Saving up little by little is a bit rich
GOING for a run, uploading an image to Instagram or watching the weather are all ways Australians can prompt themselves to save.
Having the discipline to stash cash can be tough, so savers can now set up automatic savings triggers linked to their everyday lives to help build up accounts. ING has joined forces with technology company IFTTT (if this, then that) to link up apps and devices to save money every time a trigger that has been set up is alerted. Examples of this could include: putting $5 towards activewear every time you run for 30 minutes using your fitness tracker; tipping in $10 when the temperature drops below 10C or putting aside $20 each time your favourite celebrity tweets. ING’s head of digital and innovation, Chris Barwick, said “they are external triggers to drive an internal action”. IFFTT allows users to set rules to trigger savings, set up with the IFTTT app. Funds will automatically transfer from a customer’s Orange Everyday account into their Savings Maximiser account.
“It allows customers to save incremental bits without even knowing about it,’’ he said.
Mr Barwick said their research found customers wanted help saving money but they didn’t want to change spending behaviour.
Tanya Lanycia, 31, who is on maternity leave, said she has had to become more frugal and this new way to save – which she plans to link to regular exercise – will help.
“Once I have a bit of money saved I won’t feel guilty spending it on myself because I deserve it, whether it’s on a new outfit or going out with the girls,’’ she said.
ING last year rolled out its Everyday Roundup tool, allowing customers to round up transactions to the nearest $1 or $5 and stash the difference in their savings account accruing interest.
Already customers have saved more than $17 million using this.
Other popular ways to save incremental amounts include the app Raiz Invest, which invests your spare change in the share market and is designed for the inexperienced investor.
“If you’re prone to putting savings off until next year, automation can help you,” said Rising Tide Financial Services’ chief executive officer
Chris Browne.