Fair Pay - The traps of so-called digital convenience

From online fraud, to fees and surcharges, to fast credit schemes, and a plethora of tools, subscriptions and wallets, how we orchestrate our finances and lives online can be, well, overwhelming.

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At Waave, we took a deep dive to examine the extent to which digital payments and online money systems are impacting our ability to know where our money goes, how to spend it wisely, how to keep it safe, and if we can trust the parties responsible to help us do that.

With Australians currently suffering under a cost of living crisis, consumers need transparency and simplicity. But that’s not what they’re getting. We learned that despite a strong appetite for digital convenience, it’s not all Fair Pay.

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Key findings:

Buy Now Pay Later trap: Close to one in three Australians (31 percent) are experiencing psychological stress that directly relates to Buy Now Pay Later debt
Online payment confusion:

Almost half (48 percent) of Australians feel online payments cause them to worry more about money (by making it harder to keep track of spending, harder to know when surcharges apply, fear of fraud/scams).
Almost half of Australians (42 percent) find online payments cumbersome (i.e. due to needing to enter card details every time, multi-factor authentication).

Trust debt: One in four Australians lack faith in banks to treat them fairly.
Data fears: Close to one third of Australians (30 percent) don’t trust financial institutions with their personal data.
Checked out on surcharges: Nearly half of Australians (47 percent) are not aware when they are being surcharged or what for at the checkout (online and instore).
Bills confusion: Over one in three Aussies (35 percent) find it challenging to understand their bills and the associated fees and charges.
The subscription run-away train: One third of Australians (34 percent) find it difficult to keep track of their subscriptions/direct debits and what they are costing them. One in 10 ‘strongly agree’, indicating they find it very difficult to keep track of everything they’re signed up for.

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