In the US, about three in 10 people have no savings, and only 18 percent admit that they could live off their savings for six months. The “savings crisis” is similar in the UK. According to the Money Advice Service, 11.5 million people in the UK have less than £100 in savings to fall back on, and 10.7 million adults don’t save on a regular basis.
Plum, a FinTech company based in London, has created an AI-based platform to help people save and make better financial decisions. The app has recently launched an Android platform to complement its iOS app and Facebook messenger chatbot.
After linking their bank account to the app, Plum analyses its users’ incomes, expenditures and bank statements to help them save money that they won’t miss. The amount saved is tailored for each user, meaning that the app won’t take out too much.
Plum has launched two new saving programmes to help people save even more: the “52-Week Challenge,” which aims to save £1367 in a year; and the “Rainy Day Rule,” which saves money literally when it’s raining.
“Saving rules use automation to help people save more effectively without overloading them with information,” said Plum CEO and co-founder Victor Trokoudes in a statement. “We have good evidence that this approach works: our automated round-ups feature, that we launched earlier this year has become a firm favourite among Plum users, boosting their savings by 50% on average.”
Plum users can create an ISA investment account through the app. Investments can be based on themes, such as technology, emerging markets or ethical companies. Through the app’s “splitter” feature, people can divide their automated savings between their various investment accounts and savings account and choose a percentage of money to allot to each section.
“Contributing a regular percentage can help to build up your investments consistently and avoid getting tempted to put more in when funds are doing well and less when funds are down,” the company explained in a blog post. “This is important because when funds are down and you invest, you acquire far more stocks for the same amount invested.”
In a recent funding round, Plum raised $3 million to continue building its platform and expand it throughout Europe.
