Member Article

Meet the new Moneybox app which is aiming to get Millennials into investing

London startup Moneybox has today (Wednesday) officially launched its app on the App Store after raising £3.4m in funding in the past year.

The app aims to simplify the investment process and get savings shy millennials to invest small amounts of their cash into a Stocks and Shares ISA by rounding up everyday card payments to the nearest pound.

It works by linking to a user’s bank account with spare change funnelled into one of three funds, which is then invested in major companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Apple through tracker funds run by Vanguard, BlackRock and Henderson.

Users are able to choose from cautious, balanced and adventurous plans, depending on how risky they would like the investments to be, and are also able to set up weekly payments and one-off payments into their ISA.

In exchange for the service, Moneybox charges a £1 per month subscription fee after the first three months and also takes 0.45% per year on the value of investments.

Ben Stanway, Co-founder of Moneybox commented: “The team has worked incredibly hard over the last year to create a way for people to invest, via three tracker funds, into thousands of leading companies around the world with a single swipe.

“We’re very proud to have made it possible to open an ISA in a couple of minutes from your mobile phone and get started with just £1.”

According to Ben, beta testing of the app has found that on average users save £8.40 a week in their digital spare change, equating to nearly £440 when spread across the year and there are high hopes that this form of microinvesting will encourage more 18-35 year olds to invest their earnings.

Coming hot on the heels of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) retail banking investigation earlier this month, the startup finds itself at the forefront of a big push by the government and finance firms for tech-based innovations in the sector.

Daniel Godfrey, the recently-appointed Non-executive Director who was previously Chief Executive of the Investing Association advisory body, believes the app is a breath of fresh air in a notoriously staid industry.

He added “It’s been eye-opening working with Moneybox to create something that will breathe new life into the savings and investment industry.

“We’re extremely excited to be launching a product that can truly engage young people with saving and investing – a solution which I believe is long overdue.”