News Archive for February 2020

For many Aussies, having solar panels installed typically meant lower energy bills.

All in this week's banking recap.

From July 1, energy retailers will no longer be permitted to charge excessively high penalties for late bill payments, thanks to new rules introduced by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) yesterday.

Moving out of home is an exciting time, but that newfound freedom comes with a pretty big price tag. Whether you’re moving in with others or renting a place by yourself, there’s a good chance you've underestimated all the costs that are waiting for you just around the corner.

When it comes to getting the best deal on your banking, most people tend to focus on locking in a solid term deposit interest rate or finding a hot rewards credit card offer. The most important piece of the puzzle, however, is often overlooked… your bank account!

Negotiating with a real estate agent can be pretty intimidating, especially if you’ve never done it before. When it comes down to it, you want to purchase a property for the lowest possible price while the seller and their agent are working towards the opposite.

Thought there wouldn’t be any more rate cuts this February? Think again.

The Reserve Bank’s next meeting is less than a week away, and the board will have a lot to mull over. In particular, the latest round of jobs data must have RBA Governor Philip Lowe reeling. After dropping to 5.1% in December, seasonally-adjusted unemployment shot back up to 5.3% in January.

From picking up a side hustle to giving up your daily coffee, there’s not a lot many Aussies won’t do to increase their savings.

Would you be able to cover the repayments on your home loan if your spouse or dependant passed away or became ill?

Home loans can be expensive, but have you ever thought how you’d manage if you suddenly had to rely on one income, rather than two, to pay it down?

Australia is no stranger to money laundering scandals - from CommBank’s $700 million fine for breaking anti money laundering laws, to more recent allegations that Westpac has committed similar breaches a staggering 23 million times.

Chances are it’s been a while since you last walked into a branch or received bank statements in the mail. From transferring funds between accounts to checking your monthly spending, more and more Aussies are banking with their smartphone - and the rise of app-based neobanks in Australia has only made this shift from physical to digital more pronounced.

Ninja-fast Xinja has officially hit the $200 million mark in customer deposits less than one month after launching its Stash savings account.

We get it, saving money is easier said than done. Because other than making sure willpower is on your side, for some of us, remembering to put money aside is a challenge in itself. But what if there was a way to make saving a piece of cake? Turns out there is!

Do you know what your current credit rating is? If not you may want to find out, especially if you’re in the market for a new set of wheels, because according to MyCRA Lawyers, more and more Aussies looking to take out a car loan are being rejected due to a poor credit rating.

First home buying intentions are on the rise according to new figures released this morning by St.George Bank, with three million first time buyers set to dive into the Australian property market in the next five years - a 34% increase on 2018 figures.

The number of Australians taking out a life insurance policy has dropped by 9% in the last two  years, with cost issues proving the largest roadblock in the decision by many households not to take out cover.

For many Aussie savers, finding a top notch place to stash their savings seems to be getting harder by the day.

Each year, the team at Mozo combs through hundreds of savings accounts and term deposits and recognises the ones that offer top-notch value as part of the Mozo Experts Choice Awards.

Xinja Bank may be the new kid on the block when it comes to bank accounts and savings accounts, but it’s already becoming an unstoppable force. Just yesterday, the neobank swept competitors aside with a series of outstanding wins in the 2020 Mozo Experts Choice Awards for Bank Accounts and Savings.

We all want the best for our kids, right? One of the most useful things you can do for your children is to set them up for a financially secure future by teaching them the ins and outs of saving money.

All in this week’s banking recap.

Whether it’s selling handmade jewellery online, or freelancing as a photographer outside of your 9 to 5 job, a growing number of Aussies are turning to side hustles in their spare time. After all, it’s a great way to pursue passion projects while also earning a bit of extra income to help make ends meet.

For our Mozo Experts Choice Deposit Awards each year, our team of data experts analyse hundreds of products on the market - 510 accounts from 80 providers to be precise - to determine which ones offer the best value and most useful features.

Just six months after launching, neobank 86 400’s Save Account has scooped up a Mozo Experts Choice Award for best Regular Saver account!

