Many Australians are spending more than they earn each month with new research revealing that overspending is impeding their progress towards achieving their financial goals.
The research by the Commonwealth Bank found that around 46% believe they are not progressing towards their financial goals and just as many – 45% - of Australians are uncomfortable with their current level of spending.
The data also indicated more than half (56%) of people would not have enough savings to handle a temporary loss of income and one in three Australian households would be unable to find $500 in an emergency.
The Commonwealth Bank says it has introduced two new app features - Transaction Notifications and Spend Tracker - and is conducting ongoing experiments with additional functionality called Savings Challenge and Savings Jar that will be available to select customers in an experimentation version of the CommBank Lab apps.
{loadposition peter}Pete Steel, executive general manager of digital, Commonwealth Bank, says new features are aimed at improving a customer’s ability to meet their financial obligations every day, “to ensure they have savings in case of a rainy day, and to help meet saving, spending or investment goals in the future”.
“As Australia’s largest bank, we have a role to play in helping our customers achieve financial wellbeing. In a recent survey we found 73% of Australians want banks to do more to understand their needs and concerns and 72% want their bank to help them manage their finances in a rapidly changing world.”
Steel says one in three Australians consistently spent more than their income, in four consecutive months, during the last 12 months.
The bank currently has in trial, ready for launch this month for credit card customers, and later in the year for debit card customers, two new apps:
- Transaction Notifications – real time credit card transaction notifications that give customers immediate awareness and insights into their daily spend so they can better manage their finances and improve their savings.
- Spend Tracker – a month-to-date summary of credit card activity that automatically categorises transactions and shows customers where their money is going so they can make better decisions on where to spend.
Other apps are still in trial in CommBank Labs including Savings Challenge – a comparison of a customer’s current transaction account spending against their average for the prior three months so they can track and improve their savings over time.