Small Change Adds Up To Nearly $4m A Month For ASB Customers

Tuesday, 9 February 2021, 3:16 pm
Press Release: ASB Bank

ASB customers using the bank’s Save the Change tool are collectively saving nearly $4 million a month by simply rounding up their ASB EFTPOS or Visa Debit card purchases to the nearest $1, $2, $5 or $10.

ASB is celebrating 10 years of Save the Change which sees customers select a rounding amount and an ASB account into which their spare change for the day is automatically deposited overnight.

October was the biggest savings month of 2020 with $3.8 million dollars in spare change transferred into customers’ savings accounts.

ASB’s Chief Executive Officer Vittoria Shortt says, “Kiwis reflecting on their New Year resolutions and asking themselves if they could manage their money better in 2021 might be inspired to know that our biggest saver has squirreled away $26,500 using Save the Change over the past two years. And you’re never too old to start – we have two savvy 99-year-old customers using the tool.”

Ms Shortt says the names customers give their Save the Change accounts offers an insight into how they are hoping to spend their extra cash. Travel fund, university fees, house renovations, Christmas, wedding, charity, and emergency fund are all popular.

“Our purpose at ASB is to accelerate the financial wellbeing of all New Zealanders, and Save the Change is a great example of how we’re doing that. Saving is not always easy, especially in the past year when more people have been financially challenged. That’s why Save the Change starts by rounding purchases to the nearest dollar. It might not seem like a lot, but every bit counts as we’re seeing with customers who’ve been using it for a while,” adds Ms Shortt.

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It’s estimated the average customer making three transactions per day could save between $328 and $4,577 per year, depending on the rounding option they choose. ASB customers registered for FastNet Classic can use an online tool to find out how much they could have saved last year based on their transaction history.

“It’s great to celebrate 10 years of Save the Change helping our customers build good savings habits. The number of customers using Save the Change grew nearly four percent last year and we’d love to see even more customers take up this easy saving habit in 2021,” concludes Ms Shortt.

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