Some Aussies are turning away from credit cards in search of other payment options, but is doing so actually the most financially-savvy way to go?

From being able to tap and go with your phone to paying off an online shop in installments, we’ve witnessed the emergence of a number of financial innovations in the past few years.

Whether you are after a personal bank account or an account for your small business, there are a whole bunch of killer offers on the market at the moment.

By combining customer behaviour analysis through actual transaction data along with household spending intentions from Google Trend searches, CommBank have released results from its monthly Household Spending Intentions (HSI) survey.

When it comes to bank accounts you could be forgiven for going with “the devil you know.” But while sticking with what seems easier might be more convenient, it could mean that you wind up missing out on heaps of potentially better deals.

If there’s one thing that really riles Aussie borrowers, it’s when your mortgage lender advertises sharp new rates for new customers but refuses to give loyal customers the same discount.

Got an American Express credit card stashed in your wallet? Dreaming about jetting off somewhere sunny? Then listen up! As of yesterday, the credit card giant is offering Platinum and Centurion card holders the opportunity to earn some sweet bonus Velocity Points.

Good news, Australia!

Well if you’ve been contemplating moving somewhere a little smaller lately, you’re probably not alone. According to a recent study from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, more than half of Aussies aged 55 or over have downsized or are thinking about it.

After being hacked on New Year’s Eve, foreign exchange services company, Travelex has finally made its way back online.

After 30 months of inactivity, the RBA decided to cut the cash rate three times last year, and is poised to pull the trigger again in 2020. But just how low will official interest rates go? Back in 2012, the cash rate was 4.25%, and the average savings account would have given you around 3.94% p.a. in interest. That’s a far cry from today’s rates. Right now, the cash rate sits at 0.75%, and the average savings rate is a paltry 0.97% p.a.

We’re less than two months into the year and neobanks are already making headlines left right and centre, so we think it’s safe to say that 2020 is quickly becoming the year of the neobank!

Imagine being able to make instant payments, track your monthly spending and manage your travel budget - all in the convenience of a single smartphone app. Well now you can, with Hay, the latest fintech to break into Australia’s digital payments space.

Rewards points can be a great way to get your hands on some serious goodies, but did you know that you don’t need a rewards credit card to rack them up? Nowadays, there are a number of products out there with points earning potential, including savings accounts, car loans, and even home loans.

If you’ve been on the hunt for a new home loan with a competitively low interest rate, today may be your day after online lender loans.com.au dropped a new home loan product - the Smart Home Loan 75.

The Australian Government has released new data that revealed, in less than 2 months, about 6,500 of the 10,000 home loans under the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme are already being processed.

Today, mortgage lender Homestar has introduced a new member of its home loan family, and it comes with a shiny new interest rate.

ME’s biannual Household Financial Comfort Report was released today, and it reveals a stark rift between regional and metropolitan Australia.

If you’re looking to take out a home loan with a big four bank, today could be your lucky day. The Commonwealth Bank has just slashed rates for its Fixed Home Loan by up to 30 basis points for owner-occupiers and up to 50 basis points for investors - and it’s a move that has allowed several of the big bank’s rates to beat the averages in Mozo’s database.^

From Apple Pay taking over the world to scanning your eyeball to pay for your weekly Woolie’s shop, payments in the year 2025 could look pretty different to how they do today.

All in this week’s banking recap.

After the catastrophic 2020 Black Summer bushfires, home insurance has been on the minds of many Aussies.

Let’s face it, a lot of us have had to swelter through one too many nights this summer without the aircon, all with the hope of saving a few bucks on our energy bill.

On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data that revealed that the volume of first home loans has jumped to the highest point since late 2009.

Less than a month after ANZ slashed rates for its Online Saver account, Westpac has become the latest big four bank to cut interest rates on its savings accounts. Of course the good news is, there are still more competitive rates around, if you know where to look.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is cracking the whip on small businesses who haven’t been keeping up with their tax payments by posing a threat to their credit ratings.

For a lot of us, credit card debt just seems to creep up on us. And if you’ve managed to go overboard with your spending within the last year, you might be tossing up ways to put an end to your mounting debt, like applying for a balance transfer credit card.

