Home topics news Image credit: Micheile Henderson News News Changing money habits in Australia Luke Fossett April 12, 2023 After an extended period of low-interest rates and high spending, Australians are experiencing a pronounced period of tightening fiscal policy. For many young families and first-home buyers, this is the first time they’ll have faced a serious budgeting challenge. The writing is on the wall: Australians are in a cost-of-living crisis, and a recession isn’t off the cards. With everyone feeling the crunch (grocery prices surged by almost 10 per cent in the last quarter of 2022 alone), we investigated how the wider macroeconomic situation affected everyday Aussie spending habits. Through an in-depth GoCardless study conducted with YouGov of over 1,000 Australian consumers, we discovered that the way Aussies want to access, understand and handle their money is fundamentally changing. Interestingly, the findings point to new opportunities for businesses willing to accommodate new habits in how Aussies approach payments. Visibility is a virtue In our recent report, ‘ Demystifying Payer Experience ’, we discovered that Australians want payment features that can provide new levels of insight into their financial health in order to help to budget. As the focus on careful budgeting increases, the visibility of finances has become a significant priority for households. Our data revealed that Aussies always want to know what’s in their bank account. Essentially, 20 per cent of Australian consumers prefer to pay invoices directly from their bank account, and 24 per cent cite their main