A key factor in the measure any fintech app’s success is their innovative features. With the boom of the fintech scene in recent decades, several apps have been developed to cater to the needs of the customers, some of them going above and beyond basic needs such as simply displaying balances and offering mobile transactions. From AI chatbots on Facebook Messenger to a powerful marketing tool that customises loyalty apps for high-street retailers while offering mobile payments and reward points for customers, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most inventive personal finance apps currently on the market and what makes them tick.
The top 5 innovative personal finance apps:
1. TransferWise
Valued at $1.6bn, and offering tough competition to banks (both digital and traditional) as well as payments giants like PayPal, TransferWise is a money transfer service offering you up to 8x times savings with the ‘real exchange rate’, i.e. the midmarket rate. With over 4 million customers and a 5/5 rating on Trustpilot, TransferWise moves £3 billion every month globally. Along with this, their TransferWise Borderless account allows customers to hold multiple currencies by providing them with bank details that work for money transfers from Australia, UK, US and the Eurozone, which allows them to receive money from these countries for free.
2. Cleo
Also with a 5/5 Trustpilot rating, and leveraging Facebook Messenger’s popularity across the globe, Cleo is an AI chatbot that helps customers budget their finances and spending to develop better savings. Offering people pseudo-real relationships with their money, customers can ask Cleo about any questions they have about their finances while receiving real-time insights about how they’re spending their money. Valued at nearly $40m, this fintech start-up has over 1m users across the US, UK and Canada. Having processed nearly 440m transactions on the app, Cleo aims to become the default in the way millennials interact with their money, with plans to head towards Australasia, West Europe and the Americas next.
3. Squirrel
Offering a Barclays-powered account within the app, Squirrel acts as budget control for the customers by actively sectioning away their money into bills, expenses and savings. The app charges £9.99 per month, and tracks all expenses and thoroughly budgets income so that there’s no overdraft fee. With $3.1m in funding, the personal finance app has processed over $2m since its launch and is well-appreciated by its users with a 5/5-star Trustpilot rating.
4. Moneybox
Moneybox, an investment app, has received a total of $23.3m in funding so far. It rounds up spare change from purchases to the nearest pound and invests the same in global companies such as Apple, Netflix, Disney, Amazon etc. With 150k investors already, Moneybox has bank-level encryption, is FSCS-covered and has a 4/5-star Trustpilot rating from its users. Offering three accounts to cater to their different types of customers (Cautious, Balanced, Adventurous), Moneybox claims the average user invests £20 a week via the app.
5. Yoyo Wallet
Dubbed ‘Europe’s fastest growing payments mobile payments loyalty app’, Yoyo Wallet builds branded apps for high-street retailers, allows integrated payments for caterers and offers banks personalised avenues for interacting with their customer’s data to increase engagement. The integrated payments and branding app has raised a total of $60.3m in funding, with the most recent investment made by digital ID creator, Hard Yaka. Having successfully launched in Europe with the creation of branded apps for Caffè Nero, Patisserie Valerie and Planet Organic and more, the app expanded its payments and promotions system to Singapore in 2016.
Penser is a specialist consulting firm focused on the fintech industry with clients ranging from private equity funds and their portfolio companies to global financial institutions. Our services include strategic planning, digital transformation, and due diligence.