“Could an app-first Australian neobank scale fast enough to survive the majors — or would it become acquisition fuel for one of them?”
Founded 2017 by ex-Cuscal executives as Australia's mobile-first neobank, backed by payments infrastructure provider Cuscal (which also supplied its payment rails). Won an ADI licence in 2019 and launched with a smart-app banking product. After ~18 months and 85,000 customers, was acquired by National Australia Bank in early 2021 for ~AUD 220M, then merged into NAB's UBank subsidiary. The 86 400 brand was retired in May 2022, though NAB stated its 'visual identity, technology, and innovation capability' were adopted by the rebranded ubank. 86 400 no longer operates as an independent entity.
86 400 discloses 86 400 Ltd (in-house, ADI) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
86 400 does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through 86 400 Ltd (in-house, ADI).
86 400 processes payments through Cuscal.
86 400's cards are issued through Cuscal.
86 400's lending and capital products are provided by 86 400 Ltd (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in 86 400's stack: Payments / PSP (Cuscal); Banking / BaaS (86 400 Ltd (in-house, ADI)); Card issuing (Cuscal); Lending (86 400 Ltd (in-house)).
86 400 was founded by Robert Bell and Anthony Thomson and is founded in 2017, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
86 400 has raised AUD 90M in total (latest round: Series A, 2020 (AUD 34M, Morgan Stanley-led)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against 86 400 and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.