New Scotia Smart Money by Advice+ tool allows
Scotiabank customers to track spending, get personalized insights,
and set a budget
TORONTO , July 25,
2022 /CNW/ - At a time when rising inflation is
driving up the costs of goods and services across Canada, a new
Scotiabank survey revealed that more than half of Canadians are
worried about their ability to pay for day-to-day expenses (53%).
The majority of Canadians expect to be spending more on basic
necessities like groceries and food (78%), and gas (71%), while
over half expect to spend more on utilities (53%). Almost half of
Canadians say that these issues are having a major impact on their
ability to save for longer-term financial goals (47%) and maintain
their current standard of living (37%). To help address these
concerns, Scotiabank has developed Scotia Smart Money by
Advice+1 on its digital banking app to help its
customers plan for the future.
Scotia Economics expects inflation to peak later this summer
before starting a slow descent to 3.6% in 2023 and back to target
by 2024.
"Canadians are feeling heightened levels of anxiety as a result
of inflation –especially younger people and women who were also
hardest hit by the pandemic," said D'Arcy
McDonald, Senior Vice President of Retail Payments and
Unsecured Lending at Scotiabank. "The cost of everything is on the
rise and Canadians are worried about their ability to afford the
essentials such as food and gas. At the same time, there have never
been so many jobs in the Canadian economy, wages are picking up,
and inflation will come down over time. With so many moving pieces,
Canadians need to use every tool at their disposal to keep them on
track to achieve their financial goals. Careful and simple money
management with the new Scotia Smart Money by Advice+ tool –
available to Scotiabank customers in the latest version of the
Scotia app, can help Canadians adjust to the new landscape." With
Scotia Smart Money, customers can manage their cash flow,
build budgets, and receive personalized advice to help them look
ahead and plan for the future.
Financial stress hits differently
across the country
Where Canadians live dictates how much they believe rising costs
will impact their finances and ability to pay their bills.
Residents in the Atlantic (49%) say inflation is having a major
impact on their ability to set and stick to a budget, compared to
residents of British Columbia and
Quebec (36%).
When it comes to feeling financial anxiety, residents of
Quebec (57%) are least likely to
be concerned about their ability to pay for day-to-day expenses,
compared to residents of Alberta
(45%), Manitoba/Saskatchewan (44%), Ontario (43%), and the Atlantic (39%).
Younger Canadians most impacted,
and most concerned
Women, younger Canadians, and those with lower household incomes
are significantly more concerned about their financial situation
over the next few months. Women (44%) are more likely than men
(35%) to say inflation and the rising costs of goods and services
is having a major impact on their ability to set and stick to a
budget.
Canadians between the ages of 18-34 (45%) and 35-54 (46%) say
inflation and the rising costs of goods and services is having a
major impact on their ability to set and stick to a budget,
compared to Canadians 55+ (30%).
Notably, 20% of Canadians say that rising costs will have no
impact on their finances and their ability to stick to a budget.
Most of those are people are aged 55+ (28%) compared to Canadians
18-34 (13%) and 35-54 (18%). More men (23%) than women (18%) also
say that inflation will have no impact on their ability to set and
stick to a budget.
Younger people aged 18-34 comprise the highest contingent (43%)
of people who say they are majorly affected by the ability to
maintain their current standard of living in this high-cost
environment, versus older Canadians over the age of 34 (38%), who
say that they are not impacted at all.
"We know that younger Canadians are disproportionately affected
by life becoming more expensive, but we also know they are more
likely to make use of a digital tool to help track their finances,"
says D'Arcy McDonald. "Scotia
Smart Money in Scotiabank's mobile banking app will help
customers understand where they are spending their money, allow
them to set up budgets, flag any concerns and uncover savings
opportunities – all in the palm of their hands. They'll be able to
see where their money is going and free up cash for where they want
it to go. It will directly help younger customers make the
financial decisions that will get them through the current economic
challenges and benefit them in the long run."
Methodology: From June 29th
to June 30th,2022 an online survey of 1,512
randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada panelists was conducted on
behalf of Scotiabank by Maru/Blue. The results of this study
have been weighted by education, age, gender and region (and in
Quebec, language) to match the
population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample
is representative of the entire adult population of Canada.
Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
1To access Scotia Smart Money by Advice+, you
must have an active personal banking retail product, have
transacted at least once on your account within the preceding 6
months and have logged into the Scotia Mobile Banking App.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our
purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families
and their communities achieve success through a broad range of
advice, products and services, including personal and commercial
banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and
investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000
employees and assets of approximately $1.3 trillion (as
at April 30, 2022), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For
more information, please
visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on
Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
SOURCE Scotiabank