Former Volt bank co-founder and deputy CEO Luke Bunbury is preparing to launch a new financial services business aimed squarely at retail banking consumers.
Bunbury confirmed to Banking Day on Tuesday that his new company The 1derful Group was planning to enter the market early next year with a service platform to help bank customers manage their deposits, transaction accounts, credit cards and loans.
The startup’s main proprietary product will be a service account that will allow subscribers to consolidate the management of their banking products from numerous service providers.
“We won’t be going down the route of getting a full ADI licence – we don’t need anything near the capital that neobanks such as Volt and Xinja need,” he said.
“We’ve done a lot of customer research and we have formed a view that there is an opportunity to do something different but on a less regulatory intensive footing.”
The 1derful Group is in the process of applying for a financial services licence from ASIC and recently went live with an Australian website (www.1derful.com.au).
Bunbury said the company would launch platforms in Australia and New Zealand in the March quarter and then execute staged roll outs in Asian markets in the second half of 2021.
“We’re looking to solve the key pain points for retail customers in retail banking,” he said.
“What I’m seeing in the new banking space is that there are many new digital players developing great products and services but they are still the same product and services.”
Bunbury is a foundation investor in 1derful along with other members of the management team including former PWC lawyer Katarina Novakovic and software engineer, Jeeva Suresh.
Partnering with existing financial services providers is a feature of the company’s business model, with Bunbury confirming a strategic deal had been struck with Mastercard.
1derful is likely to keep a low profile until its gets its service up and running because of what Bunbury recognises as “fintech fatigue” in the investment community.
“There are a lot of players in the fintech space who talk up their prospects but have undelivered,” he said.
“We want to avoid that.”
Bunbury made a discreet departure from Volt Bank in August last year after helping to secure the neobank’s full licence from APRA.
When asked why he left the bank that he co-founded, Bunbury acknowledged there were differences over strategy.
“There were some differences of opinion, principally around strategic direction,” he said.
“I remain a big supporter of Volt – my departure was amicable and I remain in touch with many of my former colleagues.”