CBA-backed company, cashback app Cheddar, shuts down

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia threw its weight behind a deal discovery and cashback app called Cheddar which was hailed as the ‘new TikTok of shopping’.

Cheddar got off the ground through the CBA’s venture scaling business x15ventures in November 2021.

The app proudly advertised itself as being strictly for “non Boomers” and started off with more than 600 merchants on board, including Menulog, Agoda, Under Armour, Net-A-Porter, Pizza Hut, Culture Kings and Cotton On.

But 18 months later, the company has folded, with August 31 earmarked as the day it will be wound down.

In a statement on its website earlier this week, the business flagged that it was closing down, writing in a note to customers; “It’s been a wild ride but now it’s time to say goodbye and close up Cheddar”.

Users of the platform will not lose any money. Instead, they must cash out and withdraw all their available balance by the August deadline and they are no longer to purchase anything through the app.

Since its launch, Cheddar expanded to bring 1000 merchants into the fold.

To date, the Gen Z app has paid out a whopping $2 million in cashbacks and bonuses.

“We started Cheddar to help young Australians get more back from their everyday spending – and we’ve done just that,” the website’s message said.

The statement added: “While we’re sad to be saying goodbye, we’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from customers and brand partners, and all the hard work from our wonderful team over the last two years.”

It’s unclear how many jobs have been lost or how many customers the company had in the first place.

When contacted, news.com.au received an auto reply that read “Cheddar is closing, and we’re busy making sure all of our customers can withdraw their hard-earned Cheddar, so our response times may be slower than usual.”

Cheddar is a brand of CBA’s New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd, a wholly owned but non-guaranteed subsidiary of the bank.

The CBA was contacted for comment.

Cheddar launched in November 2021, a month after Australia’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, exited lockdown, and right before Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales hit the shopping sector.

It was compared to TikTok because of its scroll-happy feel of a popular social media app, except instead of being filled with regular posts, the platform had thousands of styles and offers from merchants.

As part of the Cheddar pilot, the firm said it engaged more than 1000 young Australians in its design process to create a product that delivered what they want.

However, this clearly wasn’t enough to save it from its fate.

The app was a direct competitor to other successful companies offering similar services, including Westpac-backed ShopBack, ANZ’s own version Cashrewards, and Afterpay.