How Dom Pym Built a Bank Without Starting a Bank
Synopsis
Dom Pym took a different route into banking, partnering Ferocia with Bendigo Bank instead of building a bank from scratch. The result was Up, a mobile-only digital bank that reached one million customers within six years.
Dom Pym, who had been involved in running a business that did not turn out as expected, saw his next big venture quite differently. Rather than attempt to build a business from the ground up, Pym and his business partner Grant Thomas took their tech company Ferocia, and got Bendigo Bank to work with them. This partnership eventually went on to form Up, a mobile-only digital bank that hit one million customers in six years. Up is the story not about ordinarily building a bank, but about marrying tech and an existing banking partner along with a new form of customer experience.
The Idea Started With Technology
Up can trace its origins back to Ferocia, a software company co-founded by Dom Pym and Grant Thomas.
This opportunity arose when Pym Ferocia was working out what the next step might be for business expansion. The conversation moved from the company to Bendigo Bank, which asked whether it was similarly possible for the technology expertise to be applied in banking. Ferocia initially created a proof of concept in the form of the bank, with mobile and desktop banking platforms then built for Bendigo customers.
The reason this relationship became important is that Ferocia was no longer coming to banking from the outside. Thousands of dollars in laundering schemes and it had consulted with a bank for years on its banking technology. Bendigo Bank said its association with Ferocia was initiated in 2012, lasted more than nine years, then ended when the bank acquired Ferocia.
Rather Than Building A Bank, They Collaborated With One
A major decision in designing Up was what Pym’s team didn’t build. Ferocia didn’t build out an entirely new bank and banking infrastructure, instead working with Bendigo Bank. Up was launched in 2018 as a joint offering from Ferocia and Bendigo Bank. Bendigo had the banking infrastructure, and Ferocia its technology and product development muscle.
The partnership allowed for a speedy route to the product that can bring a digital banking product to market without building out so much of the infrastructure required to run a bank alone, according to Pym.
Pym called the approach “technology-led banking, not bank-led technology” in an interview. The concept was to cover the digital part first and put all the existing bank infrastructure behind it. This was a strategic move of significance for a small technology firm moving into banking.
Up Was Built as a Mobile-Only Bank
Launched in 2018 as a mobile-only digital bank. It was built around the smartphone and not the branches. Known for being Australia’s “first mobile-only digital bank”, Bendigo said that the goal, according to Ferocia, was to create something different for an era of increasingly digital living.
According to Pym, the original ideas stemmed from the rise of smartphones and app stores. His team had begun to speculate about how the design of everyday services might look if modelled off mobile. That thinking shaped the product.
The team centred on creating a digital banking experience around the phone itself, as opposed to mimicking everyday bank experience onto a phone. The first customers were gained before a sudden spike in growth
The First Customers Came Before the Big Growth
The product was tested with customers before launch. During the beta program in 2018, Bendigo says more than 1,500 customers made over $2.2 million in transactions during testing. This presented an opportunity for the team to do some pre-launch testing of the product.
The customer numbers started to grow once Up launched. The company, in its first year of operation and according to Up, grew to 140,000 customers and $113 million in deposits. From there the company kept growing.
The Customer Experience Became the Product
One core element of Up was its thesis about how the banking app would be used by customers.
According to Bendigo, the Up user experience has also contributed to customers better managing their finances with features like Save Up and Locked Savers. Bendigo stated Up ranked as Australia’s highest-rated banking app, then on both the App Store and Google Play as of 2024. The company also developed a healthy community around the brand.
Eighty per cent of Up’s new customers over the 12 months to November 2024 joined on referrals from family or friends, it said. This matters, because banking is one of those trust businesses. This is because when a customer recommends a financial product to his friend, the product itself can play the role of a customer-acquisition tool. For Up, the firm said organic referrals were critical to onboarding new customers onto the platform.
The Business Expanded While Remaining True To Its Original Model
For its first few years, Up operated as a part of the partnership between Ferocia and Bendigo Bank.
Sawyer goes on to note that, as of August 2021, Up had surpassed 400K customers and $840 million in deposits. Bendigo added that this growth occurred in less than three years. And then came a massive change that same year.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has announced that it will be acquiring Ferocia for up to A$116 million in consideration. The arrangement effectively internalised Ferocia’s technology team and IP, but gave Bendigo full ownership of Up.
The key thing was that no one up and disappeared post-acquisition. The brand would operate on the same customer proposition, Bendigo said, but also take the benefit from the technology capabilities developed by Ferocia across the wider bank.
One million customers in six years
It was in 2024 when the scale of Up’s growth became more apparent. Up reached a million customers, six years after it was launched. The group reported that “deposits exceeded A$2 billion and Up Home settled over 2,000 loans.” (Up)
Bendigo, which also flagged a growth bump around the million-customer milestone, reported more than A$2 billion in deposits and A$1 billion in mortgages. The numbers illustrate how the firm had evolved far away from its initial testing ground.
This began: with them, with a technology company, a bank partnership; together creating and launching. By then, six years later, it had a million customers and billions of dollars on deposit.
What Made the Model Work?
The Up case rests on a quite simple business idea, putting together different strengths instead of trying to build everything.
Ferocia helped with technology and digital product expertise. Bendigo Bank might have had banking infrastructure and experience. They co-founded a mobile-only banking product that focused on digital customers.
Pym himself has previously described the relationship with Bendigo as a critical part of Up’s evolution. Ferocia emphasises that the relationship was already a long-standing one before Up even launched (in October 2018) meaning Ferocia and the bank already had an existing working relationship.
While the business focused on features and UI, getting users to recommend it to others became a key source of new customers. The company reached its millionth customer in 2024.
As is the case with Up, Pym sees the secret sauce as a combo of tech, partnership and a razor-sharp focus on mobile banking experience.
Instead of trying to turn into a version of a traditional bank overnight, Ferocia partnered with an existing operator and focused solely on building the digital product. And that strategy has propelled Up from a fledgling banking experiment to a $1 million-customer company.
At Inspirepreneurs Magazine, covering entrepreneurship, business failures, and the human stories behind the world's most ambitious founders. She writes at the intersection of strategy and storytelling.
