An app development startup operating out of London's Level39 has released a new mobile tool to help millennials manage their spending and encourage saving.
Available to download from the App Store and Google Play, Chip connects to the user’s online banking accounts, analyses their spending and calculates how much they can afford to save without having an impact on their day-to-day spending.
That money is then automatically moved into a virtual savings account held by Barclays and operated by FCA-licensed e-money firm Prepaid Financial Services.
Chip founder Simon Rabin says: “Chip’s mission is to make saving money as effortless as spending it. We used to find it really hard to calculate how much we should be saving each month and didn’t have the discipline to actually put it away."
The app employs a chatbot interface to communicate with users via friendly, informal messages and enthusiastic use of emojis and GIFs.
Chip co-founder Nick Ustinov says: “We’ve seen 64% conversion from install to account creation - that’s double anything I’ve seen before using a traditional GUI."