AP+ currently reports a 100% recommendation score among users too
This article was created in partnership with Auto-UX.
For many HR leaders, novated leasing has long sat in the ‘nice to have’ category of employee benefits – it’s readily available but underutilized. And that’s exactly where it stood at Australian Payments Plus (AP+) - until recently.
Speaking to HRD, Chief People Officer Steve Reid explained that the company has now transformed the way its people engage with novated leasing, leading to some super compelling results.
“[Novated leasing] played a very little role at AP+,” explained Reid. “That was up until we launched Auto-UX. We'd had it in place [for a while], but it wasn't really a well-known or well-used benefit. Given the financial landscape - even with interest rates coming off slightly - anything that’s a financial benefit to people is seen as a positive thing we can offer.”
That transformation began with a decision to overhaul the novated leasing experience, replacing their old, manual provider with a modern, technology-enabled platform. The goals were clear: boost engagement, improve ease of use, and ultimately drive uptake.
“One [objective] was to put in place a benefit that was easier for employees to engage with and that had a better experience around it,” added Reid. “But also give them optionality in how they engage with it, being able to self-serve and look at a wider range of [options] that they may not look at when dealing with a person directly.”
More options, more engagement
That user autonomy has proven to be a key driver. With Auto-UX, employees now have the freedom to explore leasing options on their own time and terms, without the pressure of a sales conversation.
“With the old provider, they were very reliant on an individual. Whereas the Auto-UX model allows people to look in their own time and play with a whole lot of [choices] - what if I added this option? What if it was this car?”
The early numbers at AP+ tell a story of strong, growing engagement. Just months after launching the new platform, they saw more employees quoting, researching, and ultimately signing novated lease agreements than ever before.
“In April, 25 new people signed up to Auto-UX to have a look - and over 300 quote variations were done across those 25 people,” Reid reports. “In May, it was 14 people and over 300 quote variations again. Even in June, when only three people had newly joined at that point, there were still 250 variations done.”
Those numbers reflect not only interest but active exploration, employees doing detailed comparisons, running cost-benefit analyses, and returning multiple times to consider different vehicles and scenarios.
“It tells me that people are engaging. They're exploring. They're playing,” Reid told HRD. “They might be doing offline research, coming back later and going, ‘Actually, based on what I've read, I need this or don’t need that,’. They would never get to do that if they were talking to a person and saying, ‘Give me a scenario.’”
And where once novated leasing was just another tick-box benefit, it’s now beginning to stand out as a key part of AP+’s EVP -particularly as cost-of-living pressures remain top of mind for employees.
‘The average savings for an employee is just under $8,000 each’
“Within two months, we’ve already got six people on active leases, and nine who've signed an agreement and done a finance application,” Reid noted. “Prior to this, we had maybe three leases in the whole company and we've had this benefit for a number of years.”
It’s not just the uptake that’s compelling, it’s the value being delivered.
“The average savings for an employee is just under $8,000 each, annualized,” said Reid. “We can go back and say: of all these people, 100% are happy, and the average savings is about $8,000 per year. It starts to provide a compelling financial proposition for employees.”
In fact, AP+ currently reports a 100% recommendation score among users, something Reid plans to leverage in ongoing internal communications.
“I think we can use it to say, ‘Hey, all employees who've been through this recommend Auto-UX as a service.’ [After all], if it stayed at 100%, you'd be pretty happy, right?”
That kind of employee endorsement is gold in any EVP strategy, particularly when tied to tangible financial benefits. From a policy perspective, however, novated leasing is still underutilized in many Australian workplaces often due to a lack of awareness or outdated delivery models. Now that’s finally starting to shift.
For HR leaders, that means the timing is right to revisit and relaunch this benefit with renewed focus. Reid’s experience shows that modernizing the delivery mechanism - not just offering the benefit - can unlock a new level of value.
“It created that opportunity to engage in it much more easily,” added Reid. “People aren’t waiting until six o’clock at night, getting home, going, ‘Oh, I never rang to ask about a novated lease.’ They can do it in their own time.”
The key insight here is that novated leasing, when made frictionless and employee-led, isn’t just a financial perk, it becomes a strategic retention tool. And it doesn’t require a costly new investment. Many organisations already offer leasing through salary packaging providers. What’s needed is a better experience layer, something user-friendly, data-rich, and accessible.
“Even more than the number of leases, it’s the role of engagement in the tool itself. That’s the bit that’s blown me away,” said Reid. “The experience must be a good one, because people keep coming back and playing with it.”
To build internal buy-in, Reid suggests focusing on both hard numbers and employee sentiment.
‘It’s the engagement that’s really impressed me’
“When you can quantify the real savings, plus the fact that people are really happy with it, I think that just helps build momentum,” he said. “Sometimes when you talk about it without those data or facts, it's kind of hypothetical… but this makes it real.”
For HR leaders looking to elevate their EVP, the message is clear: novated leasing is no longer an administrative afterthought. With the right platform and communication strategy, it can become a headline benefit, driving savings, flexibility, and positive sentiment across your workforce.
Reid sums it up simply: “I’m a happy customer. I was really hopeful for it – and getting nine [leases] in two months is great. But even more [importantly] it’s the engagement. That’s the bit that’s really impressed me with Auto-UX.”
Find out how Auto-UX can transform your employee experience here.
