Volt Bank was an Australian consumer neobank, the first such bank to be issued with a restricted ADI licence by APRA.[2][3] In June 2022, the bank announced it would permanently close its deposit-taking business and voluntarily return its banking licence, citing funding issues.[4]

Volt Bank Limited
Company typeUnlisted public company
Volt Bank
IndustryBanking, Financial services
Founded2017
Defunct2022
HeadquartersSydney, Australia
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Steve Weston (CEO)
Number of employees
100[1]
Website

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the bank was founded in 2017 and was granted a full licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) on 21 January 2019. Volt used BSB 517000.[5][6][7]

Business

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Volt’s banking platform is located in the cloud using the Temenos T24 core banking, Financial Crime Mitigation and Analytics, Salesforce and Microsoft Azure.[8][9]

Volt Bank also has industry partnerships with PayPal, Cotton On and Collection House.[10][11][12]

The bank publishes a mobile app, Volt Labs App, through which customers hold discussions and give feedback on the bank's products and services. The bank was planning to begin serving small businesses in 2020.[13]

History

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The banking regulator, APRA, created the restricted ADI (RADI)[14] licensing framework to encourage new entrants and competition to the existing banking system.[15]

Volt Bank was issued with a RADI licence on 7 May 2018, the first organisation to obtain one under the new licensing framework.[16][17] In doing so, it became the first completely new institution to be licensed as retail bank in the Australian market since Australian Bank in February 1981.[18][19][20]

On 29 June 2022, in an email to its customer base, Volt announced their intention to cease their deposit-taking business and return their banking licence, the second neo bank to do so, following Xinja. Accounts held with Volt will be closed on 5 July 2022.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Meet the Team". Volt Bank. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. ^ Moullakis, Joyce (8 May 2018). "APRA grants first local digital licence to volt bank". AFR. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  3. ^ Duran, Paulina. "Australia grants first banking license to online startup". Reuters. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b "ROD - Home page - Volt Bank". voltbank.com.au. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  5. ^ McLean, Ben. "APRA grants new authorised deposit-taking institution licence to volt bank". APRA. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  6. ^ Yates, Clancy (22 January 2019). "Volt Bank first neo-bank to get full banking licence". SMH. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. ^ Banney, Alison (22 January 2019). "It's official: Volt Bank receives full banking licence, becoming Australia's first neobank". Finder.com.au. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  8. ^ Hastie, Eliot (23 December 2018). "Volt Bank goes live in record time". Investor Daily. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  9. ^ Henderson, James. "How Australia's newest digital banks are expanding through Microsoft ISV Temenos". ARNNET. IDG. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Volt Bank becomes first Australian company to sign a deal with Paypal in a bid to tackle customer frustration". Wholesale Investor. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  11. ^ Bajkowski, Julian. "Digital bank Volt snares full ADI licence". ITNews. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. ^ Barry, Elizabeth (24 February 2020). "Neobank Volt announces industry-first partnership with Cotton On". finder.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ^ Eyers, James (22 January 2019). "Volt Bank gets APRA green light". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  14. ^ "APRA finalises new Restricted ADI licensing framework". APRA. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  15. ^ "APRA consults on changes to authorising new entrants to banking industry". APRA. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  16. ^ Pash, Chris. "Digital startup volt just got Australia's first restricted banking licence". Business Insider Australia. Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  17. ^ "APRA authorises Restricted ADI". APRA. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  18. ^ "SUBMISSION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION" (PDF). Reserve Bank of Australia. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Submission to the Inquiry into the Australian Banking Industry Appendix 2: Australian Banks – 1980 to 1990". Reserve Bank of Australia. January 1991. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  20. ^ Ellerm, Jessica (2 January 2019). "Australia's neobank Volt goes live and competitor Xinja lands restricted licence". Daily Fintech. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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