Plum Review: Best Automatic Savings App
THIS POST WAS WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH PLUM
Plum is an online savings tool which works via its own app. Using an algorithm, the app works out how much you can comfortably afford to put aside. The clever app then moves the sum automatically into your e-wallet. It’s like having your own personal finance assistant!
Plum Fintech Limited was founded in 2016 and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The idea behind the company was to make saving easy and stress-free. I’ve used the Facebook chat bot to help save for Christmas, holidays and to build up my rainy day fund.
In this Plum review I share everything you need to know about the best automatic savings app including it’s best features and how it can save you money.
Table of Contents
Sign up to Plum to improve your finances
Is Plum safe?
Plum says money in this ‘wallet’ is held in a ring-fenced account via Payrnet, an FCA-authorised e-money institution. Funds should be sitting in a pooled account at a UK bank, and are not lent out, meaning your money is safe if Plum, Payrnet or the UK bank were to go bust. Thus, here are some of the safety precautions that the fintech company have in place:
- Plum only has read through access to your transaction data.
- They use symmetric cryptography (AES) to store sensitive data.
- 256-bit TLS encryption to communicate between the browser and their servers.
- They are a registered data controller and always act in compliance with the Data Protection Act.
- Their servers run on Amazon’s cloud (used by some of the biggest financial institutions in the world).
- The customer support team is ready to help you, 7 days a week.
Money in your Plum wallet doesn’t have FSCS protection. But is subject to strict European regulation, meaning that your money is safe. If you need more proof you can checkout the Trustpilot reviews.
Helping you to save money
Another feature of this clever budgeting app is the “lost money” tab. Plum highlight the areas that people often overpay including Energy, Credit Cards, Loans, Broadband and Insurance. They review what you’re paying for these services and attempt to find you a better deal.
To see if you could save money just click on the service you want them to review, enter how much you pay monthly, your supplier and a few personal details. They then create you a recommendation/find you a quote that could save you money.
My review of Plum
I’ve used Plum’s clever auto savings app for over a year now. I’ve found the app is easy to use and has a clean interface. I regularly use the round-ups feature and manage to save over £200 for Christmas every year.
“Round-ups is a feature that rounds up each of the previous week’s transactions to the nearest £1 and transfers the spare change to your Plum account every Monday! For example, if you spend £4.50 on a coffee, Plum will round that up to £5, moving 50p into your account.”
You can see some of the other savings features in the image. Additionally, the automatic saving option is an effortless way to put money aside and the payday feature makes making a percentage of your wage a habit. This is a great way to save money without even noticing. I start saving for Christmas at the start of each year so this feature is a great way to get ahead of that Christmas saving.
How to create an Plum account
Plum has apps on Android and iOS. Compatible banks include Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Danske Bank, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, M&S, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, Post Office Bank, RBS, Santander, Starling, TSB and Ulster Bank.
Sign up to Plum using our link below. Invite your friends to download the Plum app to earn up to £15.