Tech titan — Dom Pym’s near-death experiences in life and business

“We’re building it for the people comfortable doing mobile banking, who are living on the edge of the future,” says fin-tech entrepreneur Dom Pym.

“All the things we do with Up are different than other banks. Because when you’re carrying your phone in your pocket, doing everything with your finger on your phone, or with your face or your voice, that user experience becomes so much more important than a web browser with a mouse and a keyboard. It just changed the whole game.”  

Some people spend their lives tinkering away, trying to invent new things. Bill Gates famously spent time pulling apart computers in his youth. Dom Pym did the same. With computers, but also with billycarts and cars. He and his mates even invented some James Bond-esque spy glasses! 

That sense of play and innovation saw him become one of Australia’s leading software developers by age 19, working across the globe for Fortune 500 companies.  

And after dabbling in multiple start-ups, from building a music management tool to launching an online grain market, he eventually also built Australia’s first mobile-only bank. 

But first there were legal disputes and near-death plane crashes to contend with. Oh, and the joys of banking regulation. 

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This episode was produced by Grace Pashley and edited by Travis Vetier. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

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