The ubank Downgrade Is Very Disappointing

Lyewman on 28/03/2023 - 00:07

I finally got the dreaded message I'm getting shifted over the "new" ubank experience, which at first look seems to be a hugely disappointing downgrade.
I loved the convenience of the sweep function and now its completely gone, as well as the basic ability to set recurring payments. Why remove such key features?
Besides the stripped functionality, it looks terribly amateur as a PC browser experience… did they even have more than one developer working on this?

I'm definitely going to shift out to another account for my general budget managment, but where should I go that was as good as the old ubank?

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Comments

  • GuyfromMelbourne on 28/03/2023 - 00:37
    +2

    Upbank is ozbargain favourate according to the polls so maybe try that.

    • yewman on 28/03/2023 - 00:41

      Cheers, I already have Up for my daily transaction account which is really good for that, but looking for something that has a better PC web interface and payment scheduling features

      • GuyfromMelbourne on 28/03/2023 - 00:44
        +1

        Fair enough, have you tried macquarie? That’s second on list 😊

        • yewman on 28/03/2023 - 00:46

          Will check Macquarie out, thanks 👍

      • afoveht on 28/03/2023 - 07:43
        +2

        Have you tried Updog?

    • CodeXD on 28/03/2023 - 09:03

      got a link to the poll?

      EDIT: found it
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/754738

    • Drakesy on 28/03/2023 - 11:31

      for savings Ubank still has it though

  • Kah on 28/03/2023 - 04:48
    +3

    Ubank 2.0 have scheduled payments, not sure why you think they don’t. There is even a tab that says upcoming payment.
    I’ve been with 86400/ubank for a few years.
    You can have direct debits and make payments from a savings account, which is great as my transaction account is only for card , I set up a push notification alert to say when it is below $200.
    Sweep would be nice but perfectly good app without it.
    Saying that I generally am app only. Obviously no push notifications for browser banking

    • yewman on 28/03/2023 - 08:20
      -1

      Yes there are one off scheduled payments but no option to manually set recurring payments i.e. repeating at an pre set interval. Seems like they have a system to "recognise" payment patterns then offer to automate the timing, but makes no sense to me to not allow customers to set them manually.

      • Keplaffintech on 28/03/2023 - 08:27

        You can manually set recurring payments. Try to make a payment and set a date in the future, and then it will give you options.

        • yewman on 28/03/2023 - 13:40

          Thanks, I'll check it out but really looks like poor design to hide that functionality on desktop browser

  • kerfuffle on 28/03/2023 - 07:50
    +5

    I'm liking the new UBank. Push notifications are most welcome and so is PayID; no more having to transfer to my main bank account to pay people when I can now pay direct from my UBank savings!

    • dazweeja on 28/03/2023 - 10:56

      I like it a lot more too. Being able to make payments and set up direct debit directly from the savings account, and have PayID work with all other banks is great.

  • foxmulder on 28/03/2023 - 09:36
    +3

    Have you tried to leave feedback to ubank? I complained to them before on how the window is little high up thus some writing can't be seen - they fixed it.

  • djsweet on 28/03/2023 - 09:46
    +1

    At least you would have got a free $50 out of it :)

  • dazweeja on 28/03/2023 - 10:54
    +1

    Being able to set up direct debits directly from the savings account is a better feature for me than the sweep function but it would be good to have both.

  • Nalar on 28/03/2023 - 11:59

    Didn't even realise sweep was gone.

    I like the feature of being able to setup new savings account and hide them from your joint account partner

  • Daniel Plainview on 18/04/2023 - 19:47
    +1

    Yup - got the 'upgrade' - ugh!

    So much functionality is removed….they've completely knackered it by removing the sweep function. I'm really not sure what are the actual benefits over the old system? Seems like a helluva lot of hassle just for a few pretty minor things they should have been able to integrate without tearing the entire thing down.

    Not to mention this is now atleast the 2nd time they've changed their BSB - making customers redo all their direct debits & linked accounts etc - $50 for the hassle is nowhere worth the PITA. I mean really it's little more hassle to sign up to another bank, so I hear Up and Macquarie are the ones to look at eh?

    • kerfuffle on 18/04/2023 - 19:54
      +1

      I'm really not sure what are the actual benefits over the old system?

      Being able to PayID for one.

      • yewman on 18/04/2023 - 21:47
        +1

        Many banks have that, sweep was unique

      • Daniel Plainview on 19/04/2023 - 08:16
        +2

        Agree, that was one - but as mentioned this was a very common feature that Ubank had dozed on for a long time after it's peers had implemented.

        But other than PayID it really seems hard to find anything of real benefit that they've added - and there's just so much functionality they've removed. Even stuff that seems benign like being able to go in and edit the BSB/accounts etc for your payees etc - thats all gone.

        It's really been dumbed down as a product offering to a massive degree - really feels like it's made for a very entry level user - which is fine but there should still be the extra features etc there IF the user wants them - but Ubank has just stripped them out and other than a few pastel colours and icons has caused a crapload of user PITA and all for what.

        As i said to my wife - I've had accounts with many banks through the years - I've never had any of them change their BSB or my account details whilst with them. But Ubank and now done it twice!!!! Go figure.

    • yewman on 18/04/2023 - 21:46
      +2

      Yeah if I can whinge a bit more, they've removed the "To:" prefix on transaction tracking and at the same time removed the nicknames while changing your BSB-ACC numbers. This makes it incredibly hard to figure out whether you're getting scammed or not. I predict the whole business will suffer death by graphic design minimalism

      • Daniel Plainview on 19/04/2023 - 08:20
        +2

        Ah don't think of it as whinging. As customers we were promised all these benefits and even their own promo materials struggles to show the tangible benefits this massive PITA has delivered. It really feels to me like their backoffice system was crap - some one committed to this change and it's been delayed and now it's still behind their market peers, looks like it was made by a primary schooler as their art project and has less functionality than ever.

