In its first venture into spending products, Plum has announced the launch of its degradable debit card, consolidating its position as a comprehensive money app.
The card is designed to round out Plum’s budgeting features and help customers track their spending. Initially ‘Plum Ultra’ customers will be the first to have access to the card at no additional cost.
Plum users will no longer have to transfer money from their Plum account in order to spend it. Users can load funds both from a linked external bank account and from money set aside in the Plum app. They can then set an allowance within which to spend.
The card itself is being provided by Railsr and manufactured by Allpay, and will be ‘eco degradable’. Plum reports that the card is entirely recyclable and compostable under the right conditions: composed of 57% sea salt and 43% crude oil, with an additive which accelerates degradation.
Plum won’t incur additional charges when spending abroad, and will allow users to spend at Visa’s daily exchange rate, with no extra fees.
Victor Trokoudes, CEO and co-founder of Plum commented: “Our vision is for Plum to be the only personal finance app you need […] The Plum Card is a huge step forward in that direction. We want to simplify money management for our customers at every stage in their financial lifecycle. This card will give Plum users even better visibility and control of their finances, as they can set their own spending allowances. This means they can properly compartmentalise their spending.”
Lia Papageorgiou, product manager at Plum, added: "The card is amongst the Plum community’s most-requested features, and it’s been incredibly satisfying to bring that to fruition for our customers.”
The move into a debit card is just the latest in a new raft of features to be released in 2022, following its commissions-free stock investment platform it launched in May.