My signing up for Pelikin almost did not happen because it doesn’t look like they want to be a neobank. It’s more of an afterthought to their initial goal of being a prepaid travel card. This means they’ll compete with Xinja in the short term. And if things don’t change, they’ll basically be an Australia Post travel card – with emojis in the app.
Safe and standard landing page
Clean and to-the-point, which is great. The features are almost up-front, with “Split bills in any currency” being a very smart feature.
No fees aka revenue from the spread? Or selling my data?
It’s always a bit of a red flag when a company goes overboard mentioning how they are a free service.
If you are not paying for the product online, you are the product being sold.
Douglas Rushkoff, Media Theorist & Writer
![Signing up for Revolut | Neobanks.com.au](https://i0.wp.com/neobanks.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screenshot_20190124-193945.png?resize=374%2C768&ssl=1)
In their features section, Pelikin mentions:
- that they charge no fees,
- they offer free transfer,
- get paid in any currency for free, and
- you can spend money around the world, without any fees.
Two things are at play here: Either Pelikin is a philanthropic organisation that wants Australians to have a convenient global travel experience without the headaches of currency conversions; or they’ve found another way to make money without charging you a direct fee.
They could be selling your data? Scary.
But my hypothesis is that they are making money on the currency conversion spread. That’s when they buy 1 USD for $1.50, sell it to you for $1.75, making $0.25 on that transaction. Perfectly fine, perfectly acceptable and totally the norm.
Hey Pelikin: This is how you can tackle pricing in an honest way.
My question is: If we’re being honest about hating transaction fees, why is there no section on the spread cost? Isn’t that a ‘fee’ that you pay for buying money?
![](https://i0.wp.com/neobanks.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screenshot_20190124-194004.png?resize=498%2C1024&ssl=1)
An email waitlist
There’s nothing here to show that they’re going to be better than the travel money cards that have been around for changes.
Despite having a solid landing page, it was the content that made this landing page and its product interesting.
Just an email to sign up. Now to wait and watch.