Car insurance, biodegradable bank card, buy now pay later: This week’s best banking news

• One-fifth of Aussie drivers considering axing their car insurance during the pandemic 
• Say hello to Hay’s new biodegradable Visa card 
• Buy now pay later: big players Afterpay and Zip are expanding 
• New neo business credit card on the horizon for fintech Archa 
• Banks move to be more responsible when it comes to credit cards and gambling 
• UBank finds Gen Z & millennials are the savviest with money. 

All in this week’s best banking news recap: editor’s pick. 

Car insurance and COVID-19: 1 in 5 drivers may cancel their policy 

Aussie drivers are finding it tough to pay for car insurance during the pandemic, found the Mozo 2020 car insurance report. 

In fact, numbers showed that 32% of policyholders view their car insurance as a financial burden, while one-fifth say they’re considering axing it all together. 

Plus, the report also revealed that a massive 25% of respondents had already said goodbye to their cover. 

Read full article: 1 in 5 drivers might cancel car insurance during Covid-19 for tips on how to haggle on your car insurance in 2020. 

Fintech Hay strikes against plastic waste by offering biodegradable Visa card 

Sydney-based fintech Hay has been working on a brand new Visa card that is 85% biodegradable and the first of its kind in Australia. 

Hay collaborated with Melbourne-based card manufacturer Placard to create this more environmentally-friendly card. 

“Essentially it’s a typical PVC petroleum based product, but with an additive that helps microbe-rich environments latch onto the product and break down strains of the plastic,” said chief brand and marketing office at Hay, Alex Lloyd.  

Most bank cards are made from PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, and can take decades to break down. However, Hay’s card is made from a material called SICOECO, a PVC film with an additive that can degrade under the right conditions. 

Lloyd says that the fintech aims to be carbon neutral sometime next year. 

Read full article: Fintech Hay combats plastic waste with new biodegradable Visa card for more on Hay’s decision to go biodegradable.  

Afterpay and Zip to offer new products

This week, buy now pay later (BNPL) heavy hitters Afterpay and Zip both announced they’d be expanding their products on offer. 

• Afterpay: In partnership with Westpac (and its new digital bank-as-a-service platform), Afterpay will offer transaction and savings accounts as well as cash flow tools to customers in the second quarter of 2021. 

• Zip: In partnership with Visa, Zip has launched a ‘Tap & Zip’ product feature which will allow customers to use the BNPL platform in-store anywhere that accepts Visa. 

Read full articles to find out more: 

Afterpay and Westpac team up to offer transaction and savings account

Zip expands its Buy Now, Pay Later service

New neo business credit card coming from Aussie fintech Archa

If you haven’t heard of a neo business credit card before, introduce yourself to Melbourne-based fintech Archa. 

Earlier in the week, the company announced that it is now a principal issuing member of Mastercard, allowing them to prepare to launch a new neo business credit card. 

The product will be a card and app combo that will be equipped with a bunch of innovative tools to help small businesses manage their expenses better. 

Archa is currently in beta testing and is set to launch in 2021. 

Read full article: Fintech Archa to launch new neo business credit card and see what Archa chief executive, Oliver Kidd, and vice president of fintech, Mastercard, Kallan Hogan say about the new match up. 

Credit card providers ban users from gambling

Last week, Bank Australia announced it will ban the use of its credit cards for gambling. From 1 December 2020, customers will no longer be able to make credit card transactions for things like slot machines, online gambling, casinos, government lotteries or horse and dog racing. 

But they are not alone. In July 2019, Macquarie Bank brought a similar ban which saw any transaction registered under the gambling merchant category automatically blocked. 

In addition, other providers like Suncorp, Bank of Queensland, Credit Union Australia (CUA), American Express and Citibank all have bans on the use of credit cards for gambling. 

Read full article: Credit cards and gambling: Banks move to be more responsible lenders to find out more about increased concerns with online gambling. 

Which Aussies are best at managing money? Gen Z & millennials says UBank! 

Move over boomers, Gen Z & millennials are killing it at the personal finance game. 

This is according to UBank’s Know Your Numbers survey, which found that 74% of Gen Z and 62% of millennials take active interest in managing their finances. Both higher than other Aussie age brackets. 

Notably, when it comes to budgeting, millennials take the cake. In fact, 68% of millennials claim to have a budget in place, while the same can be said about 59% of Baby Boomers, 58% of Gen X, and just 55% of Gen Z. 

Read full article: Gen Z & millennials are the best at managing money says UBank for more stats and budgeting tips. 

Want to start your budget off right with a killer savings account? Check out the options below!