CashWerkz founders Greg Bartlett and Mark Austin are looking to disrupt the term deposit market by making it less time-consuming for customers to switch term deposits between banks.
The chief executive of the start-up, John Edginton, said the time and paperwork required to open or switch term deposits is a "major disincentive" to self-directed investors.
"As well as benefiting from some of the best term deposit rates, CashWerkz customers only need to verify their identity once and then have the flexibility to switch between different term deposits, usually without the need to provide additional paperwork," Mr Edginton said.
"There is no need to go to the bank and fill out forms. It sounds very simple, but it’s quite revolutionary in the consumer finance space.
"Greg and Mark decided to build a system that automates term deposit transactions and the compliance processes banks must follow to establish the identity of a client, known in the industry as ‘KYC’ or ‘Know Your Customer’.
"The innovative software linked the steps together as one complete process. It’s totally unique and allows individuals to go end-to-end usually without the need to fill in forms and go to a branch to verify," Mr Edginton said.
CashWerkz received funding from Brooke Adcock of the Adcock Group (formerly of Pandora jewellery) in 2014.
"We’re still a start-up, yet we have attracted many of the top financial organisations to the platform, including NAB, Westpac, Macquarie and St George," Mr Edginton said.
"At this stage, we offer term deposits but we will soon be adding other cash products such as high-interest savings accounts, cash management accounts and, potentially, bonds," he said.
