Angela is in her late 50s, employed full time and lives in Scotland with her two sons.
Reconciling the transactions in her paper bank statements helped reduce her anxiety over money. She now uses Moneyhub to maintain records of her transactions and is keen that more people learn about the benefits of Open Banking.
““I think it’s relatively easy to get credit, I think unless you’re in control it’s really easy to get into bad debt.””
This Moneyhubber, a mum of two grown-up sons from Scotland, kicks things off by explaining that her previous role in software development contributed to her interest in participating as a case study for Moneyhub.
She highlights the importance of companies speaking directly to their customer base and finding out what it is they find want when it comes to designing their customer-facing apps.
From the get-go, it’s evident that this Moneyhubber is already pretty tech-savvy. Having previously been a customer of Microsoft Money before it was discontinued in 2009, she explains how she moved to Moneyhub to keep track of her day-to-day spending.
When asked what financial wellness means to her, she responds, “I don’t know if I am totally honest if I am using Moneyhub from a financial wellness point of view. I have always been quite a sad individual who has always reconciled bank statements”.
She goes on to joke that some of her friends would even be ‘horrified’ if they were aware of the amount of time she invested into managing her money.
And if technology such as Moneyhub were to cease existence?, we ask, “I think that would make me anxious… I can very easily find historic stuff, a number of times I have looked back for something and found it very easily in Moneyhub.”
Interested to know if her two sons inherited her admirable approach to money, she comments on the pressures the younger generation face today, “I think it’s really difficult to manage money. In my day you went out with cash in your purse for a taxi home… you ran out of money you went home, it was as simple as that. I can’t imagine how bad it is on a Monday when you have been tapping your card over a bar and you realise what you’ve actually spent on a weekend. I think it’s relatively easy to get so much credit, I think unless you’re in control it must be really easy to get into quite bad debt.”
Unfortunately, she’s not wrong. In 2016, Money Advice Trust commissioned YouGov to conduct an online survey of 18-24-year olds. Key findings revealed worrying figures including 37% of young people have turned to credit cards, loans and overdrafts as a source of funding1. The pandemic did not help this with a large proportion of 18-24-year-olds increasing their use of Buy Now Pay Later schemes such as Klarna2.
Continuing on this subject, this Moneyhubber goes on to explain that she feels Open Banking and money management technology are a potential solution to this problem. Speaking about her sons specifically, she admits that whilst they don’t use Moneyhub, the Monzo savings pots are what she deems to be a “lifesaver”.
Although she does concede when asked that she doesn’t believe there is much around to educate or raise awareness about the value of Open Banking.
When asked her golden nugget of advice, “Save something for a rainy day.”
1. https://www.fincap.org.uk/en/insights/borrowed-years-a-spotlight-briefing-on-young-people--credit-and-debt
2. https://themoneycharity.org.uk/money-stats-june-2021-pandemic-heavily-disrupts-young-peoples-financial-lives/