Buying a first home has never been an easy job, but according to new research, the reasons for why that’s the case have changed over time.

Forget star signs and horoscopes, according to specialist credit repairs lawyer MyCRA, if you and your Valentine aren’t financially compatible then you could find yourselves in troubled water.

The ecommerce industry has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it’s little wonder why. The ability to find any item you want with just a few clicks and have it conveniently delivered to your door has been a godsend for shoppers around the world.

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is right around the corner, but according to new research by ME, fewer couples are choosing to jump on Cupid’s bandwagon.

With the so-called “rain bomb” sweeping the east coast of Australia, chances are you’re one of the many Aussies worrying about home insurance right now. Starting last Friday, flash flooding has hit areas of Sydney, the Central Coast of New South Wales and Byron Bay.

When it comes to choosing a home loan, many Aussies take the ‘set it and forget it’ route, but according to recent data, that could be doing more harm than homeowners realise.

Ok, so you let your new year fitness action plan slide a little bit in January, well there’s no time like February to ramp it up so you can reach your 2020 goals - and best of all, you can do it on a budget!

From going on a daily walk to savouring every last drop of a morning coffee, everyone finds joy in their own way.

All in this week’s banking recap.

Less than three weeks since the launch of its savings account Xinja Stash, neobank Xinja has welcomed 15,000 new customers through its digital doors, half of which it says have come from the big four.

It’s no secret Aussies have an appetite for ‘tap and go’, but the trend of whipping out your credit card or debit card to use the service when paying for groceries or the restaurant bill could be hurting small businesses.

Imagine a budgeting tool so good it fits snuggly in your pocket. That’s a budgeting app.

Already planning your next holiday? Well, considering they've already started stocking Easter eggs and hot cross buns in supermarkets - now's the time to book your 2020 Easter egg-scape!

Xero, Facebook, Google Analytics - there are plenty of tools and apps available to assist small businesses in tracking website traffic and audience figures, managing campaigns and keeping track of finances.

If you’re one of the thousands of Australians who’ve set yourself a serious savings goal for 2020, the news that banks are slashing savings rates yet again won’t be very welcome but it should be a very big wake-up call to check the rate you’re now getting.

If you’re a uni student, or used to be one, chances are you’ve stepped into a Co-op bookstore (or at least walked past one).

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board has left interest rates on hold at 0.75% following its first meeting of the year in this this afternoon.

The RBA might have held off on lowering official interest rates at its February meeting, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until they finally pull the trigger to snag a more competitive home loan interest rate.

Did someone say personal loan interest rate cuts? That’s right! We’re only one month into 2020 and we’ve already seen a number of different lenders slash personal loan interest rates by 1% to as much as 6% in the last month.

If you’re a committed saver, then chances are you don’t mind keeping your savings stored away, which is why a term deposit might be on your radar.

Putting your kids through school is no easy expense - and every back-to-school period, Aussie parents face the same old struggle of staying on top of the costs of a new term. New Mozo research has found that households across the nation could be spending some billions of dollars every year on things like lunchbox snacks and after school activities.

Checking your bank balance, making transfers between friends or topping up your savings account are all daily banking habits of many Australians.

Come Feb 14, getting a home loan, personal loan or even a business loan could become easier for thousands of Aussies, as amendments to credit reporting standards will see civil court filings no longer reflected in one’s credit scores.

Is it getting hot in here? Maybe it’s time to strip… down your home loan interest rate.

Sydney-based neobank 86 400 has announced the addition of a number of new features to its Save Account this morning.

After months on hiatus, the Citi Prestige Credit Card is back in town and with it comes the opportunity to earn 150,000 bonus Citi Rewards Points.

Love is in the air! (doo-doo doo, doo-doo doo!) It’s February, folks. Which means, everywhere you turn it’s roses and chocolates and teddy-bears - oh my! And if you’ve ever been someone’s valentine, then you’d know all too well just how much of a pain in the wallet Valentine’s Day can be. Keyword: ‘can’.