        And we have to yet again change our account details and BSB with every other provider/accuont we had linked up.

        I think I'm going to atleast check out a few other banking account providers - this just feels like a nobbled product thats not being run properly by its management team.

  • Daniel Plainview on 21/04/2023 - 11:30
    +2

    FWIW spoke with Ubank after lodging my underwhelming feelings about the 'upgrade' they stated that the sweep function will be reinstated within the year:

    We are looking at having the sweep function re-instated within the year. Keep an eye on our ubank Feature Roadmap | Trello to track and vote on the features you’d like to see delivered next.
    https://trello.com/b/aAsYy0vi/ubank-feature-roadmap

    • Gojkins on 21/04/2023 - 12:43

      hallelujah 🙌

      • Daniel Plainview on 21/04/2023 - 13:08
        +1

        Is funny as I can clearly recall my first impression of the 'sweep' when I signed up to Ubank in 2012. I found it bizarre and a PITA as i wanted to manage myself.

        BUT in due course it was as others have said truly unique as it allowed you to combine the features of a transaction account with the high interest of a savings account. There really is nothing else like it out there (as far as I'm aware).

        So great they're bringing it back, not sure why they ever removed it - but bear in mind Ubank has a history of saying this feature will be implemented within x period of time and they tend to be very bad at backing up their talk.

        FWIW the response I got to my complaint was 100% copy & pasted marketing nonsense - nothing specific to what i said at all.

  • ldq on 24/04/2023 - 18:57
    +1

    I am SO upset with the downgrade… The app does not work for me, I have to assume because I use a custom ROM, but nothing tells me that, it allows to install, login, and then just freezes and dies during PIN setup. Impossible to get anywhere with the support.
    Now I understand that the sweep functionality was the only thing apart from the higher interest rate that has made me loyal to them. 10+ years and now I am ready to look elsewhere. They are losing me.

  • Daniel Plainview on 25/04/2023 - 14:45
    +2

    Ubanks service is going to the dogs. Tried to transfer some funds over to my STAKE (brokerage) account yesterday - repeatedly said could not do this and to call them. This was very odd as I have had this as a payee(contact) for years and transfered amounts far above what I was attempting to move.

    Called Ubank, 35mins on hold, ended up getting a guy with a very thick accent on a terrible line, took 15mins speaking with him and holding while he went to resolve, came back with no explanation but assurance it would not happen again.

    FWIW their telephone ID confirmation process is WAY over the top. I had to give my name, address, mobile number, DOB and then recite back to them a 10 digit code they SMS'd to me via the listed mobile number.

    Sure enough logged back in again and same thing happened AGAIN!

    Ended up getting a call from Ubank's Fraud dept who advised they had blanket banned all transfers to Airwallex accounts as these were being used by a number of scammers - and sure enough STAKE uses these for their clients. As I stated to them thats fine but they can't as a resolution to a few scams place a block on all their customers transfers to an entire financial body as a solution - as then the legit customers are stuck and have no way to resolve other than wasting 1-2hrs (as I did) in dealing with Ubank to get this block on their individual accounts removed. Was very unimpressed their customer service used to be excellent but has really gone downhill.

  • iNeedMoreMoney on 28/04/2023 - 11:13
    +1

    The Sweep function seems to still work for me for Direct Debits. It didn't work when I tried to transfer out from my Uspend everyday account, it said insufficient funds. What's going on.

  • Venustrap87 on 28/04/2023 - 23:11

    can anyone explain what the sweep feature does?

    and ubank still have the bonus interest where you deposit $200 each month u get the bonus interest added?

    • Daniel Plainview on 29/04/2023 - 09:08
      +1

      Essentially it makes the spend and save account balances shared - as when you draw from the spend account it's automatically topped up or taken completely from the save account.

      So for all intents and purposes you get a no fee transaction account that ALSO pays very high interest rates.

      • Loopholio on 30/04/2023 - 18:14
        +1

        @Nikko That sounds fantastic! I look forward to it's return (I'm a new uBank customer).

        @Venustrap87 Yes, the bonus interest still requires a $200 deposit each month. As of right now the bonus interest is 4.6%

  • ldq on 02/05/2023 - 20:56
    +3

    To add insult to injury they are not letting their customers to accept international payments. Because "it's an upgrade and they keep their offering simple and deliver returns to customers". You gotta laugh, eh?
    https://www.ubank.com.au/help/original/upgrade/product-featu…

    • yewman on 02/05/2023 - 21:36
      +2

      That really makes no sense at all. Is it some kind of cost cutting measure? This might go down in history as one of the worst overhauls to a banking service ever.

    • Loopholio on 03/05/2023 - 10:40
      +1

      Huh, it does look cost cutting. It's a weird limit and might be an issue if I receive a refund from something I buy overseas?

      Does ubank accept international payments?

      Once you’re upgraded to the new app and internet banking you’ll no longer be able to receive international payments. In order to keep our offering simple and deliver returns to our customers we will only allow payments to and from Australian bank accounts going forward.

  • daylight heap on 10/06/2023 - 03:09
    +1

    The biggest for me is that they removed the ability to export transactions to anything else than csv or pdf. No OFX or QIF. WTF!? It's like being back in 1999!

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