TECHNOLOGY

Up Neobank Joins Frollo Open Banking as CDR Deadline Looms

Up Neobank Joins Frollo Open Banking as CDR Deadline Looms

A new wave of open banking is crashing over Australia. Up, the cloud-native neobank operating under Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's licence, has just plugged into Frollo's Open Banking platform, becoming the seventh data holder to join. With the July 1 deadline for all authorised deposit-taking institutions fast approaching, this move signals a significant shift in how customer data will flow across the financial sector.

A Neobank That Lives in the Cloud

Up is not your typical bank. It is wholly hosted in the cloud and operates solely through a mobile app, with no branches and no legacy systems weighing it down. That technical freedom is precisely what appeals to customers looking for a technology-led alternative to traditional banking. Its features, from real-time spending insights to automatic savings rules, are designed for a generation that expects financial services to feel as intuitive as their favourite apps.

Now those same customers can take their data with them, thanks to Up's integration with Frollo's Consumer Data Right (CDR) platform. The neobank joins the big four banks — ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac — as well as its own licence-holder Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, as an accredited data holder. For Frollo, this expands a network that is becoming increasingly indispensable for Australians who want to compare, switch, and manage their finances with ease.

The Deadline That Changed Everything

The timing is no accident. From July 1 2021, every authorised deposit-taking institution outside the big four is required to share customers' data under the Consumer Data Right. That means second-tier banks and neobanks like Up can no longer sit on the sidelines. They must open up their data, just as the majors have done over the past year.

Frollo, which has been a vocal advocate for open banking, sees this as a turning point. With the big four already live and a host of smaller players launching in July, the company predicts that Open Banking coverage will surpass 90 per cent of the Australian market. That is a dramatic leap from the patchy landscape we saw even six months ago, and it is likely to accelerate innovation in everything from budgeting tools to loan comparison services.

What This Means for Consumers

For the average bank customer, the practical benefits are only beginning to emerge. Open Banking allows them to securely share their transaction data with accredited third parties, unlocking personalised offers and smarter money management. With more data holders on board, those services become far more useful. No longer will a budgeting app be limited to customers of one or two banks.

The inclusion of Up is particularly telling because neobanks are, by nature, digital-first. Their customers are already comfortable with app-based financial management, and they are more likely to experiment with new tools. That creates a fertile ground for Frollo to demonstrate what open banking can really do.

A Bigger Shift

There is a broader story here, too. The rush to meet the July deadline is forcing smaller banks to modernise their infrastructure, often for the first time. Cloud-based neobanks like Up have a head start, but the pressure is on traditional second-tier lenders to catch up. The result, over time, should be a more level playing field where customer data belongs to the customer, not the institution.

Frollo's growing platform also positions it as a central pillar in Australia's open banking ecosystem. By signing up a diverse range of data holders — from the biggest banks to the newest disruptors — it is building the kind of comprehensive network that will be essential for the CDR's future phases, including shared data on energy and telecommunications.

Looking Ahead

The July 1 deadline is not the finish line; it is just the next step. As more ADIs come online and the CDR expands, the real test will be whether consumers actually use their new data rights. With partners like Up on board, Frollo is betting that they will. The foundation is set. The data is flowing. The next chapter of open banking in Australia has just begun.