2024 Innovation Excellence Awards
2024 Innovation Excellence Awards
Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Awards showcase a selection of cutting-edge financial products and services that aim to improve the everyday lives of consumers in Australia. We reveal what made this year’s Award-winning products stand out in the current market and why they were selected by our Judges.
See the Canstar Blue Innovation Excellence Award winners here.
Release: 18 April, 2024
2024 Innovation Excellence Award Winners
About the 2024 Innovation Excellence Awards
For Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Awards, Australian financial Institutions were invited to submit their innovative products or services that were brought to market within the last year.
All submissions and nominations for the 2024 Innovation Excellence Awards were judged and assessed by Canstar’s expert Research Committee up against our sophisticated and unique ratings methodology.
Products and services assessed were measured and calculated against two factors:
Degree of innovation:
- How different and unique is the product?
- How disruptive is the innovation within the current market?
- The ‘WOW’ factor to impress the judges.
Impact:
- How many customers could benefit?
- What’s the affordability of the product and ease of use?
- How will it improve and affect a consumer’s daily life?
All these factors were scored on a rating from one to five, and then weighted to produce a final score. The degree of innovation is weighted at 40% and a product’s impact is weighted at 60%.
You can learn more about the evaluation and calculation details in the methodology.
About the Innovation Excellence Award Winners
(Winners are listed alphabetically)
Allianz Australia
Home Insurance One Click Price Estimate
The One Click Price Estimate system by Allianz is a winner of the Canstar Innovation Excellence Award for its efficient integration into the home loan process. It offers real-time insurance estimates through its fee-free one-click system. This simplifies the insurance process for home loan customers and lenders by automating data handling and certificate delivery, which addresses key insurance-related delays in home loan settlements.
Canstar Judges found its seamless software interface integration and pre-filled data feature significantly enhanced operational efficiency and customer convenience, making it a notable contribution in the financial services sector.
Commonwealth Bank
CommSec – Integrated Investing experience
CommBank’s integration of its online share-trading platform, CommSec, into its app marks a substantial upgrade for over 7 million existing users. This has enabled seamless share trading within the app, enhancing customer convenience and accessibility. With the ability to buy, sell, and hold Australian shares and exchange-traded funds directly within their banking platform, users can now have a full view of their investments and savings in one place.
The Judges found this integration to be a unique and impactful addition to CommBank’s market-leading banking phone app; which in itself features other Innovation Excellence Award-winning features: access to themed ETFs through CommSec Pocket (2020), and the CommBank Rewards program (2022) that has expanded and is now known as CommBank Yello. The introduction of CommSec’s investing functionality takes share trading to the masses with the ability to trade shares and ETFs in Australia’s most used banking app. Australians seeking alternative wealth-building avenues will now have an app they are already familiar with to get started.
Hnry
Debit Card
The Hnry Debit Card simplifies tax and expense management for sole traders. Integrated with the user’s Hnry account, this virtual Visa debit card efficiently turns each transaction into an automatically logged business expense. Its usability extends everywhere Visa is accepted to enhance the ease of access for users. Its seamless integration with Hnry’s suite of financial services also offers comprehensive financial management.
Canstar Judges found that what truly sets the Hnry Debit Card apart is its ability to provide instant tax relief. As users make business purchases with the card and log receipts in the Hnry app, the system immediately calculates and applies the tax benefits. This streamlining of the deduction claiming process not only saves time but ensures financial accuracy. The Hnry Debit Card stands out as an invaluable financial tool, providing immediate and efficient financial management and tax relief for sole traders, rightfully earning its award-winning recognition.
Macquarie Bank
Password Monitor
Macquarie Bank’s Password Monitor, an opt-in service that continuously monitors customer login credentials for potential breaches, was recognised by the Judges as a unique and impactful approach to cybersecurity. They were particularly impressed by its proactive nature, marking a significant departure from reactive security measures prevalent in the market.
If compromised, Password Monitor immediately locks access to Macquarie Online and Mobile Banking, and customers are promptly notified for a password change. This proactive stance ensures continuous banking functionality while safeguarding against unauthorised access, earning significant wow factor amongst the panel.
NAB
Small Business Explorer
NAB’s Small Business Explorer (SBE) is a fee-free, online platform that provides customers with a self-serve shopping cart experience that reduces admin time. It enables users to select their banking needs and then recommends suitable products across its Business & Personal suite, which results in a customer-centric online experience.
The Judges found SBE notably unique with considerable ‘wow’ factor due to its approach in connecting users with needs (that are often complex) to its relevant products. Unlike traditional product selector tools, which focus on specific product categories, SBE provides tailored suggestions based on customer needs. This simplified approach to the decision-making process was deemed to have significant impact for customers who may struggle to discern the best product for their needs among similar options.
