86 400
“Could an app-first Australian neobank scale fast enough to survive the majors — or would it become acquisition fuel for one of them?”
Founded2017
HQSydney, Australia
FoundersRobert Bell, Anthony Thomson
Total raisedAUD 90M
Latest roundSeries A, 2020 (AUD 34M, Morgan Stanley-led)
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story
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.
Last 12 months
—
Product timeline
2017
Founded by Robert Bell and Anthony Thomson, majority-owned by payments company Cuscal· banking
2019
Granted ADI licence by APRA — Australia's second neobank ADI after Volt· banking
2019
Launched mobile-first neobank in September· banking
2020
Raised AUD 34M Series A led by Morgan Stanley· banking
2021
Acquired by National Australia Bank (NAB) for ~AUD 220M / $169M· acquisition
2021
Merged into NAB's UBank subsidiary; Robert Bell steps down as CEO in October· acquisition
2022
86 400 brand retired in May; technology and identity absorbed into rebranded 'ubank'· pivot
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by 86 400
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
5 layers disclosed in 86 400’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
Card network
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
4 more providers across 4 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.