Tally launches 2.0 version of UK Faster Payments-linked app

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
28th January 2020

Tally, the banking app offering a currency equivalent to milligrams of gold, has launched the second version of its app which is connected to the UK Faster Payments (FP) network for UK current accounts.

Initially known as Lionsgold, Tally is a stable coin which is linked to the physical commodity, gold. This means it is not a cryptocurrency, because it’s linked to a tangible rather than a digital asset.

Tally is a “reserve banking platform and physical asset currency that operates with the fiat currency fractional-reserve banking system”.

Tally co-founder and CEO Cameron Parry

The system keeps customers’ savings on its own platform, and says it gives consumers “full ownership and control of their money” because the physical gold attributing value to it is held outside the banking system.

“We wanted to deliver an accountable asset-based money for the mainstream public to use with confidence as an alternative to debt-based government-issued fiat currency,” says co-founder and CEO Cameron Parry.

“Tally is money designed to hold its value over time rather than being devalued by inflation, and to be protected from bank lending and systemic risk,” he adds.

One Tally equals one milligram of gold which is stored in a “secure vault” in Switzerland according to the challenger bank. British sterling and euros can be converted into the Tally currency at the global spot price and customers can spend it through a Mastercard-powered debit card.

The neobank says there are no foreign exchange (FX) fees when using Tally abroad and ATM withdrawals are free. Users can send Tally through peer-to-peer transactions, and it can also be converted back into pounds or euros.

It costs users a monthly fee of 0.1% of the average monthly holding to use Tally. The fintech says the charge covers storage, security, insurance and operational costs.

Initially launching its beta app in June 2019, the fintech has now completely redesigned the user experience (UX) interface, including the addition of face and touch ID integration.

Now connected to the UK FP network, users’ money can be directly transferred to and from Tally accounts and UK GBP accounts in real-time. Features such as savings ‘safes’, statements and the opportunity to ‘gift gold’ are “all in the product road-map,” according to the fintech.

Currently, the gold price is at a three-week high.