Stay ahead of bills before they hit: 5 must-knows about Up Essentials
Up has launched Essentials, a dedicated home to keep your funds for your bills separate and help you avoid "bill shock".
Sponsored by Up. Up is Australia's first mobile-only digital bank, designed to offer you the tools you need to manage your finances in the modern world. Open an Up account with the code ESSENTIALS15 to score $15 on sign up.
Bills are part of everyday life, so it makes sense to be prepared for them.
But you'd be surprised how many people get caught out -- and not necessarily because they're lacking in funds. According to customer data from Up, in 60% of overdrawn cases, customers had enough money elsewhere to cover the expense.*
Turns out, it was just in the wrong account!
Throw in variable pay cycles that don't always line up with billing dates, ongoing subscription services and other day-to-day costs, and it's no surprise that 58% of 18-35 year olds experienced "bill shock" in the last year, with half missing or paying a bill late.**
This can have real financial consequences. Getting stung by late fees can add up quickly, and it can potentially harm your credit rating, which can make it tougher to get access to loans.
The good news is there are solutions for managing your bills more effectively. Up has just launched Essentials, a feature attached to an Up account that can help identify your bill cycles and automate what sort of funds are set aside for them every time you get paid.
So with this in mind, we're taking a closer look at some of the key features of Up Essentials.
1. You can get bonus funds to get you started
Part of getting your finances organised is having the right resources at hand. So right now, if you open an Up Everyday Account, you'll receive a bonus $15
If you want, you can set up Essentials and use it to start paying your bills right away. Just use the code ESSENTIALS15 when joining.
Using offers like this can help kickstart the process and help you arrange your finances more effectively.
2. Separating bill funds from everyday spending
When you're setting up Essentials, you'll need to nominate your Pay Day, as well as your Regulars.
This allows Essentials to look at how much you're paid and how often, in order to calculate what sort of funds are needed to cover your bills.
Essentials doesn't just allocate preset amounts, either. It can look at upcoming costs and help set aside additional funds, helping smooth bigger bills over time and avoid bill shock when the time comes to make payments.
3. Automation
One of the best ways to take the mental load out of managing bills is by automating them.
When you join Essentials, you can set up ongoing costs (like streaming subscriptions, rent or utilities payments) as "Regulars" in the Up app.
You only need to set it up once, and you can adjust it at any time, as your life circumstances (and bills) change.
Then Essentials will automate the process and start setting aside funds accordingly.
Discover more about banking with Up
Up is Australia's first mobile-only digital bank, and provides a wide range of services to Aussies looking to manage their finance. When you bank with Up, you can access:
🪙 $0 monthly account fees
There's no more need to pay fees for monthly account management with Up!
✈️ 0% fees on international transactions
Whether you're travelling or shopping online, having an Up account means there's no need for international transaction fees.
🏠 Home loans
Be supported through the whole home loan application process and beyond with the team at Up.
📱 Digital wallets
Up is available to use on Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Garmin Pay.
4. Dedicated BSB and digital debit card
Essentials doesn't just help you organise your money on a long-term basis. You can also use it to pay other ad hoc costs, too.
There's a digital debit card attached, which can be added to a variety of digital wallets.
Additionally, there's a dedicated BSB number. So you can use it to set up direct debits, or even have funds paid into it by other people.
5. At-a-glance overview
Last -- but definitely not least -- part of having organised finances is being able to tell which funds you have now vs what you'll need for future payments.
With this in mind, Essentials provides an at-a-glance overview within the Up app.
This way, you can see where your funds are allocated and make adjustments if necessary.
Learn more about Up Essentials today
Sponsored by Up. Up is Australia's first mobile-only digital bank, designed to offer you the tools you need to manage your finances in the modern world. Open an Up account with the code ESSENTIALS15 to score $15 on sign up.
*Overdrawn accounts refer to an account ledger balance going negative from previously positive or zero, resulting in money owed to that account. The 60% figure represents all overdrawn account owners that had sufficient funds to cover that overdrawn balance in any other account they hold at the end of the day the balance went negative. Figure is based on Up internal balance logs for 2025-08-27 to 2026-08-26.
**Research was conducted by Pureprofile on behalf of Up from 10th to 13th August 2026, surveying a nationally representative sample of 1,008 Australians aged 18+ years.
Image: @The Yaroslav Shuraev Collection via Canva.com