NatWest to trial new personal finance app

New innovative personal finance app from NatWest – A virtual personal assistant to help customers manage their financial life

NatWest are trialling a new companion to the NatWest app called Mimo, which has been designed to help customers save time, save money and enjoy financial peace of mind.

Mimo will help customers budget, remind them of the financial tasks they need to do and provide proactive and personal insights into their money, looking at their bills or day-to-day spending, as well as insurance, subscriptions and utilities and will be able to take direct action for them — bringing them the best deals in the market.

Chief Digital Officer for NatWest, Frans Woelders said:

“We know that customers want to keep better track of their money, but find it hard to find the time or the motivation to manage the admin around that, so we’ve developed Mimo to make it easy, simple, and as straightforward as possible to keep on top of their finances.”

Research and customer feedback has shown that customers lack the time or motivation to manage their life admin, resulting in them forgetting important tasks such as paying their credit card bill, thus incurring unnecessary charges, or missing opportunities to save money.

Mimo has been designed to help make their financial life easier and uses contemporary technologies, including Open Banking APIs, AI and data analytics to help customers manage their money, and show them new insights about their finances.

Mimo Lead, Calvin O’Brien said:

NatWest serves customers in England, Wales and Western Europe, supporting them with their personal, private, and business banking needs. NatWest helps customers from opening student accounts, to buying their first home, setting up a business, and saving for retirement.

Alongside a wide range of banking services, NatWest offers businesses specialist sector knowledge in areas such as manufacturing and technology, as well as access to specialist entrepreneurial support.

NatWest has been running MoneySense, an impartial financial education programme for 5–18 year-olds, for more than 21 years. By the end of 2018, NatWest will help another 1 million young people to understand and take control of their finances.

“Our aim for Mimo is that it will help customers have a better overview of their financial life and help them achieve their financial goals from the ease of their own phone. It’s important that the app reflects customers’ needs to be as useful as possible.

“We’ve already trialled Mimo with 50 colleagues, so I hope that by extending the trial our customers will tell us what they think of it, and where we can improve it.”

The latest version of the app is currently being trialled with a select number of customers and colleagues, who will provide feedback to help optimise Mimo before it’s rolled out further this year.