Xinja
“Can a neobank survive without a lending product to fund its deposit book? — answered: no.”
Founded2017
HQ77 King Street, Sydney, Australia
FoundersEric Wilson
Total raisedunknown
Latest roundEquity crowdfunding (2019): A$2.6M
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story
Xinja was founded in 2017 as an Australian fintech and became the country's second neobank to secure a full ADI banking licence in 2019. Launched deposit and savings products in January 2020 but had no lending product to offset the cost of high savings rates. When a A$433M Dubai investment collapsed amid COVID-19, Xinja could not sustain the interest burn and exited banking in December 2020, returning deposits and handing back its licence. The company said it would return to non-bank fintech activity.
Last 12 months
—
Product timeline
2017
Founded by Eric Wilson as an Australian fintech offering prepaid cards and a money management app.· pivot
2018
First equity crowdfunding round raises A$2.44M via Equitise.· banking
2019
Granted full ADI banking licence by APRA — second Australian neobank to receive one.· banking
2020
Launched transaction and Stash savings accounts (BSB 775-775) in January; savings rate began at 2.25%.· banking
2020
Announced A$433M investment from Dubai-based World Investments; deal disrupted by COVID-19.· pivot
2020
Exited banking in December — returned deposits and handed back ADI licence, unable to sustain rates without a lending product.· pivot
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Xinja
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Xinja’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Xinja Bank Limited (in-house)
Accounting gap: none