Wallets/up-bank
Up Bank
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Overview
Up is Australia's first digital bank, founded October 2018 as collaboration between Ferocia (software development) + Bendigo and Adelaide Bank [1, 2, au-cro]. 2025 FY results:
- Customers: 1.2 million (+29% YoY) — driving Bendigo Group's 11% jump to 2.9M customers
- Deposits: $2.8 billion (+34% YoY)
- Mortgage lending: $1.7 billion (nearly triple YoY)
Distinctive Up positioning:
- Targets late-teens + early-20s Australians — Bendigo's strategy for attracting + retaining younger customers through their banking lives.
- August 2021 — Bendigo & Adelaide Bank acquired remaining Ferocia stake + Up IP, after Up reached 400,000 customers. Up now operates as independent arm of Bendigo & Adelaide Bank.
Up financial-product stack:
- Up Spending Account + Up Savers (high-interest savings)
- Up Card (debit)
- Up Home Loans (FY2025 mortgage lending nearly tripled to $1.7B)
- Up Investing
- Up Pets + Up Lifestyle + Up Maybuy (saving toward purchases)
History
October 2018 — Up launches [2] as Ferocia + Bendigo and Adelaide Bank collaboration; Australia's first digital bank (mobile-first; ADI via Bendigo's banking license).
2019-2020 — Mass Australian young-professional adoption [1]: 400K+ customers by August 2021.
August 2021 — Bendigo & Adelaide Bank acquired Ferocia [3]: Remaining Ferocia stake + Up IP acquired post-Up's 400K customer milestone.
FY2025 (year ending June 2025) — Up 1.2M customers (+29%) + $2.8B deposits (+34%) + $1.7B mortgages (+nearly 3x) [1].
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Up — independent arm of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
Parent: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) — Australian regional banking group.
Co-founder context: Ferocia (Melbourne-based software-development company; founders Dom Pym + Grant Thomas) — Bendigo acquired Ferocia in Aug 2021 for Up + Ferocia IP.
Regulators: APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) + ASIC + AUSTRAC.
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | Up mobile app (iOS + Android) + Up Card (debit) |
| Identifiers | Phone + email + card number |
| AU rails | payid + [[osko]] (New Payments Platform NPP fast payments) |
| License | ADI (Authorised Deposit-taking Institution; via Bendigo's banking license) |
| Sub-products | Up Spending Account + Up Savers + Up Card + Up Home Loans + Up Investing + Up Maybuy (saving toward purchases) + Up Pets + Up Lifestyle |
| Customer focus | Australian late-teens + early-20s + young-professionals |
| Distinctive AU first | Australia's first digital bank |
Users & growth
FY2025 (year ending June 2025) [1]:
- Customers: 1.2 million (+29% YoY)
- Deposits: $2.8 billion (+34% YoY)
- Mortgage lending: $1.7 billion (nearly triple YoY)
- Parent Bendigo Group customer growth: 11% YoY to 2.9M (Up-fueled)
Use cases
Australian young-professional digital banking (1.2M customers); Up Spending Account + Up Savers + Up Card + Up Home Loans + Up Investing; Up Maybuy (saving toward purchases) + Up Pets + Up Lifestyle; AU PayID + Osko fast payments; AU ADI via Bendigo & Adelaide Bank banking license.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Up (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank subsidiary post-Aug 2021).
Parent: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) — Australian regional banking group.
Heritage co-founder: Ferocia (Melbourne-based software-development company; Dom Pym + Grant Thomas).
Major Australian digital-bank competitors:
- 86 400 (closed 2024 post-NAB acquisition; cautionary tale)
- Volt Bank (closed 2022; cautionary tale)
- ING Australia (ING Group; AU digital bank)
- Macquarie Bank (Macquarie Group; AU digital banking)
- Bendigo eBanking (Bendigo + Adelaide Bank's sister product; Up's parent ecosystem)
- Beforepay (AU BNPL salary-advance)
- Beem It (AU bank-consortium P2P)
- NAB + ANZ + Westpac + Commonwealth Bank mobile apps (Big-4 AU bank rivals)
Regulators: APRA + ASIC + AUSTRAC.
Fun facts
- Australia's first digital bank (Oct 2018).
- FY2025: 1.2M customers (+29%) + $2.8B deposits (+34%) + $1.7B mortgages (nearly triple YoY).
- Targets late-teens + early-20s Australians — distinctive young-professional segment focus.
- Ferocia heritage co-founder: Melbourne-based software-development company Dom Pym + Grant Thomas.
- August 2021 Bendigo & Adelaide Bank acquired remaining Ferocia stake + Up IP, post-Up's 400K customer milestone.
- Up Maybuy (saving toward purchases) — distinctive product innovation.
- Bendigo Group customer growth +11% YoY to 2.9M — Up-fueled.
- Operates as independent arm of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
Comparison
| Feature | Up Bank | ING Australia (AU digital-bank rival) | Macquarie Bank (AU digital-banking incumbent rival) | 86 400 (closed 2024 cautionary tale) | Volt Bank (closed 2022 cautionary tale) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Up (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank subsidiary; ASX: BEN parent; Ferocia heritage) | ING Group AU subsidiary | Macquarie Group | 86 400 (NAB-acquired then closed 2024) | Volt Bank (closed 2022 post-funding-shortfall) |
| Type | AU first digital bank + young-professional targeting (late-teens + early-20s) | AU digital banking (ING European parent) | AU digital banking (Macquarie incumbent) | AU neobank (closed 2024) | AU neobank (closed 2022) |
| Country | Australia | Australia | Australia | Australia | Australia |
| Users | 1.2M (+29% YoY FY2025) + $2.8B deposits (+34%) + $1.7B mortgages (nearly 3x) | Major AU | Major AU + NZ | Closed 2024 | Closed 2022 |
| Distinctive | AU first digital bank; Ferocia heritage; Up Maybuy + Up Pets + Up Lifestyle; young-professional focus; Bendigo Group customer growth Up-fueled | ING European parent; AU digital banking | Macquarie Big-bank incumbent | NAB-acquired then closed | Funding-shortfall closure |
Status
Active, Australia's first digital bank [1, 3]:
- Up (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank subsidiary post-Aug 2021) since October 2018.
- FY2025 (year ending June 2025): 1.2M customers (+29% YoY) + $2.8B deposits (+34%) + $1.7B mortgages (nearly triple YoY).
- Targets AU late-teens + early-20s + young-professionals.
- Bendigo Group customer growth +11% YoY to 2.9M Up-fueled.
- APRA + ASIC + AUSTRAC regulated ADI via Bendigo banking license.
Sources
- 1 Up FY2025 record year — The Nightly
- 2 Up (Australian bank) — Wikipedia
- 3 Up joins Bendigo family — Up press
- 4 1M+ Up customers — Bendigo Bank
- au-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/AU-australia.md
Source
Biography extracted from up-bank.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.