Let’s face it. Traditional banks are just kind of meh. Sure, they hold your money for you, but with inflation, that money will be able to buy less and less as the cost of goods and services increases. We know that banking can be so much better and that’s why we’re building Debut.
We want to completely rethink how even fundamental banking services and interactions work by creating an alternative to traditional banking. One of the first things we’re doing right now is simply asking questions and listening. We want to hear from creative Kiwis and free-thinkers about how you use your bank today; what you like and what you don’t. We also want to explore the unconventional, starting with questions like:
- What are some things that are hard or complicated or tedious right now?
- How can people grow their money even if they don’t know much about investing?
- What are things that banks do (or don’t do) that make people dislike or distrust them? Let’s not do that!
- How can we keep money in New Zealand and benefit the local economy?
Community is central to our vision, so we want to see customers contributing sincerely and meaningfully. By building Debut from the ground up with active feedback from the public, we have a unique opportunity to create a financial tool that is so much more than just another bank. Of course, there are regulatory requirements, but there’s also a lot of room to reinvent the status quo and experiment with unconventional ideas from our community.
It’s somewhat challenging to talk about a product we’re actively building, but below are some of our sticking points of what we think makes Debut stand out from the crowd.
Transparency 🫥😍
You cannot build a community without trust. We want to be super open with customers and keep them informed of everything that’s happening, warts and all.
Kiwi-owned 🇳🇿🥳
Let’s address the emu in the room. 85% of NZ’s banking profits are from the four Aussie-owned banks. Debut is Kiwi-owned and we want it to benefit people here in Aotearoa.
Digital only 🤳😎
This is a somewhat major point of difference. We’re not interested in opening shiny branches in the CBD. We want Debut to be a fully digital, mobile-first experience that’s always a tap away.
Smart money 🎓🤑
We want to automate saving and help you grow your money effortlessly. We also want to make Debut the best way to discover practical insights into how you spend and make it easy to plan for future spending.
Debut will be online-only and accessible through an app on your phone. We are working on the first version of the Debut app, but it’s still early days and we expect a lot to change along the way. We plan to have a pre-release version available for testing toward the end of summer, early next year. No hard date yet, but watch this space.
Building a bank, even an unconventional online-only one, takes a lot of work. We are working with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and taking things one step at a time.
Well, what do you think? If you are reading this and want to get involved, think banks could be doing better, or you’re just curious, please join our user community. Be sure to also sign up to the waitlist.
