Wendi by Waave: Open Banking Acquisition Engine
Owned end-to-end: Problem discovery → Banked acquisition (2024). Cut consent friction 50%+ → PLG scale → payments revenue.
Infrastructure ready. Consumers blocked by trust.
Open Banking in Australia introduced a behavioural challenge: users had to overcome fear, effort, and uncertainty before connecting their bank accounts.
At end of 2023, only 0.31% of bank customers had an active data-sharing arrangement.
Active data-sharing
Avg wasted/yr on subs
The trust gap between what Open Banking could do and what consumers were willing to try was the single biggest obstacle.
Competitive Landscape
| Competitor | Automation | Open Banking | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wendi | Full (bank sync) | ✓ CDR | Free |
| Frollo | Transaction cat. | ✓ CDR | Free |
| PocketSmith | Transaction cat. | ✓ Basiq | $10+/mo |
| TrackMySubs | None | ✗ | Free–$5/mo |
| Rocket Money | Full | ✗ (US) | $4–12/mo |
Ideal Customer Profile
ICP: 25–45yo urban pros wasting $670/yr on subs.
👥Demographics
- →Australians aged 25–45, urban
- →Middle-income ($60k–$120k)
- →Tech-comfortable
😣Pain Points
- →$670/yr wasted on subs
- →Multiple bank accounts
- →Cost-of-living pressure
📱Behaviours
- →70% aware but only 40% track
- →Open to fintech tools
- →Share savings tips socially
Value exchange > data rights talk
Trust in Open Banking won't come from abstract messaging. Waave needed a value exchange strong enough to justify consent.
Subscription tracking = easy-to-understand pain point with immediate personal value.
The shift
Mission-aligned from day one
Waave's mission: leverage open banking data to reinvent payment experiences. Wendi was the mission made tangible.
Save Money
Surface hidden subscription costs
Give Control
Toggle services, download reports
Better UX
Personalised, actionable insights
Secure
Bank-grade encryption, read-only
7-Stage Framework
JTBD + DSB standards: 3-step flow, consent → dashboard. Cut friction 50%+.
Discovery
Apr '23User research, competitor audit
Validated opportunity
Define
May '23JTBD mapping, value prop
Land-and-grow model
Ideate
Jun '23Wireframes, trust cues
50%+ friction reduction
Design
Jul '23Hi-fi mocks, compliance
DSB compliance achieved
Validate
Aug '23User testing, benchmarking
>80% activation target
Develop
Aug–SepFull V1 build
Production-ready
Launch
Sep '23TV coverage, viral growth
PLG → acquisition
Concept in March. Launched in September. 7 months.
Why most users quit the CDR flow
Australia's CDR mandates: Pre-Consent → Consent → Authenticate → Authorise → Post-Consent. Most consumers abandoned this gauntlet.
Consumers felt little control (average 3 out of 7) and demanded clear value before consenting.
Active data-sharing
Data control rating
Standard CDR vs Wendi
Pre-Consent
Consent
Authenticate
Authorise
Post-Consent
Applied DSB standards and UX research to cut consent friction 50%+.
— Portfolio insight
3-step flow: compliance → conversion
Waave's "value-first" experience: compelling hook → minimal steps. Typical CDR burden reduced to Email → Bank → Accounts.
Step 1: Email
Simple entry with progress indicator
Step 2: Bank
Search bank, accept agreement
Step 3: Accounts
Granular choice + balance preview
Trust reinforcement
"We'll never ask for your NetBank password."
The complete Wendi journey
Seven screens from landing to insights — tap to pause.
1.Landing Page
"Take Control Over Your Subscriptions" — immediate value hook
From "Health Check" to Wendi
Original name felt clinical and couldn't be trademarked. Names ending in "ee" sound tested highest. Wendi was born: warm, memorable, trademarkable.
Mobile-first design
Fast Loading
Minimalistic, no bloat
Well Formatted
Clean data hierarchy
Interactive
Toggle headline numbers
Simple
One action per screen
Design Evolution
Core subscription insights with minimalistic UI — prove the value fast.
Refined messaging, improved hierarchy, stronger security signals.
Wendi Insights + Pay by Bank converge into Wallet.
- →Unified balance across accounts
- →Recurring costs with toggle controls
- →Pay by Bank — the revenue engine
57 beta testers. Real signals.
80%
Connecting easy
36%
Found forgotten subs
73%
Liked calculator
61%
Would return
Top Feature Requests
"I used Wendi to check I moved all my subscriptions over. One came up I'd missed."
"I felt the need to read through data policies… due to a lack of trust in banks."
Today Show → 10K+ users → Banked acquisition
Growth Timeline
100+
Aug
1,800
Sep
5,600
Oct
10K+
Dec
Channel 9 — Today Show
"Latest apps to help you spend smart and save big"
September 2023
Australia's first free subscription tracker
Connect bank, see subs, find savings — free, under 60 seconds.
2024
Acquired by Banked
Citing consumer experience + Chemist Warehouse partnership.
5 keys to trust-first PLG
Trust is the true constraint
In regulated data markets, trust — not tech — is the bottleneck.
Start with the hardest funnel part
By making consent easiest, Waave inverted the typical drop-off curve.
Remove consumer risk first
Free, no download, no ID, no commitment. Every objection eliminated.
Create value before asking
Subscription visibility and savings — before any commercial engagement.
Let value unlock the engine
Free tool → consented data → Pay by Bank revenue → acquisition.
Free land → data → revenue → exit
Wendi was free, but increased engagement with Waave's Pay by Bank infrastructure — lower merchant fees, instant auth, no card entry.
Wendi was a strategic acquisition layer. Banked acquired Waave in 2024.
Pay by Bank
- →Lower merchant fees
- →Instant authorisation
- →Reduced risk & chargebacks
Validation
Acquired by Banked, 2024
🌱 Land
- ✓Free tool — zero friction
- ✓Open banking in <60 seconds
- ✓Viral sharing mechanics
🚀 Expand
- ✓Convert to Pay by Bank revenue
- ✓Wallet: insights + payments
- ✓Merchant transaction fees
Wendi was not just a consumer app — it was a strategic acquisition layer for payments adoption.