Despite the hype, most Millennials haven’t the time, expertise or motivation to scour the internet for the latest financial tech products. One did, though, and that’s how the Moneysupermarket for his generation was born.
Bud is the brainchild of 26-year-old Ed Maslaveckas. He explains: ‘There’s so much talk about how Millennials love tech, distrust the big banks and are desperate to embrace new things. This is true up to a point, but the problem is you’d have to really love finance to properly research the hundreds of products that are out there. Most people have neither the time, knowhow or the inclination to do this.’
This is where Bud, which goes live on 1 July 2016, comes in. ‘Bud users,’ Ed continues, ‘can log onto their current bank account and then find the best deals in foreign exchange, savings personal loans and investments. We’re Moneysupermarket for Millennials – and much more. Users access all their products within Bud, and can buy from our partners while they’re still within the platform. What we’ve created is independent, universal banking for my generation and anyone else who wants to make their money work harder for them.’
And despite the emergence of “challenger” banks, just 124,615 current account switches were made in March 2016, out of a total of 51 million UK accounts. Ed explains: ‘The challenger banks are an excellent development, but at the end of the day they’re still banks, selling services only from their preferred partners. Bud is completely impartial, we want users to have the very best products for them, at the very best rates, regardless of who they bank with.’
Less fintech savvy Bud users are guided through a series of lifestyle questions to help them make the most of the platform. ‘We love what fintech can do,’ Ed says. ‘But most Millennials neither know, or probably care, what it is. They just want results. They’re happy to embrace new technology and ways of doing things, but what they really want is one destination that helps them make the most of their money, speaks their language and that they can trust.’
Bud, which has been self-funded to the tune of £150,000, is based in London’s Silicon Roundabout, and is currently in discussions with VCs to fund its UK and international expansion.
A number of leading fintech companies have already signed on to Bud including: global money app, Revolut; peer to peer money market place CurrencyFair; digital payments company, BitGold; currency exchange, World First, and online investment platform, Crowdcube. ‘There are so many great fintech products out there. We want Bud to become the number one place for Millennials use them,’ Ed says.