Moven launches UK money monitoring app

Brits can download the free iOS and Android app, link it to their bank accounts, and let it monitor and track their spending habits, giving them a picture of how much and where they have spent that month.

The app, developed in just four weeks, marks the latest evolution for Moven, which initially pitched itself in its home market of the US as one of a host of mobile-based alternatives to traditional banks.

But these upstarts have found the market tough to crack, as evidenced by news last week that BBVA Compass has taken writedowns of nearly $90 million on the $117 million it paid for neobank poster boy Simple.

In 2014 Moven looked to expand outside of America by embracing the traditional banks it had once railed against, striking licensing deals with Canada’s TD Bank and WestPac in New Zealand, giving them access to money tracking services similar to the new UK app.

Now, in another new strategy, it is launching its own branded app in the UK, once again pushing its outsider status. Insisting that millennials are scarred by the 2008 financial crisis and avoid banks, Moven is promising to act as an intermediary, helping to “rebuild” relationships.

Brett King, CEO and founder, Moven, says: “Going by our quick release of the UK platform, we can’t wait to start working with other bank partners in the UK and across the rest of Europe. That way, we can further our aim of helping millions of people across the world monitor their spending and get saving.”

Quizzed about UK banking interest in the app, Taylor Woolsey, business development manager at Moven says: “We’re having many discussions in the region but are not in a position to make a specific public statement in this regard.”