Westpac’s new app features target cost of living woes

Westpac Bank has new budgeting and spend-tracking tools in its app, which are designed to meet the needs of its customers struggling with rising living costs. 

In the June quarter of 2022 headline inflation rose to 6.1%, eating away at the household budgets of many Australians. 

In light of this, Westpac surveyed 2000 people and found that Aussies are experiencing the rising cost of living across the board, with 87% of survey respondents paying more for groceries, for example. But the creeping cost of living also extends to petrol (79%), utilities (71%), eating out (52%) bills like phone & internet (51%), transport (35%), mortgage (30%), rent (22%) and education costs (13%).

Westpac found out that 84% of survey respondents expressed a desire to cut back on their spending, with 70% believing a banking app with budgeting tools could help them reach their financial goals. 

There are dozens of budgeting and savings apps on the market which can help individuals to manage their spending and offset the cost of living, like Frollo and Beem. 

Alongside budgeting apps, banks often include in-app features which are designed to work in tandem with their bank accounts to help customers set up savings goals, as in the case of Commonwealth Bank and Up Bank.

Westpac is tackling costs and budgeting in a similar fashion. The new features being rolled out by Westpac include a spending tracker which categorises customer expenses over a 12 month period, a budgeting tool which reveals monthly spending trends by category, and the ability to see your top expenses and biggest income-earners. 

“We want to empower our customers through enabling them to better understand where their money is going to help them reach their financial goals. These new features offer customers insights into their spending and income history over the last 12 months, breaking it down into categories such as groceries, kids, education, pets, and entertainment. It will also give customers better visibility of their spending on insurance, home, and personal loans,” said Westpac consumer and business banking chief executive, Chris de Bruin.

“Our customers are demanding more personalised insights into their spending and tools to manage their finances, particularly as the cost-of-living increases. We want to empower our customers by giving them more control over their money with faster and easier budgeting tools available on their smartphone,” de Bruin said.

The upgrades made to the Westpac app are part of a wider digital-first strategy with the goal to make “banking simpler and more intuitive for our five million digitally active customers,” he said.

Future Westpac Bank app features include other money management tools like ‘bigger picture view’ where customers can view accounts from other financial institutions (using Open Banking technology), the ability to flag tax-deductible expenses for when tax time comes, and a carbon footprint tracker, so customers can make more eco-friendly financial decisions.  

Budgeting apps should just be one aspect of your financial strategy. You’ll also need a smart place to park your money and these can typically be tied to your budgeting app of choice. 

So, if you’re looking for a new savings account, paired with an app that provides budgeting tools, or an everyday bank account with spend-tracking features, then it may be worth checking out the savings accounts below.