Up and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank last night closed the doors on their five-day, publicity seeking stunt to slander the buy now, pay now later sector and raise public awareness of an otherwise unremarkable new feature in the popular Up app that encourages the bank’s customers to save for discretionary purchases.
From Wednesday through Sunday, Up operated a pop-up style outlet in Swanston Street in Melbourne, dubbed the Maybuy Exchange, offering cash payments ranging from A$10 to $500 for ‘regretful purchases’.
‘Maybuy’ is the label for the new, but not at all nifty, function in the Up app that, more than anything, seeks to divert their 600,000 strong user base away from the seductions of BNPL and inspire their user base to simply save.
The ‘regretful’ did not exactly storm the doors, with a mere $13,000 handed over across the five days to those who did show up, via their Up digital wallets.
Payments were randomised between $10 and $500 with one $500 payment going out each day.
The chief commercial outcomes for the bank are thus headed by all the easily won free media. The bank engaged advertising agency Taboo Labs and marketing agency alt/shift/ to collaborate on the campaign.
Word of mouth and free media has long been the basis of the success of the Up banking app, part of the Bendigo stable since 2018. In fact, it’s a little surprising to look back and appreciate that Up has been in the market little more than four years.
National and niche media (including Banking Day, last Thursday) provided extensive and invariably favourable coverage of the Up Maybank campaign, presumably fostering a new wave of demand for the first and the best of the neobank disruptors.
The bank said more than 8000 Maybuys have been created since it was released in the app on Monday.
“The campaign has garnered national attention. It’s caught the eye of lifestyle publications and social media influencers - critical for our younger demographic - and featured extensively through business, banking and technology news,” Paul Tagell, head of marketing at Up said last night.
“We’re incredibly happy with the results … We’ve been blown away by the quality of things Upsiders have brought in. They’ve shown thoughtfulness and generosity: we’ve got hundreds of items here.”
The bank is in discussions with charities Save The Children, Red Cross, and Upparel to recycle the donated goods.