More young Australians are splitting bills when dining out with friends or family to save money amid the cost-of-living crunch, according to new NAB research.
More than half of the surveyed adults (54%) said they were more likely to skip shouting their mates these days, with this figure rising to 72% among 18- to 29-year-olds.
“Young Australians are embracing loud budgeting and getting more comfortable with talking about their financials,” said Kylie Young, NAB personal everyday banking executive.
“It isn’t surprising that extends to splitting the bill, as they confidently step away from the social pressure of ‘shouting a round’.”
The trend is less pronounced among Baby Boomers, with only 32% of over 65s saying the rising cost of living made them more likely to split a bill.
Additionally, the push to split bills is least common among Australians in the lowest income group (39%) and increases with income, reaching 63% for the highest income group.
Women are also more likely to split the bill than men.
“While people may have shouted their mates in the past, they’re feeling the pinch now and are prioritising their own budgets so they can keep dining out and supporting local businesses,” Young said.
The NAB Economics data revealed that nearly four in 10 (37%) preferred one person pick up the bill and then transfer money, while around three in 10 (28%) used their credit or debit cards.
Bank transfer or PayID was the leading choice to split a bill, preferred by 37% of people.
More than 140 million transactions are made by PayID each month in Australia, from 21 million accounts, reflecting the increasing popularity of this method for splitting bills.
“There are inevitably winners and losers when it comes to shouting rounds or picking up the bill after a meal as it doesn’t always come back around,” Young said.
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