A new app says it can save you hundreds of pounds a year by tracking your regular payments and alert you if you could be getting a better deal elsewhere. But is it really worth it?
Bean, a new money app for your smartphone, tracks your direct debit payments and could help you save £672 a year.
The app links to your bank accounts and credit cards, tracking all your direct debits and regular payments.
It will then highlight subscriptions that you are paying for but not using, warn you if one of your regular payments rises, and alert you if it thinks you could be getting a better deal elsewhere.
Skimming the fat
The people behind Bean say that 50% of our spending is done via recurring payments that most of us don’t keep track of. This means you could be spending as much as £223 a year on subscriptions that you don’t use.
Cancelling doesn't have to be a lengthy slog though – Bean can contact your bank and terminate unwanted subscriptions for you.
Bean also targets your household bills and checks to see if you could be getting a better energy or telecoms deal with a different provider. It will make recommendations that could improve your finances such as moving your credit card debt onto a 0% balance transfer credit card, or switching energy provider.
Once you’ve signed up you have to connect all your bank accounts to the app – you'll need to enter all of your login details to do this. Bean doesn’t store any of your banking login details; it uses the same third-party software that many of their banks use for their own internet accounts.
These login details will be added to your dashboard where you will be able to see all your regular payments.
Be careful
Entering your banking login details into a third party app that isn’t endorsed by your bank could land you in hot water.
You may be breaching your bank’s security rules, meaning that if something went wrong and criminals managed to access your account your bank may not refund you.
Read How to use mobile apps safely for more.
The app isn’t yet available to download via app stores but you can sign up via the Bean website.
The DIY alternative
All this being said, the app isn’t actually doing anything you can’t do yourself.
Give yourself a financial makeover without the app and you could save yourself hundreds of pounds without having to hand over all your banking login details.
In the time it takes you to remember all your passwords you could be going through your credit card bills and bank statements yourself to see what subscriptions you could cancel.
Start your makeover by comparing current accounts, credit cards, travel insurance, life insurance, mortgages, energy tariffs and more at the loveMONEY comparison centre.
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