With the pandemic causing financial uncertainty for millions, Credit Savvy reports that more than 600,000 people checked their credit score between March and August, a 36% increase on the same period in 2019.

Leo Hillary, MD, Credit Savvy, says: "With many Australians having to make the difficult decision to defer their loans, or make other adjustments to their finances, it is no wonder people wanted to know how this would affect them and their financial future."

Launched by CBA four years ago, Credit Savvy was rolled into the bank's X15 Ventures startup incubator earlier this year. Now the its services will be offered directly to CBA customers though the bank's app.

The move coincides with the launch of two new features designed to help Australians better understand their credit score and how and why it can change, as well as how they manage their finances.

The first, Credit Score Factors, provides Credit Savvy members with detailed information on the factors that could be influencing their credit score as well as opportunities for improvement. The factors are categorised into three types: helping, hurting, and opportunity.

People who have a negative event on their credit file such as a default or court judgement, will have a ‘hurting’ factor and be provided with tips on how they can demonstrate good credit behaviour.

Credit Savvy has also introduced Financial Wellbeing, a measurement tool developed by CBA and the University of Melbourne, which will help its members to assess their overall financial wellbeing. Members can complete a short survey on their current financial situation and will then be provided with a financial wellbeing score between 0 and 100.

Says Hillary: "Providing these new tools will help our members to understand their overall financial position in even more detail which will be essential in working out their next steps during these challenging economic times."