AMP Bank has leveraged Engine by Starling to launch a new mobile-first digital bank, aiming to fill what it believes is a major gap in the market.
While the bank will support the needs of everyday customers, AMP Bank has placed a focus on serving millions of Australia’s small business owners.
According to AMP, approximately 2.4 million Australian businesses are either self-employed or employ one to four people, while the majority have a turnover of less than $200,000 annually.
Despite these figures, it believes that traditional banking solutions don’t meet the needs of small businesses and instead focus on larger companies.
Sean O’Malley, AMP Bank Group Executive, commented: “We are thrilled to launch our brand-new digital bank – purpose designed and built from the ground up to transform the banking experience for Australia’s millions of micro, side hustlers and small business owners, and everyday banking customers.”
In keeping with the goal of helping small business owners, the bank includes a plethora of features and smart tech designed to make banking simpler. Examples include the latest fraud and identity theft protection, 24/7 human contact centre support, connectivity between personal and business accounts and insights plus more.
As noted above, AMP’s new bank leverages Engine by Starling, a banking technology solution that served as the foundation for challenger bank Starling Bank. Since launching in 2017, Starling has amassed over 4.5 million small business and retail customer accounts in the UK.
Commenting on Starling’s tech, O’Malley said: “We searched the world to source the very best in banking technology to create what we’re confident will be Australia’s premier mobile digital banking experience.
“We’ve loaded the new app with the very latest tech and innovations to provide business owners with the latest in cyber, fraud and scam protection, and the capability to integrate leading small business software solutions.”
Payment Expert heard from Mariam Ogunbambi, Chief Client Officer at Engine by Starling, and Nike Shoge, Head of Commercial Growth at Starling Banking Services, at Fintech Week London last year.
“Our technology is really at the heart of everything that we do,” Ogunbambi said at the event in June. “Building that technology gives us more flexibility, it allows us to act rapidly to customer demands, changes, needs, and just gives us the control that we need to be able to provide the best service we can to our customers.”
Flexibility and adapting to customer needs is what O’Malley is aiming to replicate with this new initiative.
He concluded: “Our ambition is to help small business owners – sole traders, side hustlers and other small businesses – seamlessly run and administer their business from the convenience of their mobile phone.
“Today’s launch is just the beginning, with AMP Bank set to announce of range of new partnerships and features over the coming months.”
