We are excited to announce that heaps! has been nominated as a finalist for three categories in this year’s New Zealand Internet Industry Awards that will be held in Wellington on the 28th of July.
The New Zealand Internet Industry Awards was launched in 2009 with the aim to celebrate the achievement of companies who have successfully used the Internet as a platform for business, education and society enhancing organisations. By showcasing excellence to the wider community, the Awards hopes to improve people’s understanding of Internet technologies and encourage Internet entrepreneurship in New Zealand.
The Awards are run by the Liz Dengate Thrush Foundation to encourage Internet entreprenuership and other positive uses of the Internet in New Zealand.
Finalist in three categories
Kiwibank & Social Capital have been nominated for the launch of the first free personal finance management tool from a New Zealand bank for customers www.heaps.co.nz.
Positive Societal Impact
Development of the application, product or services provided on the Internet likely to have the most beneficial impact on New Zealand society.
Best Education Product or Service
The application, product or services provided on the Internet that is likely to have the greatest impact on learning and/or teaching in New Zealand.
Best Business Application
For those that transform their methods of doing business, or change our way of doing business with them.
Thank you so much to Kiwibank, the team at heaps! and the New Zealand Internet Industry Awards! We’ll see you at the banquet!
Kiwibank has been announced as a finalist in, not one, but…three categories for the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) Innovation Awards! AND every single one of these awards is for their part in bringing heaps! to their customers.
TUANZ is a not-for-profit membership association that has led the charge to improve competition for telecommunications services in NZ. Their vision is for a New Zealand with a world-class communications system, with all Kiwis enjoying affordable, readily available connectivity. This prestigious annual awards ceremony recognises outstanding innovation within the telecommunications arena in New Zealand.
Kiwibank is a finalist in 3 categories:
TUANZ Initiative of the Year Award Finalists (Pictured: Richard Westlake on behalf of Kiwibank, Michael Foley - Voco (sponsor) and Maxine Elliott - Vector Communications)
TUANZ Education Award (sponsored by Aurecon): For the most innovative education or training product, service or initiative developed in New Zealand, and delivered electronically to New Zealanders, which contributes to general education (applicable to whole life learning, e.g business, community, primary, secondary, tertiary, etc).
TUANZ Initiative of the Year (sponsored by Voco): For a product, service or application facilitated or enabled by the innovative use of technology in New Zealand, or by a New Zealand company overseas.
TUANZ Commerce Award (TUANZ’s own): For the most innovative financial product, service or initiative developed in New Zealand, and delivered electronically to New Zealanders, which enhances the customer’s experience.
The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on Thursday, 2 September at the Langham Hotel in Auckland. Congratulations to Kiwibank, and thank you for being such a supportive partner!
How many of you have seen countless tips on how to budget? I don’t know about everyone else, but every time I think about budgeting or tracking expenses, I get bored. Why does budgeting have to be so tedious and time-consuming?
Maybe if we make budgeting a little more fun, as hard as it may be, people will actually start to save money instead of just talking about it. Honestly, how many times have you said to yourself that you would start saving more money tomorrow, next week, in the following month? And how many times have you sat yourself down and planned a budget and started to track your expenses only to find yourself abandoning it three weeks later?
Listen to Others
For me, I particularly like listening to other people’s financial stories as it helps me with my budget. And when I listen to others, it motivates me to get my act into gear. Setting a goal especially helps me save money because then I actually have a good incentive to keep on top of my money.
A lot of people tend to follow in others footsteps. Which is why it is indeed a good idea listening to how others budget. Similar to how people talk about how awesome their new expensive shiny car is, and you have the strongest urge to go out there and buy an even bigger and more expensive car. Why can’t budgeting be like that? You should go out there and show off how much you are saving just by knowing where your money is going.
So we at heaps! decided that we would talk to some people about how they feel about budgeting and tracking their expenses. We hope you enjoy the video and that you are more motivated to be aware of where your money is going and to really understand your finances. Maybe it will provide a little boost to budget, and help you save. After all, that is what we are here for.
Personal Finance in Social Media
Yes it may sound odd, but it’s only for a good cause. Think of it as a Facebook, Twitter or Youtube for budgeting. It should be a very social thing. With everything pushed very quickly because of the internet, and communication being more convenient than ever, budgeting and tracking expenses should be pushed out there just like all the social media channels.
I really don’t think promoting budgeting out into the social world is very strange. Just think of it, if saving money was so much talked about, then you would start being motivated to do the same. So instead of wanting to beat your neighbours in how brand new your new phone is, how about showing off how stable your checking account is. And how your savings account is only growing.
