Xinja - the Australian version of Monzo!

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Hey guys,

I’m currently living/travelling Australia for the next year and have noticed a lot of differences the way banking works here, one being that Fintech is pretty much non existent compared to the U.K.

I’ve just come across https://www.xinja.com.au/ which seems to be the Australian version of Monzo but a few years behind (it’s a pre-paid card, there’s a wait list, there’s a community), it even states on their website and community that they have taken inspiration from Monzo (e.g. this thread: https://community.xinja.com.au/t/3-5-currency-conversion-fee/63)

Thought I’d share it here for anyone that’s remotely interested as I thought it was interesting that how they are building a brand like Monzo did.

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Interesting, thanks for sharing.

My first question: how do you pronounce Xinja? “Zin-jar”?

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Cant say the name really rolls of the tongue

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I actually have no idea :man_shrugging:

I’ve added myself to the wait list so will see if I eventually get a card, it’ll be nice to get in the app and see how it all works.

They announced today they are getting rid of FX fees completely and are actually saying it’ll be a great “travel card” - interesting move!

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Is there any site @alexs is not on :joy_cat:

https://community.xinja.com.au/u/alexs/summary

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Can’t say I’m keen on the name but I suppose it’s better than 86 400 …

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They use the word “neobank” over challenger bank which I hadn’t come across before.

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Are they… the chosen one(s)?!? :no_mouth:

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Much prefer the terms neobank and traditional bank to challenger and legacy

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I don’t think that challenger and neobank are necessarily the same thing, though. Metro Bank and TSB can be said to be challengers (challenging the dominance of the big four) but would never be categorised as neobanks (think Monzo, Starling et al).

(I don’t like the words - rather than the concepts - neobank or legacy particularly, but that’s another discussion!)

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I like it. Their reasoning makes sense to me…

https://www.xinja.com.au/news/2017/what-is-a-neobank/

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Me too, it’s a great explanation and I think it should be a more widely adopted term tbh.

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Prepaid and glow in the dark card make me wonder so I had a quick look… seems Jason Bates is one of their directors, or at least was when this article was written https://www.bankingtech.com/2017/05/xinja-drops-ninja-node-to-reveal-new-mobile-only-bank/

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Still is, according to a quick google: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jasonbatesdigitalbank

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The fact the latest heading is “Are you a frugal fruitcake?” is the most Australian thing ever!

I want to join… just for that!

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Xinja has gone kaput after two years.

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A bit of a shame!

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I really like the look of that feed…

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I always liked the look of Up more

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…and another Australian challenger loses the fight:

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