Commonwealth Bank of Australia is turning to the discipline of behavioural economics for a new in-app tool that help customers save towards specific goals.
Citing research that suggests that one in four Australians do not enjoy life because of the way they manage their finances, the bank has added the Goal Tracker feature to its app.
The tool prompts customers to set a personalised savings goal and breaks the total amount into different stages to create smaller, more achievable milestones.
Launched in February, the tool has already been used to create more than 250,000 savings goals, with 27% being towards a holiday and 19% towards a property.
Nearly half of people using the Goal Tracker have also taken up the option to automatically move money to their savings once they get paid.
Kate Crous, GM, digital banking, CommBank, says: "We know the main barriers to saving are related to a lack of self-control, not having a formal plan in place or people simply forgetting to put money in savings.
"We’ve created Goal Tracker to help customers create better financial habits. The tool combines the latest in digital banking innovation as well as behavioural science to help customers improve their financial wellbeing."