A major Canadian bank has set up an innovation team with students which has created a digital tool to help post-secondary students manage their money.
Figures from the 2011 census show that over 42 per cent of Canadians aged 20 to 29 still live with their parents. Among those who do not, many have left to go to university. Maclean’s magazine posted estimates of how much money students needed to live on in 2018 including costs for tuition, rent, groceries, food on campus, traveling home, books, alcohol, daily travel and extracurriculars for an average student. The estimates ranged from $11,556 for students attending Université de Sherbrooke in the province of Quebec to $23,485 for those at the University of Toronto in the province of Ontario.
To help them manage these expenditures, TD Bank has launched its Student Budget Calculator designed by its own innovation hub in collaboration with university and college students. The goal is to provide an understanding of the cost of school and other expenses and how to save, budget and prepare for them.
Canadian students may not get much instruction in financial management in high school and often need help when they leave home. (iStock)
Tool compares revenue with expenses
The budgeting tool breaks down the estimated costs and contribution and provides averages as a guide based on input from the user. The costs include tuition, which can vary greatly across Canada. For domestic students, university tuition for undergraduate studies can range from $2,500 to as high as $11,000 depending on the program of study and the institution. Post-graduate tuition can range from $1,900 to as high as $17,122. Fees for international students are much higher.
The budget tool has students key in the costs of tuition, housing including utilities like electricity and internet and expenses like groceries and textbooks. They then add in the money they have available. Results are provided by two side-by-side bars that update in real-time to provide a view of how costs compare to expenditures.
The tool was tested on student and their feedback was used to refine the calculator.
“It was exciting to be a part of the creation of the Student Budget Calculator, and to see something I had a hand in building come to life,” said Charly Bax, a former TD Lab co-op student from the Carleton University Commerce program. “What impressed me most about this project is that it started as a Lab hackathon idea and grew from there. As students, our ideas really do count.”
Offering this budgeting tool will help TD Bank engage students with a view to making them loyal customers.