Banking Review

Australian banks change tack on personal financial management

NEWS

Banks including NAB, Suncorp and Citibank are to deploy personal financial management tools to online banking users, despite many local bankers previously expressing cynicism over likely uptake.

Online Banking Review understands NAB is currently piloting a personal budgeting tool with staff, with plans to deploy the service to customers next year. The tool is similar to BOQ’s Money application, which was recently renamed from BOQ My Budget. Instead of offering a stand-alone application, NAB will make the product available to customers only, integrating the budgeting tool within Internet banking.

Citibank recently deployed personal financial management as part of a broader upgrade of its online banking service. In the upcoming issue of Online Banking Review, out Monday, Citibank head of digital banking Michael Weeding, tells of the bank’s decision to deploy an in-house developed personal financial management platform.

Suncorp’s launch of personal financial management tools is imminent, with a deployment expected within weeks. Suncorp general manager of banking Terry Wasmund says the bank has been working on the platform for about seven months.

“Suncorp is in a fairly unique position in that it has lots of data” says Wasmund. “We’ve got lots of data from our insurance and wealth businesses that we can leverage for these types of offerings.”

Wasmund says the bank wanted its platform to be simple to use. “The trick with PFM type products really in my mind is you’ve got to have something that customers value. If you don’t put something out there that customers value it just tends to clutter up the platform and make it difficult to use.”

Wasmund says this is why the bank decided to invest time in integrating the platform within Internet banking, rather than deploy an off-the-shelf solution similar to the Yodlee platform chosen by ANZ for its MoneyManager offering. Money Manager allows users to bring in transaction data from multiple institutions, but the user interface can be cumbersome. MoneyManager brings up a range of US banks when users search for their bank, and requires ongoing attention to ensure account links carrying transaction data across do not break.

“If it’s not integrated into your platform then it’s a bit of a task for you to actually go and download transactions” he says.

Both Suncorp and NAB’s personal financial management tools will use a platform from banking technology vendor Sandstone. The system uses real-time Internet banking data to give users a snapshot of their recurring payments, ongoing expenditure, future income and overall financial position.