This one kinda raised some immediate red flags with me. Sure, the idea is great – it’s an app which will automatically put money into a special savings account based on your affordability. It’s a great idea, but when the developers told me that you had to “link it to your online banking account” and how it “transfers money to a separate Barclays account” I was immediately worried.
You can earn additional interest by inviting friends. Just download the app and, after hooking it into your bank account (which I’m sorry, I’m not going to do), it’ll work out how much you can afford to save and at what date. Based on this clever algorithm it’ll automatically transfer small amounts of money (typically between £10 and £25) to that separate Barclays savings account.
You’re in complete control according to the PR people, with a 24 hour window in which you can stop or change the recommendation. It’ll also repay all bank charges along with a £10 bonus if the recommendation causes you to go into your overdraft.
The service is live today, but over 5,000 early adopters already saving over £1m using it.
What you’ll need to get over, which I can’t, is the fact that you’re allowing an app to login to your bank account. Your bank account. Then you’ll need to let it see your spending and your income. This is all deeply private information, and it’s a massive ask to have a relatively unknown app looking through your stuff and transferring money elsewhere.