HYDERABAD: Can we afford to splurge on all those cool things we are seeing on offer on Flipkart and Amazon? Every day we need to make multiple financial decisions, perhaps, to buy a new iPhone 12, a stylish dress for Dasara, that swanky new car, shining new fridge, or just how much money to invest. Usually our financial data is scattered around multiple accounts, which makes it difficult to make an optimal decision.
Now, there is an app that lets you use your financial data to make a choice. FIGG, a Hyderabad-based start-up helps users make informed financial decisions. It brings all data to one place automatically and helps users understand the impact of their decisions.
The app is targeted at millennials and Gen Z. Why? Sachin Gupta, 37, CEO and founder, FIGG comments: “Although they are digitally savvy, they have limited financial understanding. They usually have no personal connections for financial advice in the city they live in, and being digital savvy makes a good user base for our application.”
What prompted him to make this app? Sachin answers, “From my personal experience, making financial decisions is difficult given the complex financial landscape. Most of the time, users keep delaying financial decisions, keep money at the wrong places, or take advice from wrong people.” Sachin who has experience in building large-scale systems in AI and ML says that there are apps that make it easy to invest in shares or mutual funds. However, he says, “There is not any player in the market that can give a user a comprehensive financial view and help in everyday financial decisions.”
Making financial decisions easy
Sachin, an alumnus of IIIT-Hyderabad, says that the app brings all the users’ data to one place automatically and helps them understand the impact of their decisions. He explains, “Most financial advice available on the internet is quite generic in nature and doesn’t apply directly to most users. The app helps users by providing personalised advice based on their financial situation without much effort from them.”
The impact and affordability calculator helps users check how making certain decisions will impact their financial well-being. Sachin says, “For example, if a youngster with limited finances buys an expensive phone, this might impact their monthly commitments. However, for a person with a high salary, buying the same won’t make any difference, other than fewer investments during the period.”
Another feature is a simplified score to represent users’ financial health. Finance is complex and has different aspects. “It is difficult to track and understand the impact of different aspects for a user,” adds he. The app that went live last month has a user base of about 20,000. Currently available on Android, they plan to be on iOS by the end of the year and also have a web application.
— Tamanna S Mehdi
tamanna@newindianexpress.com @tamannamehdi