MyBudget

MyBudget is an Australian financial services company based in Adelaide, Australia, which provides spending management services including through an app.

MyBudget
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1999
FounderTammy Barton
Headquarters
Adelaide
,
Australia
Key people
Tammy Barton
ServicesPersonal Budgeting

History

MyBudget was founded in 1999 by Australian entrepreneur and personal finance expert Tammy Barton. During one of her first jobs at a legal firm Barton noticed there was a lack of assistance for people struggling with the damaging effects of financial stress. Using this as inspiration for MyBudget, Barton decided to help them herself and built the business from her kitchen table. Barton’s main motivation was to help individuals improve their financial position by formulating a tailored budget and by managing their finances on their behalf. The first office was located in Adelaide, South Australia and MyBudget now has offices in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, employing 85 staff. MyBudget was listed as number 52 on the BRW Fast 100 list 2009 and number 37 on the BRW Fast 100 list 2010. In 2007, BRW magazine announced that MyBudget had grown at an average rate of 50 percent each year since the company was founded. It also said that the service provided aided a variety of Australians from differing backgrounds.[1]

Product

MyBudget provides a personal budgeting service. The service analyses a client's finances, from income to debts and finally their expenses. The budgeting system works by ranking each bill in order of priority, from those which are the highest, such as loan and mortgage repayments, to those with a lower priority, after charging its fee which averages $42 per week.[2] Once this information has been collated, MyBudget then creates a complete working budget for the long-term for an individual or entire household.[3]

Criticism and malware

In December 2013 MyBudget was named in a national current affairs television report as "profiteering at the expense of people who are struggling with debt".[4] MyBudget issued a statement responding to the report.[5]

In 2017, MyBudget was the object of a class action due to withholding interest accrued by clients.[6] In September 2018, the courts dismissed the proceedings.[7]

In 2020, MyBudget was the confirmed target of a malware attack. Automatic transfers were interrupted, but progressed manually. Customers expressed concerns as to whether the significant personal data held by MyBudget had been leaked or hacked.[8] Later, hackers claimed to have stolen data from MyBudget using ransomware and threatened to publish it unless paid.[9]

References
  1. Dent, Georgina. "Debt Destroyer Goes From Strength To Strength". BRW Magazine.
  2. "MyBudget system outage leaves thousands of Australian customers in financial limbo". ABC.
  3. "How does it work?". MyBudget.
  4. The businesses cashing-in on people under financial stress 7:30 Report, ABC TV, 9 December 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  5. http://www.mybudget.com.au/abc-730-report-response-from-mybudget
  6. "'Debt vultures' 'preying' on the financially vulnerable, lawyers say". ABC News. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  7. "Judge dismisses MyBudget consumer class action – Lawyerly". Lawyerly. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  8. "MyBudget system outage leaves thousands of Australian customers in financial limbo". ABC.
  9. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-03/hackers-threaten-to-release-data-stolen-in-mybudget-cyberattack/12313464
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