A new app from Australia's UBank offers a fresh twist in the PFM space, providing customers with a single daily number of their free-to-spend cash, updated in real-time.
Inspired by the simplicity and functionality of fitness trackers, Free2Spend aims to streamline budget management one day at a time, with one number to help users stay on track in the simplest way possible.
UBank CEO Lee Hatton says: “Australians have become confused by hundreds of numbers in their lives, from apps to bills to bank statements to even the money in their back pocket. Free2Spend will change that forever, designed to take the stress and guesswork out of personal finance."
Free2Spend asks users to set their savings goals and input income and fixed expenses, with the tool then using these figures to calculate the daily Free2Spend number or ‘one number’.
“Just like fitness trackers have kept people moving to the goal of 10,000 steps a day, Free2Spend does the same with your finances by consolidating your spending and saving goals into one number that changes with you and your life," says Hatton. "If you go over or under that number, the tool automatically decreases or increases your daily spend for the rest of the month.
“When developing Free2Spend, we noticed that budgeting tools focus on the past and bring to light negative behaviour, like over-spending or spending in certain categories, without providing easy tactics to help you readjust and recover.".