ING puts loose change to work with digital roundup tool

We’re not too handy at keeping track of our coinage and it’s costing us $466 million per year, according to new research by financial provider ING.

Long gone are the days where, as kids, we would cherish our cold-hard currency with data revealing that half of the Aussie adult population don’t think twice about losing their loose change and 11% of us quite literally throw our gold and silver away.

“The research shows that we’re literally throwing away money by paying with cash. Those loose coins could be adding up to a tidy sum but most of us don’t even think twice about them,” said Tim Newman, Head of Product at ING.

RELATED: Savers urged to shop around for better value this spring

The research comes as ING rolls out its new digital savings tool, Everyday Round Up, which will allow its customers to collect their loose change online and sweep it into an ING Savings Maximiser account where it can earn interest.

“We’re encouraging customers to boost their loose change instead of losing it. Everyday Round Up allows customers to roundup leftover change from purchases automatically into their Savings Maximiser account,” said Newman.

The feature will give Aussies the opportunity to stash any of their spare ‘digital change’ when making any Orange Everyday Visa Debit card purchase whether that be online or in-person and that includes using payment methods such as Visa payWave, Apple Pay and Android Pay.

Purchases can be rounded up to the nearest $1 or $5 and customers will only need to set their chosen amount once before it is applied to all transactions.

Essentially, if your morning cappuccino and croissant costs you $8.50, ING will round up that transaction to $9 or $10, depending on what you have chosen. This will mean an extra 50 cents to $1.50 will be sent into your attached Savings Maximiser account where it could earn as much as 2.80% interest at the current special rate.

RELATED: New financial year, new you: 5 mid-year money tips to re-energise your finances

With card payments overtaking cash earlier this year, Newman said that by making card-based payments a habit and using this new digital savings feature, Aussies could seriously save.

“Many people are eliminating the ‘inconvenience’ of cash by turning to contactless payment methods such as mobile pay. Not only can contactless payments ensure you’re not carrying loose change, contactless also ensures you’re not losing or throwing your money away.”

Rounding up your transactions doesn’t necessarily have to be done digitally. A Mozo savings experiment conducted back in 2012, saw savings of over $30 after rounding up cash-based transactions to the nearest dollar for just one week.

If you’re not entirely ready to go digital for some of your smaller purchases, check out our top tips to make the most of your spare change.

Mozo’s coin saving tips

• Stop paying with change: This is a popular savings challenge that requires you to use only notes when paying for purchases and dumping your daily change into a savings jar instead.
• Leave a piggy bank at work: Your desk would look pretty great with a small piggy bank as an accessory and it will help you avoid the temptation to spend your coins on your commute home.
• Invest in a coin pouch: There are few things more perilous than tossing your spare change into your pockets. Make sure none of your spare change is going walkabouts by throwing them in a sealed coin pouch instead.

If you want to make the most of your savings head to Mozo’s Savings Accounts comparison tables to compare a range of accounts and find the best value deal for you.