Mystery surrounds the strategic intent behind a new online banking startup that Credit Union Services Corporation has pumped A$6 million into developing.Documents filed with regulators show that Cuscal has been working on a business case for a neobank known as "Bank 86400" since late last year when domain names for the prospective business were lodged with a local internet registry.Domain names for "bank86400.com.au" and "86400.com.au" were filed to the Australian internet registry in November last year by Cuscal's general manager of emerging business, Brian Parker.Regulatory records show these domain names are owned by a recently established subsidiary known as Cuscal Operations No.3 Pty Ltd.ASIC records show that the subsidiary had 5.9 million fully subscribed shares in March this year.The subsidiary's directors are Cuscal's group CEO Craig Kennedy, chief financial officer Sean O'Donoghue and group counsel, Helen Mediati.Banking Day yesterday sought comment from Cuscal about the new business, but a spokesperson refused to comment."We're not ready to talk about it today," the spokesperson said.Fintech industry sources said Cuscal had been seeking strategic partners in the last 12 months to help develop a digital banking platform but none could name the technology companies involved in tooling the startup.One rumour doing the rounds of Sydney's gossip-addicted fintech community claims that the former chairman of Atom Bank in the UK, Anthony Thomson, has been approached to sit on the board of the new Cuscal arm.Such an appointment would be a public relations coup for the new business, but Banking Day could not confirm the speculation.The new digital platform might be offered to insourcers of Cuscal services as a white label technology that could be rebranded by credit unions and mutual banks.While Cuscal has a special ADI licence, it would probably need to secure additional approval from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority if it plans to launch its own standalone retail bank. Cuscal's latest financial accounts indicate that the company has sufficient cash and reserves to meet any additional regulatory capital obligations it might incur if it decides to launch its own retail banking operation.The group reported net assets of $253 million at the end of June last year, which included retained earnings of $116.5 million.