4 fintechs and their winning social features
Once upon a time, social media and finance apps might’ve seemed like strange bedfellows.
People’s private financial lives, meet various platforms for oversharing. Not exactly a dream combo. But a new breed of fintechs are intelligently harnessing the power of community to increase financial literacy and deliver winning customer propositions. Let’s take a look at some of our favourites.
Public
Amateur investing has taken off in a big way in recent years. During the early days of the COVID pandemic, retail investing, partly fuelled by meme stocks, boomed. Kids took to trading like ducks to water. But no shortage of bad press and a looming cost-of-living crisis has put paid to the carefree approach of yesteryear.
Enter: Public. The app is determined to educate the next generation of investors by integrating intelligently with social media. Users can join like-minded communities, follow and interact with fellow investors and get a better idea of opportunities. The interface is easy to navigate and geared towards younger audience members, with trending topics clearly signposted. It all adds up to an intuitive, hassle-free experience.
Verse
Spanish fintech Verse is a payments app for sending, receiving and requesting money with ease. Among its suite of features, users can split bills, share expenses through ‘Groups’ and create events to track spend. But what separates Verse from the neobank pack is the social dimension - keep up with your friends’ financial activity and even browse activities from around the world. It’s a really unique way of removing the potential stigma associated with spending and talking about money. And with millions of us feeling the pinch as the cost-of-living crisis unfolds, visibility of your friends’ spending is also a great way to support each other when it comes to being frugal.
eToro
eToro is one of the most popular investment apps on the market. Since its inception in 2007, the eToro team have added a raft of great features - including the launch of stock investments and crypto trading in January of this year.
With access to thousands of assets, users can build a really diverse portfolio with the guidance of a rich community. It’s even possible to copy other investors’ strategies wholesale. Profiles, return percentages and risk levels are all fully visible. Featured investors are highlighted at the top and ranked against their peers by risk level and returns. And that’s not all - users can also browse investors’ social feeds and discover news, advice and market opinions. It’s not hard to see why eToro is leading the way when it comes to retail investment apps.
Daylight
Last but no means, Daylight rounds out our list of the best social fintech apps and features. The digital bank is on a mission to better extend financial services to the disenfranchised LGBTQ+ community. Users can access personalised recommendations through the family creation plan feature, apply for family-building grants and loans with support at every step, and focus on family planning with ‘Daylight Grow’.
One of the fintech’s most innovative features is the ‘Community’ tool. Users keep up with their friends’ spending behaviour and explore achievements, which reinforces positive habits. The feed resembles a classic social media feed. Daylight members can post and interact with their peers’ posts, adding a nice dimension of inclusion to the banking experience.
Social media and fintech, together at last
The companies above are all leading the way when it comes to marrying finance and social features. Some people are sceptical about this merge, particularly if it involves publicising extravagant purchases or promoting risky investment strategies. So it’s crucial to ensure that the right type of social features is included. This can include financial education, community building, and promoting informed, long-term investment strategies. Something we hope to see more of is social features related to green finance. For instance, community sharing and social features promoting responsible shopping, carbon offsetting and ethical investments. There’s a long way to go when it comes to social features and finance, but things have gotten off to an exciting start. Keep your eyes peeled for fintechs using social media to deliver winning propositions next year.
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