NAB Liquidity+
NAB Liquidity+, developed in partnership with Trovata, stands out as a transformative solution in cash management for corporate clients, especially those with complex banking arrangements across multiple providers. This AI-powered platform integrates its software interface and file integration to consolidate critical banking data. It provides the real-time visibility of cash positions and enables dynamic cash insights and precision forecasting. Its innovative approach eliminates time-consuming manual tasks in treasury operations, offering a more efficient and accurate financial management process.
The uniqueness of NAB Liquidity+ lies in its ability to amalgamate bank data without needing technical system integration. This is a feature not commonly found in other financial solutions, which makes it particularly appealing for large corporations who require a straightforward yet comprehensive approach to handling their diverse financial data. By leveraging AI, the platform can deliver predictive forecasts based on bank statement data from various banks, which is a significant advancement over traditional manual or semi-automated processes.
Waave
Pay by Bank
Pay by Bank is Australia’s first business-to-consumer instant bank transfer payment option utilising open banking and real-time payment networks. This streamlined solution simplifies consumer payments, offering secure transactions directly from any bank account without surcharges or the need for cards or passwords.
The Judges acknowledged Pay by Bank’s pioneering use of open banking and real-time payments networks, and recognised its potential impact on consumers. It can offer users a seamless, secure, and surcharge-free alternative to traditional cards, while providing speed, convenience, and empowerment through real-time transaction insights.
Does Canstar rate other products?
Insurance
Accounts and Transfers
About Canstar
Canstar also has insights and information about financial products and services generally. You can find out about topics such as: interest rates, buy now pay later (BNPL), business products and tax. You may also be interested in discovering more about calculators and resources, such as our rate checker and free credit score tool, to help you with your financial decision-making.
About: Josh Sale, Ratings Manager
Bachelor of Commerce, Economics/Finance dual major, Griffith University. Master of Data Science, Strategy and Leadership, RMIT (ongoing studies)
Joshua Sale is responsible for developing the methodology and delivering Canstar’s flagship Star Ratings, as part of Canstar’s Research team. With tertiary qualifications in economics and finance, he enjoys helping Australians find more suitable financial products by transforming complex calculations into a consumer-friendly Star Rating that explains the values and benefits of different financial products.
As one of Canstar’s company spokespeople, Joshua has participated in print, radio and broadcast interviews with the likes of the Australian Financial Review, news.com.au and Money magazine, along with other leading media outlets, discussing topics such as home loan equity, banking incentive schemes, digital wallets and wider finance trends.
Joshua is known for his ability to simplify complex products and technical information, crunching the data into meaningful insights for consumers about finance. He has analysed several consumer markets across banking, insurance and wealth, and is keenly interested in various topics, ranging from how Australians interact with their superannuation funds, to the dynamic nature of the health insurance market, and collecting and redeeming credit card reward points.
Joshua believes that knowledge is the first step towards empowerment. Even while studying, he facilitated peer-assisted study sessions for economics, and represented his University’s Business School in an academic committee.
You can follow Josh on LinkedIn, and Canstar on Twitter and Facebook.
Thanks for visiting Canstar, Australia’s biggest financial comparison site*
FAQs
Who decides the winners for Canstar’s Star Ratings and Awards?
Canstar’s expert researchers review the overall value offered by a provider for its products in a financial services category. We consider metrics such as price and costs against features and functionality, with all of the competitors in a category compared using Canstar’s unique research methodology. The products or providers recognised as winners are those that offer the highest overall value proposition.
What other awards does Canstar give?
In addition to Canstar’s Star Ratings that appear in our comparison tables, Canstar gives Outstanding Value Awards that identify providers with high-performing products. Separately, Canstar’s Customer Satisfaction Awards reveal how content customers are with a particular financial institution or insurance provider.
What are Canstar’s Outstanding Value Awards?
Canstar recognises financial institutions with annual Awards for outstanding value across a wide range of product categories. These Awards are given to the providers whose products are the strongest overall performers in our Star Ratings over the award period.
What are Canstar’s Customer Satisfaction Awards?
Canstar’s Customer Satisfaction Awards are for providers, recognising institutions with the most satisfied customers overall based on consumer surveys.
How does Canstar work out award-winning brands and providers?
As Australia’s biggest financial comparison site*, Canstar compares more than 775 brands across more than 30 finance categories. Each of Canstar’s Star Ratings and Awards uses a unique methodology that is brought together by our expert Research team, with products analysed based on price and features. The top 10% of products are recognised with a 5-Star Rating. You can find out more about how Canstar’s value-based rating system works.
Who can I contact for a media enquiry about Canstar’s Star Ratings?
For media enquiries, commentary or analysis about Canstar’s Star Ratings and Awards, including our Outstanding Value Awards or Customer Satisfaction Awards, please contact our Corporate Affairs team.