Switching: How Digital Super makes it easier to switch

For decades, changing super funds was an administrative ordeal – so onerous that most people never bothered. Forms, signatures, delays – the process discouraged even the most motivated members from seeking better returns or lower fees. Today, that has changed. A new generation of digital super funds has made switching as simple as signing up for a streaming service.

Major Points to Know

• Digital super funds like Australian Retirement Trust Digital, Spaceship, Superhero Super, and Grow Super have simplified switching through mobile-first design and instant onboarding (sign up).
• Switching remains under-used despite clear cost and performance advantages – behavioural inertia keeps many Australians in underperforming default funds.

The Old Pain of Switching Super

Until recently, changing super funds meant weeks of paperwork and multiple intermediaries. Most employees remained in their employer’s default fund, even when performance lagged or insurance costs climbed. The Productivity Commission found that duplicate accounts and fees were eroding billions in retirement savings each year.

Digital transformation has turned that around. By digitising verification, transfer authorisation, and investment selection, new entrants have reduced the process to minutes.

The Digital-First Super Model

Platforms such as Spaceship Super, Superhero Super, Grow Super, and Future Super are redefining the member experience. Signing up takes less than ten minutes: identity is verified via biometric scan, tax and employment details are linked through myGov, and investment options are presented in clear, visual dashboards.

Fees are transparent – often a flat administration cost plus a low investment fee – and members can view their balance and returns in real time through mobile apps. Where traditional funds rely on quarterly statements, digital funds deliver near-real-time balances – far more current than the quarterly paper statements used by traditional funds. Balances on digital funds are refreshed often enough to give a live sense of how your super is tracking.

Members can also switch investment options within the same fund in real time. Instead of submitting forms or waiting for a quarterly window, digital platforms allow instant reallocation between growth, balanced, or sustainable portfolios. While most funds still process the trade at the next business-day unit price, the ability to make and track changes through an app has made portfolio management far easier and accessible.

Also, if you change jobs and want to consolidate multiple super accounts into a single fund, you can request a rollover so your old fund sends your money to the new one. In the past, this process could take weeks and involve paperwork. Digital super funds now use APIs connected to the ATO’s SuperStream network, which automates verification, payment, and tracking – making rollovers within minutes or hours and ensuring the transaction is traceable. That integration removes one of the last major friction points in the old system – the long lag between initiating a switch and seeing funds arrive.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated comfort with digital finance, but performance and values are now major motivators for switching. Younger Australians, in particular, are gravitating toward funds that invest in technology, sustainability, or ethical portfolios.

Barriers That Remain

Despite the ease of switching, many Australians still don’t. Research by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) shows that inertia remains the strongest barrier. People fear losing insurance coverage or worry about tax implications.

The irony is that switching now carries less administrative risk than ever before. Delays are rare, balances transfer directly, and most digital funds offer transparent tracking of each step. The bigger challenge is psychological – encouraging members to engage with a product designed to be out of sight until retirement.

Fees, Performance, and the Digital Edge

Digital funds are often cheaper than legacy industry or retail funds often operating entirely online with lower overheads and automated administration. Spaceship Super, for example, charges 0.95 per cent p.a. on its Growth option with no additional fixed fee. Superhero Super targets active investors with the ability to hold ETFs and listed shares inside super – an offering once restricted to self-managed super funds (SMSFs).

However, lower fees don’t automatically guarantee better outcomes. Longevity, insurance offerings, and regulatory compliance still matter. Many digital funds use third-party custodians and established fund managers (such as Vanguard or BlackRock) to ensure institutional-grade security and performance tracking.

The Regulatory Environment

ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) have tightened oversight of digital entrants. Every super provider must meet capital adequacy and member-outcomes tests under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act.

Digital players must also provide traditional safeguards – independent audits, insurance options, and complaint resolution – even while streamlining the digital interface. This regulatory parity has given digital funds legitimacy, reassuring consumers that “app-based” doesn’t mean “unregulated.”

The Bigger Picture

Digital super funds are more than a convenience; they represent a cultural shift in how Australians relate to retirement savings. The frictionless switching process has turned super from a “set-and-forget” account into a dynamic financial product.

In the long run, digital switching may drive stronger competition, lower fees, and better transparency across the entire sector. But it also demands engagement – a willingness for Australians to treat their super the way they treat any other investment: something worth monitoring, comparing, and, when necessary, switching.

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Interested in digital super? Check out these funds

Superhero Super

• Fee structure: The admin fee is $52 per year plus ~0.35% of account balance per annum on the investment fee side.
• Investment choice: It offers managed (professionally managed) options and direct investment in shares, ETFs, LICs etc – quite a high level of flexibility for a super fund.
• Digital experience: The platform emphasises mobile/online experience, consolidation of other super accounts, and simplified sign‐up.
• Safety/regulation: As a regulated superannuation product in Australia, it must meet the standard regulatory requirements (trustee, AFSL, etc).
  Things to check: Whether it offers the full insurance suite (some funds limit default insurance) and how the direct investments feature fits your risk profile.

Spaceship Super

• Investment choice: Multiple investment options (GrowthX, Global Index, Balanced, Moderate) including high-growth/tech-tilted options and more diversified ones.
• Digital platform: It emphasises “mobile-first”, transparency and real-time access to your super via the app/dashboard.
• Performance: The Global Index option, for example, has delivered ~11.86% p.a. since inception (as of 30 Sep 2025) for its high-growth portfolio.

Things to consider:

• Fees: While competitive in the digital space, admin fees may still be higher than some legacy funds for certain options.
• Insurance: Spaceship Super does not offer default insurance cover in some options.
• Risk profile: Some of the investment options are high growth and therefore higher risk.