| Industry | Banking |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 2018 in Brisbane, Australia |
| Founder | Simon Beitz and Craig Fenwick |
| Headquarters | Brisbane, Queensland , Australia |
| Website | alex |
Alex Bank is an Australian digital bank. [1] [2] It is based in Brisbane, Queensland. [3]
The company was founded in 2018 by Simon Beitz and Craig Fenwick. [4] It was granted a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution licence by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in July 2021. [5] In December 2022 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced that it had granted the Bank its full authorised deposit-taking licence. [6]
Alex Bank was established in 2018 by two ex-Suncorp executives, Simon Beitz and Craig Fenwick. [4] [1] At its founding, Beitz was named Chief executive officer [5] and Fenwick Chief financial officer. [1] The bank initially targeted 18-to-30 year-olds in the autumn of 2020, with the idea that they are more comfortable with the idea of a fully-digital bank. [4]
The company launched its banking services late in 2020 after a trial period in 2019. [7] In July 2021, Alex Bank was granted a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution licence by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. [5] [3] The licence permitted the company to take deposits of up to $250,000 AUD from public borrowers, [8] but placed limitations on the range of products and services it could offer. [5] Alex Bank was one of only two Australian financial institutions to be granted a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution licence at the time. [8]
The bank had raised approximately $55 million AUD in capital as of September 2021, [3] chiefly from private (mostly Australian) investors. [9]
In December 2022 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced that it had granted Alex Bank its authorised deposit-taking licence. [6]
In July 2023 Alex Bank CEO Simon Beitz stated that long term Alex Bank would find its way onto the Australian Securities Exchange [10]
The bank provides short term personal loans to individual borrowers. [5] [11] The company differentiated itself from other banks by waiving establishment fees, ongoing fees, payout penalties or extra-repayment fees on its loans. [11]
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government and the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 in response to the recommendations of the Wallis Inquiry. APRA's authority and scope is determined pursuant to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act, 1998 (Cth).
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Financial institutions in Australia are only permitted to accept deposits from the public if they are authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs). The ADI’s authority is granted by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under the Banking Act 1959 (Cth).
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