Westpac Announces New Partnership with SocietyOne for Digital Banking

Westpac Group, an Australian bank and financial services provider, today announced that SocietyOne, a fintech leader in digital lending in Australia, has joined its new digital banking-as-a-service platform as the second partner. SocietyOne has originated over $1 billion in loans.

The partnership with Westpac is part of SocietyOne's growth strategy to further diversify its market leading financial products and services. The bank's strategy also includes the launch of a transaction account to enable its 75,000 customers to improve their finances.

The digital banking platform of Westpac is the first of its kind in Australia, using cloud-native technology to meet the banking needs of an all-digital generation.

According to Macgregor Duncan, General Manager, Corporate and Business Development at Westpac, the partnership allows Westpac to reach new customers via a low-cost operating and distribution model, increase valuable deposit balances and, over time, expand the range of its lending and data services. It is an exciting long-term growth opportunity for the bank.

Mark Jones, CEO of SocietyOne, said: "With the launch of the SocietyOne app, customers will be able to access their credit score for free, apply for a SocietyOne loan and manage their existing loans, as well as deposit, withdraw, and transfer money from and within the new transaction account powered by Westpac's digital platform."

SocietyOne customers will have direct access to Westpac's digital banking services in the second half of 2021. Additionally, Westpac's venture capital partnership, Reinventure, has been an investor in SocietyOne since February 2014.