How mobile apps have revolutionised personal finance
We rely on our smartphones more and more, from accessing the internet and getting around to listening to music and other entertainment. One of the most significant ways we’ve started using them is to make payments and monitor our finances – but personal finance apps go way beyond banking.
Recent innovations in AI and machine learning have revolutionised the choice and capabilities of financial apps and enabled personalised advice based on real-time insights. Discover the main types of personal finance apps and how these are helping us optimise our money management.
Online banking
The evolution from traditional banking to online banking was a significant transformation in personal finance management, and the development of banking apps over the last decade has taken this even further. Forget the days of physical secure keys: all you need is a code, generated on your phone, to manage accounts, transfer funds and monitor transactions.
Features such as biometric authentication have overtaken personal questions and passwords to ensure the security of finances without detracting from the convenience of online access.
Virtual payments
Increasingly, virtual payments are becoming an integral part of daily life as UK businesses are moving away from cash in favour of card-only transactions: and again, this landscape is changing at a pace.
Contactless cards are already being superseded by mobile wallet apps from companies like Apple, Google and Samsung which have higher or no limits for spending. You can also add your credit card to your phone to take advantage of opportunities to build your credit score when on the go without concerns over carrying cards that can be stolen.
Budgeting tools
Do you struggle to stay on top of your finances? Digital budgeting tools connected to your bank accounts and mobile wallet are a game-changer in tracking spending and managing savings.
These apps provide real-time payment information and gather and analyse data to give you insights into your spending trends and the success of your savings accounts. Awareness of where your money goes each month makes it much easier to set and meet realistic financial goals, while thea instant notifications and updates enable you to make more informed decisions and avoid accidental overspending.
Social spending
Whether you’re out at a restaurant, arranging household bills or organising holiday costs, dividing payments between friends and family can be complicated and time-consuming.
Thankfully, social spending apps such as Monzo and Revolut are simplifying the approach to communal expenses, evenly splitting bills in seconds based on the inputted data. Everyone can effortlessly pay into one space and have total visibility of a breakdown of the finances, removing concerns about transparency that can cause friction between even the closest friends separating costs.