is incredible and other banks (specifically 86400) have yet to pick it up.
If go with referral link, would we still got $10 on top of $5?
Have you tried? Curious myself
How do you transfer out of the account?
Am I missing anything? Who signs up for a new bank account for $10 credit?
jv on 27/10/2020 - 22:08 Comment score below threshold.
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