Westpac counters kiwis’ impulse spending via Impulse Saver app developed by Colenso BBDO in consultation with Ogilvy UK’s Rory Sutherland

Westpac has launched an innovative impulse savings product to help New Zealanders save as impulsively as they spend. Impulse Saver, a free iPhone app developed for Westpac by Colenso BBDO, Auckland enables customers to save denominations of their choice up to $50 with a simple click of a button.

Colenso BBDO managing director Nick Garrett said the agency was challenged to help Westpac deliver something truly innovative and surprising for a bank: “We recalled comments made at a TED conference by Ogilvy UK vice-chairman Rory Sutherland who lamented our lack of ability to save as impulsively as we spend. And, in the spirit of TED, whose mantra is ‘Ideas worth Spreading’, we then developed a solution to that problem with Westpac’s online team in consultation with Rory,” says Garrett.

“I am delighted that Colenso BBDO and Westpac thought that my suggestion for impulse saving was an ‘Idea Worth Spreading’,” says Sutherland. “NZ seems to be a country which adopts and enacts ideas when everyone else is merely toying with them..”

The launch of Impulse Saver follows a Westpac survey of more than 500 New Zealanders that showed Kiwis spend $16.1 million a day on impulse and less than half (49%) have a savings account.

David McLean, GM – Wealth, Insurance, Private and Institutional Banking, says the Impulse Saver for iPhone App makes it easy for users to save on a whim instead of simply spending on a whim: “It’s simple to use, convenient and provides choice and opportunity. When you’re waiting in line to pay at the petrol station or in the supermarket you can save up to $50 with a couple of clicks on the app.  It doesn’t get much easier than pushing a button.”

The Impulse Saver app is available free from the App Store via iPhone, wi-fi enabled iPod Touch or iPad devices.