Volt Bank counts on fintech sparkle

Ian Rogers
Volt CEO Steve Weston
Fintechs will be key partners for the rollout of Volt Bank product, with the neobank finally beginning to enrol customers on its waitlist this week.

Roughly 11 months after APRA licenced the bank, Volt is undertaking a staged roll-out, beginning with its at-call deposit product at a competitive interest rate of 2.15 per cent.

"When you look at neobanks around the world, you see different models," CEO Steve Weston told Banking Day yesterday.

"Some go with just a single product, as in the UK. Then the question is from there; 'how do you make a profit with a single product?'

"Our model, and what we are doing, is Starling Bank, one of the first to get licenced [in the UK] and one of the last to market.

"We could rush out and get product to market [but instead] we are offering banking products to partners and we are building a platform.

"When you see the partners we bring on, the partners you will see next year, you will go, 'OK, I get it now'."

Weston said "we want to make sure we are able to onboard the major partners in the country.

"Some who want to become a digital bank but are not able get licenced by APRA and the like."

He said by "some time in February we should have worked through the waitlist [of more than 40,000 people] and go to a public launch."

A cash management product and a personal loan precede mortgages on the Volt roadmap.