Modern piggy banks proving a smash

Monday, 8 September 2014, 10:10 am
Press Release: ASB Bank

ASB has today shed some light on what Kiwis are tucking their pennies away for. As expected, our most popular priorities include children, overseas trips and Christmas.

When ASB released ‘Save the Change’, customers were given the electronic equivalent of a piggy bank. By providing a service that rounded-up electronic transactions, with the difference set aside, customers were able to save in a traditional way with a modern twist.

ASB rounds up electronic transactions to the nearest multiple of $1, $2, $5 or $10, as chosen by you. So, if you pay for something worth $2.10, and have Save the Change set to round to $1, you’ll pay $3, with 90c going into your savings.

Information released today by ASB shows how customers are using Save the Change, the only service of its kind in New Zealand, with the findings highlighting what a diverse bunch of savers Kiwis can be.

“To help ensure savings goals stay top-of-mind, accounts can be named. Holiday destinations feature prominently in the titles, with ‘New York’, ‘Hawaii’, ‘France’, ‘Rarotonga’ and ‘Fiji’ among the favourites. Other customers, though, prefer keeping closer to home. And who’s to say the ‘Tuakau Cossie Club’, on a good night, can’t match the above destinations,” said Anna Curzon, General Manager of Marketing at ASB.

“Saving money for life events - such as kids, 21st birthdays, weddings and retirement - is a common move. Plenty of customers are also putting money aside for medical expenses like the ‘physio’, ‘dentist’ or for ‘eye surgery,” said Anna Curzon.

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“More than $65 million has been transferred into savings since Save the Change launched in 2010 and the savings rate has been accelerating, with over $11 million set aside in the last three months alone. In that time, the largest individual saver has banked over $2,900 by rounding to $10. But the most popular method for three-quarters of savers is to take small steps and round to $1 proving that incremental saving is a popular way to save,” she said.

For some customers, there’s a weekly contribution to the grocery bill or to help buy that school ball dress. But the adventurous side of customers also shows through with ‘skydiving’ and ‘snowboarding’ popular choices.

Some customers have used ‘Do not touch’ as their savings account name. Even with the threat of little brothers or sisters removed, it seems that, as with the original piggy bank, resisting temptation is still a major challenge.

To help people better manage their money, ASB has also launched ASB money tips on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/user/ASBBank) The channel offers a range of tips based around questions people are asking the most including saving for your retirement, paying off your mortgage faster and how to get out of debt.

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