Cleo, a London-based startup, has developed a chatbot that helps people manage their finances. The company has recently received funding from a number of angel investors, including Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom. Zennstrom has invested his personal assets instead of going through the VC firm he founded, Atomico.
Cleo can be accessed either through the Cleo app or Facebook Messenger, and through integration with Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa. This AI-powered financial assistant allows you to ask it about your current bank account balance, how much you’ve spent at what store, and set budget or spending reminders. CEO Barney Hussey-Yeo wants to make “managing your money incredibly simple” and says that typical users are young professionals and graduates. He also notes that the “manage your money” space is increasingly competitive. With companies racing to become the financial interface of this generation, Cleo has managed to make money management mobile, which I feel has a lot of potential for the millennial generation. The concept seems very convenient and easy to use, however, I would be concerned about the security of the application handling banking information.
I see the potential in this technology, as not everybody is good at keeping track of spending or hangs on to their receipts. The alert system could be the most useful aspect of the technology. I agree with you that the biggest question facing the developers is the security of the app, as a hacker could use it to access one’s financial data and spending habits.