AI Powered Chatbot Plum To Now Help In Both Saving and Investing
Creating and sticking to a budget is not easy. Temptations loom around us, and it might be a struggle for some to stick to a regular budget. Many turn towards money saving apps, but there is a better and easier alternative. AI-powered Messenger chatbots. And one of them is using AI to better its approach and service.
Plum is a well-known Messenger chatbot that has been around for a while. This AI-powered chatbot offers savings functionality, including round-ups and regular savings using AI.
But the app is taking things further by offering a new investment tool that lets you choose fund investments based on themes. The themes include ethical companies, technology, and the like.
Plum is not the only money-saving Messenger chatbot. Plum is similar to other apps such as Cleo and Chip. Plum, like these bots, connects to your bank account to analyze spending patterns and work with you to see how much you can save and set aside.
The app is smart enough to identify which is income and which is bills, and it can also take a number of smart actions and decisions on your behalf.
Also included is micro-savings that round up purchases and other forms of regular savings, and then moves the amount from your bank account to a segregated Plum savings bank account. Once there, there is also an option to put the money into RateSetter, that allows you to earn interest too.
Additional
However, savings is not the only reason the app is standing. The app also has options for investments and also spotting when you are paying for bills and credit. Investing is a new service that is being launched.
Another way that the app stands out is by partnering with Octopus, which is a green energy conservation company. By partnering with Octopus, Plum detects if a user is using too much of energy, and also sends them a message offering to initiate a switch in energy conservation if their energy is high.
Coming back to investing, Plum allows three different types of investing. “Tech”, “Emerging Markets” and also “Ethical Companies”. A huge amount is not necessary for the investment. As little as 1 Pound is enough. But this comes with a cost too.
Affordable
Plum charges you a monthly fee of 1 pound for this service, and also 0.15 percent annually on the amount that the person has invested. If you also want to invest in the themed fund option, then there is an additional fee too. Though this might sound a bit steep, it actually isn’t. Plum is still one of the cheapest options on the market to invest money in as the annual management fees soon add up.
And this is shown by the numbers. Plum has grown from 22,000 users to 130,000 in the past one year, and that is a decent growth. On the other hand, Plum’s competitor Cleo that does not offer investment has commented that the app hit 200,000 users in April and that the number is growing by 3,000 users per day.
There are other services also out there that allows for themed investments like Oval Money that has three funds, with different themes. This new trend shows that the younger generation of today wants to invest their money in profitable services, without going through the conventional method of banking and investment.
