A financial concierge helps lighten the load

TIME-POOR Australians are turning to financial concierges to manage their bills and other money matters, reaping considerable savings along the way.

Although relatively new in Australia, financial concierges are more common in the US and Britain, where they pay and manage bills and other expenses for clients, review agreements with banks and service providers, and increasingly offer nonfinancial services.

“Think of us as your personal CFO,” said George Wilson, chief executive officer of ONDA Lifestyle Concierge, which started in 2018 and has offices throughout Australia.

“We pay the bills and make sure clients are getting value for money.

“We check every single payment is getting made and every single (service) provider is being held accountable.

“We check the utility bills, the insurance – all the things that are common sense things, that if everyone had the time to do it, they would do it.”

Mr Wilson said ONDA clients, who paid a minimum of $150 a month to have their financial affairs taken care of, were guaranteed savings in excess of their service fee.

He said while bank, insurance, phone and utility charges were the most commonly compared expenses, financial concierges also sourced deals on items such as gardening.

Business consultant Greg Moulton has used a financial concierge for two years to manage the affairs of his father and estimated it had slashed his dad’s household bills by 10 per cent.

“I didn’t have the time to do it all myself,” he said.

“People were starting to take advantage of Dad – we had people ringing him up and trying to rip him off, asking him to take out subscriptions to all sorts of things.

“I couldn’t keep a handle on all of that.” Financial concierges differ from personal concierge services offered by high-end rewards credit cards, where members can get travel booked, dinners reserved and flowers sent.

Research group Canstar’s group executive of financial services, Steve Mickenbecker, said these concierge services came free with the credit card, but the cards usually had annual fees of up to $700 and interest rates above 20 per cent.

“Concierge services are generally only lightly utilised by cardholders, so you should think twice before paying for a higher-fee credit card just to access them,” he said.

Internet searches and online reviews could provide a similar service in today’s world, Mr Mickenbecker said.