Advantedge And Ubank
Valda Atkeson
But what at first seemed like a minor glitch has turned into a months-long debacle. He was unable to access his money for weeks, had his account accidentally closed by the bank, and spent hours on the phone trying to get help.
However, more than two years since the merger, some customers would argue this is yet to occur and former staff have suggested that some of the ongoing problems reflect what they consider a turbulent merger process.
A decade later, 86 400, a neobank backed by payments provider Cuscal, was launched in 2019. It was one of the first start-ups to be granted a banking licence by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, and alongside a number of other neobanks, promised to disrupt the traditional banking oligopoly and be a point of difference for Australians.
Five former and current staff, who spoke to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald on the condition of anonymity to protect their jobs, said it has been far from smooth sailing. Some employees, particularly those who had come from 86 400, were sceptical of the deal to begin with, and quickly felt their concerns had come to fruition once the two companies merged.
In mid-January, ubank tightened the privacy settings on its Facebook page, no longer allowing comments from customers and hiding the complaints that were previously public. However, customers continue to complain on Twitter, particularly about the hours-long wait times to reach someone from customer service.
The doctor, who did not want his surname published for privacy reasons, isn\\u2019t alone. Since November, customers have been complaining to ubank and the financial services regulator as they face a stemming from an ongoing merger with neobank 86 400. A process to migrate hundreds of thousands of accounts onto the technology platforms of 86 400 was paused over Christmas as ubank hired 170 new customer service staff.
In 2021, NAB announced its $221 million purchase of 86 400, acquiring the neobank\\u2019s technology platform and mobile banking systems in an effort to stay ahead of the curve and attract younger clients to its digital offshoot ubank.
At the time, ubank said the deal would \\u201Cenhance customer experience and meet their changing needs\\u201D to create a leading digital bank, and foster the \\u201Cnext generation of simple, fast and mobile banking solutions\\u201D.
\\u201CInstantly, it was obvious that while this was pitched as a merger where they wanted to keep 86 400 people and systems, it was \\u2018we bought the people and the systems\\u2019 and they would do things differently,\\u201D said one former employee of 86 400.
\\u201CThis was an NAB takeover. They needed the tech ... it wasn\\u2019t about the people, or the process of disrupting the market,\\u201D she said. \\u201CThey took advantage of a situation where all neobanks were very vulnerable, and they just took us out.\\u201D
\\u201C86 400 staff felt cheated,\\u201D said one. \\u201CThe big goal of 86 400 was to be better than the big four and then they got sold out to one of the big four. That was a cultural shock to the people who invested their time in the organisation. It got very toxic.\\u201D
The man said months of work was done before the transfer of accounts to 86 400\\u2019s platforms, with the aim to make the process as smooth as possible for customers. A number of plans were drafted, including encouraging customers in advance to ensure their passwords and postal address were correct so new debit cards could be sent to the right place.
\\u201CA lot of work was done to find out what customers wanted to know when and if their accounts were migrated,\\u201D said the former employee. Instead, he says, much of this work wasn\\u2019t used.
The migration process was paused over Christmas, as ubank worked to onboard 170 new people in customer service roles to help customers move onto the new banking platform and \\u201Csupport the bank\\u2019s growth\\u201D, a spokeswoman said. It will recommence soon.
The bank\\u2019s deposit and mortgage balances are growing faster than general market growth rates, she said, and ubank had been retaining existing customers while welcoming \\u201Cthousands\\u201D of new ones every week.
After Grant was unable to get into his account, he reviewed the email that said he would be sent a new debit card. He hadn\\u2019t received anything. It was impossible to get onto anyone through ubank\\u2019s helpline.
He lodged a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which prompted ubank to contact Grant. During this time, the bank accidentally closed his account, which they later said was due to a \\u201Cmanual processing error\\u201D in a letter which also contained an apology for the disruption.
Ubank offered him $250 in compensation as a goodwill payment, but on the proviso he didn\\u2019t speak about the complaint to any third party. Grant has told the bank he doesn\\u2019t want money \\u2013 he wants a public apology to all the customers who have been affected.
\\u201CWhat I asked for is a public apology to customers for this right royal stuff-up. They are being savaged everywhere they look but the bank hasn\\u2019t sent one email to customers apologising. The chief executive has been completely silent,\\u201D he said.
\\u201CI accept people make mistakes, that\\u2019s fine \\u2026 but it\\u2019s how you respond to that mistake which shows the fortitude of the company and I feel like they have been asleep at the wheel here.
\\u201CYou are dealing with people\\u2019s money, lives and livelihoods. It causes an incredible amount of stress\\u2026 I would have liked to see some ownership or responsibility from the CEO to say we failed customers here.\\u201D
Previously, eligible applications would need to be submitted and settled by a specific date. The new open-ended offer will mean that from 1 December 2022 new applications can be submitted at any time but must settle within 120 days of the application keyed date (approximately 4 months).
Customers will automatically be paid the cashback, provided the eligibility criteria outlined above has been met. Customers will be required to have an existing BOQ transaction account or open a BOQ transaction account that the cashback will be paid to within 30 days of the loan settlement.
As a reminder from 1st September 2022, a cashback payment is no longer applicable to be paid on any standalone refinances within National Australia Bank Group including NAB, Advantedge and UBank home loans.
There is also a limit of one cashback per member. For example, if you receive the cashback under an individual loan and then apply for a joint loan, the joint loan will not be eligible to receive the cashback
Provided these Terms and Conditions are met, Eligible Customers will receive $3,000 cashback transferred electronically into their ING Orange Everyday transaction account within 70 days of settlement.
Where an Eligible Customer has more than one Orange Everyday account held in the same names as the new ING Home Loan, ING will determine which account will receive the cashback. The customer cannot nominate an account. The customer will be notified via email after the cashback has been deposited into their account.
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The offer is only available once per customer / borrowing entity within the Offer Period. If a customer refinances more than one loan, they will only receive the cash back once. Where there is more than one borrower, only one cash back will be paid and all borrowers are considered to have received a cash back. If any of the borrowers have received the cash back in the Offer Period, no further cash backs will be payable on any future refinance where that individual/borrowing entity is a borrower.
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For more info, visit ubank.com.au/home-loans or chat with your BDM today.
Exclusions and additional eligibility criteria apply. Cashback not available for refinances within NAB Group. For full Ts&Cs of the cashback offer