Banking is moving into a new high tech universe. Like many other aspects of our lives the digital revolution is about the change the way we bank. We may even use Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or other social media platforms for our banking with the traditional bank relegated to providing wholesale services.

Here is what I think:

Banks have got us by the short and curlies.

Whichever way we turn there are fees, fees, and more fees. The mainly Aussie-owned banks keep their shareholders very happy with all the profit they earn from us. Sometimes it even feels like they have an intravenous line hooked up to our wallets. We get hit when we go overseas with fees at both ends to withdraw our money. What’s more there are overseas margins charged on transactions we make when we buy in person overseas or via the internet.

What about banking of the future?

Well, overseas there are banks offering services that are light years ahead of what we have here in New Zealand. Take Monzo bank in the UK or Simple in the US. Instead of a traditional bank account as your home screen you view your money through your budget as a landing page and can see how you’re tracking for the month. They allow you to set targets for monthly spending, show you at a glance what’s safe to spend and send notifications when you’re spending too quickly. Imagine that?

Yeah. Let’s get going.

Hold on there. Monzo or other banks can’t just set up shop in New Zealand. They need to get a banking or non-bank deposit taker licence from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which involves jumping through more than a few hoops. But never say never. We will get this type of service eventually from our existing banks or quite likely from a nimble start-up.

Do I even need a bank?

Quite right. In the future we could do our banking on our social media account. Why can’t our PayPal account or Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, or even Alipay from Chinese giant Alibaba. become our banks? We can already, for example, send money to others via PayPal if we have their email address. With their reach, social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram can run banking type features. In the US you can already send money to a friend via Facebook Messenger. All you do is open a message, tap the $ icon and add your debit card to send the money. There are other peer-to-peer payments systems. In China WeChat offers financial services and some say there’s a battle raging to become the WeChat of the West.

What about Bitcoin and other crypto currencies?

Bring it on. I can’t wait until I can go on holiday, to say, Brazil, walk into a local change house and swap the equivalent of $NZ100 or $NZ500 of Bitcoin for local currency for a few cents charge. This is already happening on a small scale. An example I’ve come across is Filipino workers in the United States who send Bitcoin back to their families, who then cash it in locally. And in the US there are Bitcoin ATMs, which allow you to withdraw your Bitcoin in local dollars. Bitcoin doesn’t need a bank and can be managed on your smartphone.

But what about now?

You’ll have to hope that someone has the balls to open up a Monzo equivalent in New Zealand. With a service like this you can use your account abroad with no nasty charges, which is amazing for regular travellers or those who want to transfer money to friends, relatives and others overseas or buy online.

It won’t be long before banking gets a whole lot more efficient in terms of time and cost.

Banks are quaking in their boots. They could be the next industry to get the digital goodbye kiss. The reality is that we may not even need banks in the future. They’re just middlemen and that’s something that digital technology can do. Right?

The post What does the bank of the future look like? appeared first on Credit Simple NZ.

There’s a lot of buzz around smart homes, smart cars and smart appliances these days. And it can be pretty tempting to look at that big old TV in the corner and wonder if swapping it for a $5000 “smart” model might be a good idea.

At Credit Simple, we’re all about living smarter, but ideally without the big price ticket. So what’s a person to do?

We reckon buying a “smart appliance” is hardly ever the answer. You’re far better off “smartifying” the things you already have. The world is full of gadgets, widgets and dongles (oh my!) that can connect to the appliances you already have with a minimum of fuss, giving the things you already have a range of smart capabilities at a much lower cost. As a bonus, you’re protecting yourself against obsolescence too… just upgrade your outdated TV dongle rather than the whole TV.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can smartify your appliances and your life.

It’s showtime! Smartening up your TV

Four letters: HDMI. If your TV has this socket in the back, you’re ready to plug in some serious smarts. For under $100, a Google Chromecast will turn your TV into an internet connected device, putting Netflix, Lightbox, YouTube and more at your fingertips (some of these will need a paid subscription… but check if your broadband provider offers any for free). A Chromecast Audio dongle ($70) will wirelessly connect your stereo to your phone or laptop too, making it easy to turn your favourite Spotify playlist or streaming radio station up to 11.

For a bit over $200, you can add an Apple TV. Again, this plugs you into a world of online content including paid movies via the iTunes store and a world of free stuff. (Apple TV also provides YouTube and Netflix.)

Wake up and smell the (computer controlled) coffee

Imagine waking up knowing your coffee machine had turned itself on 30 minutes earlier and was hot and ready to go. Or coming home to a house warmed by heaters that switched on as you left the office.

