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Xavier Shay is the CEO of Up, the Australian digital bank that reached a million customers on word of mouth and has been standalone profitable for the last twelve months. He joined as employee 27, was CTO before taking the top job, and explains why Up refused buy now pay later and why it does not try to win on features.

About Xavier Shay

Xavier Shay is CEO of Up and chief digital officer at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, having joined Up as a software engineer in 2019 and moved through CTO before taking over as CEO in 2021. Before returning to Melbourne he spent close to seven years at Square in San Francisco, joining at around 150 staff and leaving a listed company of three and a half thousand people.

Key talking points

1. Word of mouth does the marketing. About 70% of Up's new customers arrive because a friend told them to, which Xavier traces to features people want to talk about, Save Up $1000, 2Up, and a support team that answers like a mate.

2. The brand decides the roadmap. At the peak of buy now pay later Up said no and shipped Maybuy instead, a savings plan that asks whether you still want the thing. Half the customers walk away with the money.

3. Brand is the moat, not features. Australia has free instant payments and good incumbent apps, so Xavier says Up does not win a feature by feature comparison and never has. It reached standalone profitability on how it makes people feel about money.

Chapters

[00:00] Introduction

[02:50] Why word of mouth works

[07:06] Saying no to buy now pay later

[18:18] Employee 27 at Ferocia

[23:21] Competing in a functional market

Links

Up: https://up.com.au

Careers at Up: https://up.com.au/careers

Xavier Shay on LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/xaviershay

Tier One People: https://tieronepeople.com

This show is brought to you by Tier One People, where we work with CEO's and founders like Xavier to find the 1% who redefine what's possible. If you're scaling your leadership team, start at tieronepeople.com

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Welcome to our series recorded live from Interesekt/26. Dexter Cousins catches up with friends of the show at Australia's premiere Fintech event in Melbourne.


Hello Clever CEO Caroline Tran gives Dexter Cousins and update of their remarkable growth across Asia, now processing over $2bn through their payments and loyalty platform.

Subscribe for weekly insights from the people building the next generation of Fintech solutions and let us know in the comments what you want to hear next.

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Welcome to our series recorded live from Interesekt/26. Dexter Cousins catches up with friends of the show at Australia's premiere Fintech event in Melbourne.

Piers Cracknell CEO for Banking Circle Australia joins Dexter COusins to talk through their remarkable growth and success down under. Piers also shares his main takeaways from the event and his optimism for the future of Fintech.

Connect with Piers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierscracknell/

https://bankingcircle.com.au/

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Welcome to our series recorded live from Intersekt. Dexter Cousins catches up with friends of the show at Australia's premiere Fintech event in Melbourne.

This chat features Ben Ford aka The Body of Fintech! Ben runs Mogoplus - AI powered credit decision making and has been at the forefront of CDR since inception.

You can connect with Ben - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-ford-142a027/

Insta- https://www.instagram.com/super_fit_dad/

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Can Australian startups thrive under current policy? Shadow Minister Aaron Violi discusses the future of our tech sector.

In this episode of FinTech Chatter, Dexter Cousins sits down with Aaron Violi, Federal Member for Casey and Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, Science, Technology and Innovation. They examine how upcoming 2026 budget changes to capital gains and employee equity impact the broader startup ecosystem. Aaron draws on his fifteen years of private sector experience, including his time at Ritual, to explain how government policy can better support innovation and job creation.

The conversation covers the practical hurdles facing founders today, from tax policy to attracting global talent. By comparing our approach to international models like Singapore, Aaron provides a clear perspective on the role of government in fostering a robust digital economy. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a policy enthusiast, this breakdown offers insights into the regulatory shifts shaping the future of fintech regulation in Australia.

Subscribe to FinTech Chatter for weekly insights on the leaders shaping the Fintech industry. What is the biggest challenge facing your startup right now? Let us know in the comments.

