Aussies turn to budgeting tools to help manage cost-of-living pressures

Westpac has seen a 36 percent increase in the use of personal finance tools on the mobile banking app since the start of the year - a sign that customers are taking a more pro-active approach to managing their finances.

Around 620,000 customers have logged in monthly to access features which help to monitor cash flow, categorise their spending, and manage bills. 

“With the higher cost of living impacting many Australians, our customers are increasingly turning to their mobile app as a ‘bank in their pocket’,” Westpac Chief Executive, Consumer, Jason Yetton said.

The bank now has 5.92 million digitally active customers – up 5 per cent on the prior year. 

“We’ve seen record growth in use of our budgeting tools, and customers are getting savvier with their spending – tapping into new features to get cashback on their shopping or using credit card points to pay for purchases,” Yetton added. 

New features have helped the Westpac app to be recognised as Australia’s overall leader in Forrester’s mobile banking app evaluation for the second year.

Read more: Westpac app recognised as best in class after redesign

Features available include Savings Finder, which calculates a customer’s annual spending on subscriptions and regular bills allowing them to review their regular expenses to identify potential savings, and Bills Calendar – a planning tool to manage bills and costs in one place. 

Credit and debit card customers also have access to exclusive offers via a dedicated Westpac page in the ShopBack app and website. 

Customers have received over $28 million in cashback through ShopBack and redeemed over 800 million in Westpac Altitude Rewards points for purchases like groceries, travel, and shopping through the Pay with Points feature.

“We’ve also introduced a number of Australian banking firsts into our app, so our customers can be confident they’re using the best banking app, enhanced by robust safety and security protections such as Westpac Verify and Westpac SaferPay,” Yetton said. 

New scam-fighting capabilities launched in-app this year contributed to the bank saving customers around $170 million, with customer scam losses down 30 per cent year over year. 

“Through our technology simplification program, we’ll also bring the best of the Westpac app to our consumer brands - St.George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne. This means more of our customers will be able to access our leading app over the coming years, regardless of which brand they bank with,” Yetton said.