86 400 chips in to pay customer bills

Neobank 86 400 is offering to pay the bills of nearly 2000 customers over the coming months.

As part of its “Pay It Forward” promotion, 86 400 plans on paying over 100 upcoming bills per week for randomly selected customers over 16 weeks.

86 400’s offer may cover all sorts of expenses, from streaming services to health insurance and utility bills, and settle a total of over $55,000 in payments.

Here’s how it works:

• To be eligible, an 86 400 customer needs to have bills appear in the “Coming Up” section of their app, either by linking other bank accounts to 86 400 or by making bill payments from an 86 400 account.
• Each predicted bill charging between $5 and $100 that’s due in the next week will be automatically entered into the weekly draw. The more bills and payments appearing in your app, the more chances you have to get one credited.
• Winning entrants will receive an SMS notifying them of the winning bill, and be credited between $5 and $24.99 for a minor prize, or between $25 and $100 for a major prize.

86 400 chief product and marketing officer, Travis Tyler, said the neobank eventually aims to “make bill shock a thing of the past”.

“Paying bills is an important but unenjoyable task for most of us, and with this campaign we wanted to use one our most popular and talked-about features, Coming Up bill prediction, to challenge that.”

As well as the Pay it Forward offer, 86 400 recently joined a range of other banks and mortgage lenders offering cashback rewards to home loan customers. While offers like these can be very appealing to anyone juggling bills and mortgage payments, it’s important to carefully consider the overall cost and value of switching mortgages and/or bank accounts before making any financial decisions.

Australian incomes and household budgets have been under pressure recently, thanks in part to the effect of social distancing restrictions on workplaces. At the start of May 2020, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that one in 13 Australians lacked the money to pay bills on time between mid-March and mid-April 2020, while one in ten reported having to draw on savings to support basic living expenses. 

If you’re experiencing financial hardship and are struggling to keep up with bill payments, find out what hardship relief packages your bank may offer.

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