You don’t need fancy pants appliances to do either of these. A wireless smart switch (about $80) plugs into the wall to power your appliance and is controlled from a smartphone app. You can either turn your appliances on and off remotely from your phone, or set schedules (great for controlling lamps to make your house look lived in when you’re on holiday). Some models even track energy use, so you can find out just how much juice that espresso machine is using.

Staying safe and sound

Plug-in smart technology can be an affordable way to keep your home and family safe too. Security cameras are super affordable, and brands like Nest, Panasonic and Arlo use your home’s wifi to send images to an online server so you can check with your phone if you’re out and they detect motion. Unlike traditional systems, you don’t need to wire them in, so when you move house you can take your system with you. Spark’s Morepork also offers complete systems, although these come with a monthly subscription cost too.

Smartish technology even has you covered if there’s a fire. The Roost smart smoke alarm battery ($35US online) looks like the 9-volt battery your existing smoke alarms use (you do have smoke alarms, right?) but includes a wife transmitter that tells your Roost app when the alarm is triggered (and sends you a message when the battery is low, rather than beeping at you at 3am).

Light up your life

Always wanted fancy colour-changing mood lighting that you can control from your phone? OK, no one has really always wanted that, but now that you know about it you have to admit it sounds cool. Smart LED lightbulbs combine low energy use with the ability to change colours to suit your mood. A wife transmitter is built right into the bulb, so you can control the lights via a central base station and app. Philips Hue is the brand to look for and kits start at $200.

The post Forget smart appliances … why smartifying your old ones is the way to go appeared first on Credit Simple NZ.

Robots – artificial intelligence, chatbots, robo-advisors and the rest – are big news in the banking and finance industry.

Packaging financial smarts into a programme or algorithm looks like a great way for big banks, insurance companies and airlines to help guide customers through complicated decisions and save (the company) money along the way.

It’s early days though, and chatting with a robot can sometimes feel a bit like, well, chatting with a robot.

Take this experience I had the other day with UK-based money transfer service TransferWise. I was keen to try it out, so messaged its Facebook chatbot and told it I’d like to transfer some Swiss francs (which, full disclosure, I do not have) to a friend in Australia (ditto). Everything went well until the bot asked me how much money I’d like to send. The bot was pretty chatty up to this point, so I thought I’d try answering like a human.

“How much money in Swiss Francs would you like to send?”

“About a million?” (Question marks at the end of a sentence are pretty Kiwi, I reckon)

This threw my electronic friend into a bit of a tiz.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. How much would you like to send?”

“A million, mate. I’d like to send a million.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. How much would you like to send?”

“A mill. You know, a thousand thousands.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. How much would you like to send?”

“Are you deaf? Did you not see Austin Powers? ONE MILLION DOLLARS”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. How much would you like to send?”

I stopped talking at that point. For all I know, the bot is still there waiting for me to say something.

Bots, then, aren’t quite ready to save our financial lives (or, thankfully,  kill us by not opening the pod bay doors). The good news though is that there are a few simple things we can do with technology right now that can save us money, avoid missing payments and give us that smug feeling that only comes with having your financial shizzle in one sock.

Alert! Alert!

Your computer or phone’s calendar is a great tool, and alarms aren’t just for getting you out of bed. Late payment fees suck (not to mention the possible effect on your, cough, credit score), so when a bill comes in, make an appointment for its due date and set an alarm so you’re reminded to pay it. Set recurring appointments for monthly or quarterly payments (if you prefer not to go down the direct debit track).

Shop around without driving around

That computer, TV, Bluetooth speaker or lawnmower you want might cost $100 less in a shop you’ve never heard of than at the big brand place. Or vice versa. Price comparison sites like PriceMe are a great way to see what’s on offer.

Call time out on impulse purchases

Amazon 1-click is a great w

ay to order the things you want quickly, and a terribly easy way to burn through your money. Amazon Contemplate is a plug-in for your Google Chrome web browser that gives you a 30-second cooling off period to reconsider that purchase before finally committing. (You might want to try a more manual method too: dip into your web browser settings and remove your stored credit cards… the time it takes you to go and find your wallet next time you want to buy something might be just what it takes to change your mind. Here are the instructions for Google and Microsoft.)

Park your expenses

Car parking in our big cities can be super expensive. What if you could park in someone’s drive (or an empty supermarket parking space) for a lower rate than a carparking building) AND rent out your own drive while you’re at work? Kiwi app Parkable does just that and so far lists 3000 spaces around Wellington and Auckland (soz, Taihape!).

Make a new plan, Stan

Well, a budget. Budgeting apps are a great way to get a handle on where the money goes each week, and awesome Kiwi life-advice site Oversixty.co.nz has listed its top 10 favourite budgeting apps for iPhone and Android. They’re mostly free, too!

The post Five ways technology can save you money appeared first on Credit Simple NZ.