Oval Money, a leading savings and financial education app, has now launched for Android and is available on Google Play.
Having launched for iOS in April, Oval Money has quickly become one of the most popular apps that help users save and learn more about how to manage their finances.
Work on the Android version began soon after the iOS launch, as a waiting list on Google Play quickly grew. In addition to the UK, strong demand in countries like Italy, Spain and Germany, where the majority of smartphones run Android, convinced Oval Money to bring forward their Android launch date.
“In the past six months, over 5,000 people have either joined the Android waitlist or written to us directly to ask when our Android app was going to launch,” said Benedetta Arese Lucini, CEO of Oval Money. “We were hearing from individuals whose friends were using Oval on iOS and had recommended the app. It was amazing to see the word of mouth in action, and to know that the Android community was going to welcome our app if we accelerated its development.”
Oval Money recently concluded a closed-beta of the Android version of the app, drawing on the feedback of 150 handselected users. Those who download Oval for Android can expect to see immediate and significant improvements in their personal savings habits. On average, Oval users set aside an average of £120 per month, and a new Facebook integration, allowing users to contribute to their savings each time they post on social media, is expected to help users grow that figure even further.
According to the latest Aviva Family and Finances report, the average British household maintains just over £3,000 in savings and investments. Yet, one-in-four UK households has less than £100 pounds saved. For families and individuals it can be a constant challenge to make saving contributions regularly, and to grow savings sufficiently so that investing with a long-term outlook even becomes a possibility.
“We are excited to be bringing Oval to Android. Android users are famous for being some of the most engaged and vocal early adopters, and we know that the feedback and engagement we are going to receive will help us improve the app in countless ways,” said company COO Claudio Bedino.
Oval Money is planning a crowdfunding campaign in November as it seeks to expand its offering with a marketplace in which will curate and arrange financial products and services for its users. The company was founded by Benedetta Arese Lucini, former CEO of Uber Italy, with Claudio Bedino and Edoardo Benedetto, co-founders of do-it-yourself crowdfunding platform Starteed.com, and Simone Marzola, long-time expert in Machine Learning and Artificial intelligence with previous start-ups and now Oval’s CTO. Combining Simone’s background in big-data solutions to everyday problems, Benedetta’s previous experience in growing a consumer app from the ground up and Claudio and Edoardo’s deep understanding of crowd-sourced solutions, Oval Money is well positioned to emerge as the most innovative solution to personal finance.