Yahoo Finance Commonwealth Bank’s major move for millions of customers: ‘Australia first’
The major bank has launched new app features as digital banking usage skyrockets.
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is rolling out some surprising new perks for its millions of digital banking customers. The major bank said its customers were increasingly using its app to manage their money and would now be able to do more in the one place.
In an Australian banking first, CBA has announced it will offer access to travel booking services and car buying services to eligible customers via the CommBank app. The features will also be available via internet banking.
The travel booking service will allow customers to search, book and pay for flights and hotels from hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels through the app. The new feature is powered by global online travel agency Hopper.
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CBA said the move was made in response to the popularity of travel-related savings goals among customers, along with transaction trends.
“We know travel is important to our customers and we’re keen to help them make their money go further,” CBA executive general manager of consumer finance Marcos Meneguzzi said.
Customers will also have access to flight monitoring features including a price prediction feature, and a price watch feature that allows customers to monitor prices 24/7 and get notified when a good deal becomes available.
Car buying ‘all in one place’
CommBank has also today launched a car buying service within the CommBank app, as well as for its internet banking. The feature is in collaboration with Carsales and Australian automotive retail platform provider Vyro.
The feature will allow customers to search for new and used cars and have the option of getting conditional approval for personal or business finance. Customers can filter by their budget and loan repayment amounts.
“We know that buying a car is one of the largest purchases our customers will make. Most customers research online first before buying a car, and the majority will secure finance before making their purchase,” Meneguzzi said.
“Once a customer has purchased a car through the CommBank app or Netbank, they will be able to manage the financial and ancillary services to do with the car — such as insurance or energy providers — all in one place via the app.”
Customers buying an electric vehicle will also be able to access discounts and benefits through the app.
The latest data from CBA found more than 8.5 million customers were regularly using its app. The average customer logs into the app more than 42 times per month (more than once per day), up from just 15 times a month a decade ago.
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