New app aims to keep tabs on mobile wallet
The Level Money application launched on Thursday (10 October) aims to give smartphone users a "money meter" at a time when carrying cash is passe.
The app, for those who use Apple's mobile iOS devices, is aimed squarely at people age 35 or younger, referred to as Millennials or Generation Y.
"For the vast majority of that group, money management is checking the balance at the ATM after the money comes out of the machine," said Level co-founder and chief executive Jake Fuentes.
"Frankly, we don't think about money the same way our parents do," the 27-year-old continued. "We didn't grow up with savings bank passbooks and physical money; you swipe a card and put it back in your wallet."
Level Money lets smartphones show whether it would be fiscally smarter not to buy that extra round of drinks or sleek new gadget.
Synchronise with bank accounts
"This is real-time money meter," Fuentes said. Level Money synchronises with bank accounts and credit or debit cards, analysing entries to identify income and monthly bills such as rent or mobile phone services.
The application lets people specify how much of their pay they want to save. "We distill it down to stuff that has to be paid every month, savings, and everything else comes up as spendable," Fuentes said.
"That is the way this generation thinks: Am I feeling rich today or am I not?" he added.
San Francisco-based Level entices people by projecting how much money they want to save by the end of a month to put toward splurging on themselves at a later time.
Level partnered with personal finance software company Intuit to handle people's personal information with bank-level security and encryption.
"Level is a radically simple approach to money management," Fuentes said. "We think this is part of a sea change to using mobile devices for financial decisions in a way not seen before," he added.
Level Money is available only for iPhones in the United States but the nine-person start-up was intent on expanding quickly to encompass more devices.
"Our ambition is to become the next generation of financial services," Fuentes said.
Level does not make money from the free application but hopes to eventually cash in by providing more sophisticated financial services to users.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
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