Tandem app to alert users to rising bills

Tandem app to alert users to rising bills

Tandem Bank is using an artificial intelligence engine to alert users to sneaky rises in regularly recurring bill payments.

The Tandem App tracks spending on regular monthly debits and then lets customers know if the amount they’re being charged - whether for utility bills or magazine and entertainment subscriptions - has increased.

Where relevant the bank also uses a marketplace to suggest some cheaper alternatives to a customer’s current provider, and promises to split the commission that the bank earns for a switch with the customer themselves.

Ricky Knox, Tandem CEO, says: “Tandem was created to remove the stress from money management. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the money leaving your account each month and this is especially true when the amount is going up. No one wants to pay more than they need to because this can prevent you from getting on with the good stuff in life.”

Comments: (5)

Robin Setty
Robin Setty - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford 30 July, 2018, 09:251 like 1 like

Hmmmmm.....This one actually sounds like a worthwhile innovation from a Challenger - a real value add in money management.

Ketharaman Swaminathan
Ketharaman Swaminathan - GTM360 Marketing Solutions - Pune 30 July, 2018, 09:451 like 1 like

@RobinSetty + 1. I especially like the innovation of splitting the commission for switch with the customer:) On a side note, I'm curious how the alert will work for utility bills, given that energy consumption tends to swing widely through the year due to differing heating / AC needs (1-4X range in my case).

Robin Setty
Robin Setty - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford 30 July, 2018, 09:541 like 1 like

@Ketharaman, Often in the UK, the estimated annual consumption is split evenly across the year to avoid monthly variances.  And yes - whilst customers should be written to if the monthly fee is increasing, that often gets lost amongst the numerous promotional emails! An alert from the Bank would be much more visible.

Ketharaman Swaminathan
Ketharaman Swaminathan - GTM360 Marketing Solutions - Pune 30 July, 2018, 10:04Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

@RobinSetty: Now that you mention it, I recollect that. But, in this case, wouldn't this alert be useless? If the monthly charge is forcibly kept constant, then the monthly debit is not going to change from one month to another, so an alert whose job is to notify changes in "regular monthly debits" will find no changes and will do nothing.

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 30 July, 2018, 10:06Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Monzo have been doing this for months...

Interestingly, the story doesn't say whether this relates to the Tandem credit card, or any other current account you have connected.  As far as I know, Tandem do not offer their own current account.

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