The more mature generations should breed a new generation of youngsters who want to save. Considering the amount of debt we are all in, and debt being continuously spread (not just for individuals but for entire nations), let’s educate our children (more importantly, ourselves) so we can lead lives that are just a bit more stress free.
Small Start, Big Dreams, Bigger Savings
The video that we have is a small start no doubt, but it is a start nonetheless. When you watch this video, don’t think of it as another site pushing budget tips into everyone, but more of a video to help you get inspired to budget. Now that I’m about to stop rambling, go out there and strike up a conversation with your neighbour, friend, relative, bus buddy, and spread the joy of saving a few dollars. What have you got to lose?
Dare I ask, but how often do you share your financial life with anyone? Let me know if you think we’ve gone crazy. I mean how often do you come across anyone who wants budgeting to be the “in” thing?
heaps! categorises a percentage of your transactions automatically, which saves you time. We’re giving you, the heaps! community, the power to decide which category a business belongs in.
The Categorisation Engine
Previously the heaps! team sat in front of long lists of business names and decided which category each of your transactions should be assigned to. But now, if a business is not currently in our system, it will automatically be assigned the category that a majority of the first customers to categorise it have selected for that business.
For this example, lets say that ‘McDonalds’, as a business, is new to heaps!. If the first few heaps! customers choose to categorise their McDonalds transactions, as ‘Takeaways’ and the next few select ‘Snacks’ instead, then no automatic categorisation would be applied. It needs a certain number of customers to select the same categorisation for the automation to take place.
How This Helps You
With this new categorisation system, it means that more of your transactional spending will be automatically categorised and categorised to how the majority of heaps! customers would want it. As always, though, you can manually change your transaction category, if it isn’t right for you.
Just last weekend we met up with three of our heaps! users who wanted to share their heaps! experience with us, they enlightened us with their stories and their tips on budgeting and saving – stay tuned for their video.
This meeting came as a result of how here at the heaps! HQ, we love getting out there and meeting our users face to face, chatting about real financial issues and seeking answers to these problems. We have started a series of video which collects your opinions and stories of your heaps! experience so far and we would like to see more and hear about how you’re using heaps! to get more out of life!
But how does this work?
The process is simple…
We work around you
We understand the time constraints of daily life so we work around you. You decide where and when, and we will work around your hours and cater to your needs.
Friendly shooting environment
There is no pressure to perform, we just want to have a chat and let you share your story. We operate a very small video production crew with no compromise to quality, and most importantly our crew are really friendly and will guide you through the production process.
Push online
Off to the cutting room. Our editors will cut up a video which shares your story. Once complete, we will review it with you so you can make changes you are not happy with. Once you are happy and have signed off, we will share your story to other heaps! users to inspire them to get more out of life.
Check below to see other users who have shared their story…
If you are interested to share your story, please contact us on yourstory@heaps.co.nz with the subject line “Your Story”
Budgeting is so important and we were lucky enough to get some tips from our very own Prime Minister, John Key. Mr. Key chats to us about setting goals, ways to limit spending (especially on a night out), and ways you can save money. Check out the video!
We’ve made it easier for you to manage all your finances in one place! Not everyone banks exclusively with Kiwibank, and with the new heaps!, you can now import data files from other banks. heaps! will support files from ANZ, BNZ, ASB, Westpac, and National Bank.
When you upload your data, heaps! recognises your transactions and allows you to categorise and budget for them as you would your Kiwibank transactions. You can include these external accounts in any of your existing account groups or even create a new group just for them.
With all your finances in one place, budgeting has never been easier!
The Budget Page has undergone a facelift, and you will find that it will be easier to keep on top of your finances.
heaps! users can now change the name and frequency of a budget item or delete it altogether. As many of you have requested, you can also control whether an expense is necessary or optional – You do this by clicking on the icons, necessary is the number ‘1’ icon and optional is the number ‘2’ icon.
The last 5 transactions can be viewed on the budget page, by clicking the down arrow on the budget line, making it easy to see which spends are being included.
We’re excited to announce the launch of an upgraded heaps!. This new version builds on the tracking abilities of the heaps! you’re used to and incorporates suggestions and improvements proposed by customers like you. It’s never been easier to get heaps! more out of life!
Here are a few things you can look forward to the next time youlog intoheaps!:
Importing Data from Other Banks
We realise that not everyone banks exclusively with Kiwibank, so we have incorporated a feature that allows customers to upload data files from other banks.
Improved Budgeting
Thanks to many of your suggestions, we’ve redesigned the Budget page and incorporated some features that make it easier for you to keep track of your money.
Spread the Word
We now have over 15,000 people using heaps!. We’re always keen to hear your comments, so keep those ideas coming! Become a fan on our Facebook page and tell us what you think.
By Alicia
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