0:00 Introduction
1:02 Aaron Violi background and portfolio
2:19 What the digital economy means
4:39 Lessons from Singapore
9:19 Budget impact on startups
14:33 Challenges facing startups
24:34 The role of government
28:46 Taxation and innovation
30:43 Attracting talent back
36:48 Vision for an innovative Australia
43:49 Connecting with Aaron

LINKS
Aaron Violi on LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/aaronviolimp
Aaron Violi MP website: https://www.aaronvioli.com.au
Aaron Violi electorate email: aaron.violi.mp@aph.gov.au
Tier One People: https://tieronepeople.com
Fintech Chatter: https://fintechchatter.com
Dexter Cousins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dextercousins/

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Karl Durrance is Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand at Stripe, the payments infrastructure company. Australia NZ is Stripes 3rd largest region globally, serving over one million customers and onboards 37,000 new local businesses every month.

In this episode, recorded live at Stripe Tour Sydney, Karl explains how Australia became Stripe's third biggest market in the world, why 23 percent of Stripe's Australian businesses sell cross-border against a national average of 2 percent, and what the AI economy is doing to business formation. He also talks candidly about the country manager role, why he coaches his team to answer for the customer rather than the forecast, and where Stripe is hiring in Australia.


0:00 Introduction
1:24 Stripe Tour Sydney
2:36 One million ANZ customers
3:49 Cracking the Australian market
5:30 Cross-border and global reach
6:24 Solopreneurs and small business
8:08 AI and job creation
9:29 Day 231 of the singularity
11:11 Building the highways
13:05 Growing the GDP of the internet
14:37 Why Karl joined Stripe
18:12 The country manager role
21:36 How founders reach Stripe
22:26 Careers at Stripe

Karl Durrance on LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/karldurrance
Stripe: https://stripe.com
Stripe Tour Sydney: https://stripetour.com/sydney
Stripe Tour Sydney 2026 announcements: https://stripe.com/newsroom/news/tour-sydney-2026
Careers at Stripe: https://stripe.com/jobs
Tier One People: https://tieronepeople.com
Dexter Cousins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dextercousins/

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Move Bank has become the first bank in the world to move its entire operation, technology, product, operations and compliance, onto Constantinople's platform.

In this episode Dexter Cousins is joined by Move Bank CEO Mike Currie and Constantinople co-CEOs Macgregor Duncan and Di Challenor.

They unpack an 18 month migration of around 25,000 members that cut cost to income by roughly 30 percent. It is a story about culture and courage as much as technology, and what it means for every customer owned bank in Australia.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:36 Inside Move Bank and how the partnership began
2:48 A banking operating system
4:55 Busting the CEO killer myth
8:26 Fintechs reputation problem
10:26 Why a domestic team mattered
13:12 Challenger culture - Building a true partnership
17:00 Go live - A world first transformation
21:03 Synthetic scale and the problem with mergers
24:35 Going global
31:02 The next decade of AI
31:49 Advice for bank CEOs
39:39 Where to find Move Bank

Find out more.

Move Bank: https://www.movebank.com.au

Constantinople: https://www.cxnpl.com

** Connect With Dexter **
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dextercousins/

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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fintech-chatter-podcast

Contact us - https://tieronepeople.com/contact/

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If you're building a fintech leadership team, start at tieronepeople.com - executive search for Fintech.

Sam Everington joined Starling Bank ten years ago as one of its first twenty employees. He led the build of the technology that has made Starling a Fintech giant - 4.5 million customers and a 9% share of UK business banking.

Mark Bernhardi leads Engine's growth across Australia and New Zealand, having previously held technology roles at Atlassian, nCino and Westpac.

Both join Dexter Cousins on a special episode of Fintech Chatter Podcast recorded at the World Credit Union Conference in Sydney July 2026.

Engine is the software business Starling spun out four years ago to license its platform to other banks. Sam and Mark explain how Engine gets banks like AMP live on a full core banking platform in under twelve months.

They also discuss the opportunity for mutuals and credit unions to compete with much bigger banks and offer their customers the Starling Bank experience using technology platforms like Engine.

Sam Everington LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sameverington

Mark Bernhardi LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/mark-bernhardi

Engine by Starling: https://enginebystarling.com

Tier One People: https://tieronepeople.com

Dexter Cousins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dextercousins

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