Strap: Where does the money go? We review spending trackers and finance apps to find out if bots can really help with your budgeting
Ideally, using a fintech app will make you feel like you’re starring in a TV commercial. A good app will track your paycheck, every card swipe and all your digital spending, even offering financial planning advice. So when your parents complain about your out-of-control spending, you put your app in their face, showing that everything is fine financially.
Do fintech apps do what they claim to be? What’s going on with your data when an app knows about your salary, wealth, debt, extravagance and secrets? Maybe the ignorant person in the ad is you? Here’s what users say.
Portion control
Splitwise, sharing shared expenses with friends, roommates, etc., is the Facebook of the fintech space. Everyone uses it even if they don’t like it. Clinical dietitian and nutritionist Aditi Prabhu (34 years old) uses it to set a monthly budget and track spending when she’s out with friends. So are Bengaluru-based tech colleagues Amal Raut (23) and Ajit Kumar (22). “It’s like a chopdi [notebook] this takes the stress out of remembering who owes whom how much,” says Raut. Kumar thinks it’s great for a night out or a trip with a group of friends, but not for tracking personal expenses or setting reminders for EMI.
Prabhu has mixed opinions about its usefulness. “Expenses can be split up in different ways and more people can be added, but the totaling system can be confusing,” she says.
Easy as pie
Monefy Pro is an easy-to-use app that depicts your financial data as a pie chart, with multiple income and expense categories so you can manage your spending. “But it would be nice if expenses could be further divided into personal and professional/other expenses,” says Prabhu. “The import process can be a bit overwhelming if you have a lot of transactions. Also, if you go over the budget that you set yourself, you just can’t handle it.”
Look ghost, no bank!
Unlike a traditional bank that you can visit to make transactions, digital banks are like an introverted friend who doesn’t want to see you in person. They have no branches. Nupur Kale (31 years old), a communications professional, uses the free join Jupiter Digital Bank to track her expenses. The app tells her when she’s overspending and how to improve her performance. “Opening an account isn’t complicated and their community platform has people who can guide you. But I experienced delays with payments and the app required frequent updates,” she said.
Increase shares
Kale also uses Groww, a financial services platform, as a broker registered with SEBI. It allows users to explore investment options such as stocks and mutual funds. It also provides real-time investment options and helps her make informed decisions through account managers and advisors.
But the app has its downsides: There are random update notifications and a lag when transferring money. “Also, their service fees are higher than others like Zerodha,” says Kale. She also worries that the app doesn’t list the risks associated with the financial products on offer, which means users could make bad choices.
Too much on your plate?
Walnut, now known as Axio, tracks how much you’ve spent on dining out versus other expenses. Product designer Anushka Jaiswal (24) uses it to track her UPI and card spending because it categorizes expenses by merchant—grocery stores, restaurants, small shops, and the like . But the entries can only be done manually, which she finds very difficult.
At first, she worried that her data on the app might be shared with third parties, but then fell back into the old social media trap: Everyone’s doing it, so everyone things will be fine. However, she has now switched to Money Manager on iOS.
To be seen
Writer Arunima Joshua, who used apps like Monefy, Spendee and Money Manager for several months, has now removed them all. “It helps at first, but if you know that you’re living beyond your means anyway, which you can’t avoid when you’re a single person in your 20s paying rent. home in Mumbai, you will be very disheartened to see it written there. . Indulgence only makes you feel guilty! Maybe I’ll try again when my income doubles,” she said.
Deets on data
Beware of digital fraudsters, warns Sameer Anja, co-founder and COO of Arrka, a company that allows organizations to operate and implement their privacy programs. Any information about you, whether financial or your Aadhaar number, should be shared only when necessary. “You don’t want someone to steal your identity and use it for nefarious purposes,” Anja said. “Apps can use your permissions to gain access to apps and other information on your phone and invade your privacy. With illegal apps, it can go bad, with acts of extortion, extortion, fraud, and privacy violations.”
The only way out, he says, is to not give the app permission to everything it asks for. “Ecosystems like Apple and Google are doing their best to create a safe environment for everyone, as are the RBI and other Indian regulators, but only if the Data Protection Act If the digital identity is approved, we can file a complaint,” Anja added.
From HT Brunch, February 25, 2023
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