Meet your new Facebook friend – the automatic savings app that lives in Messenger

MSE_Luke

'While many of us may have 'friends' on Facebook we haven't spoken to in years, it's unlikely you're connected with a robot – though with the new wave of 'chatbot' tech, this looks set to change.'

Read MSE Rosie's full blog: 'Your new Facebook friend? The automatic savings app that lives in Messenger'[URL=

Malthusian

So I give it my bank account details (including the ability to read my statements) and in return it will move small amounts of money from an account on which I don't earn interest to another account on which I don't earn interest? (Except through a temporary MSE deal which only lasts six months.) And, utterly inexplicably, isn't FSCS-protected?

As the cool kids say on Facebook - what

Vortigern

As discussed previously:

Plum or Chip

Not for me

Biggles

The main aim of Plum is to get people saving effortlessly, squirrelling away small amounts that its algorithm decides you can afford every few days, based on your spending.
So I'll never know how much is in my acount at any given time? No thanks.

I don't see any mention of sending it back immediately when you need it.
No thanks.

Will Plum pay me any interest? Usually, no.
No thanks.

your money isn’t protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
No thanks.

I think that's the full set, no one can say it isn't comprehensive.

Plus

404 not found. How interesting. I think somebody pressed the delete button. I wonder why MSE decided to promote it?

AnotherJoe

These sort of apps are for the financially inept.

You also have to wonder, once someone's given their passwords away, where do they stand with FCS protection if they are hacked, even if its nothing to do with these apps ? They must also be providing a very tempting target to attack.

colsten

Did someone hack MSE Luke's and MSE Rosie's accounts?

Malthusian

AnotherJoe wrote: »

You also have to wonder, once someone's given their passwords away, where do they stand with FCS protection if they are hacked, even if its nothing to do with these apps ?

Well, FSCS protection we can rule out entirely because the FSCS doesn't cover hacking or bank fraud at all.

As for whether your bank would be liable under Payment Services Regulations, giving someone else your login and password is usually explicitly against your bank's terms and conditions, and doing it is a slam-dunk argument for them that you were grossly negligent and are therefore liable for your losses. You lose, good day sir.

I could not find anything on Plum's website about whether they have agreed with the banks that their customers can give them their online banking passwords. Maybe it's tucked away in an obscure FAQ but it should be on the front page.

Plum claim they don't "store" login details and the login details are kept by a third party called Yodlee, but the login details must pass through them and are therefore vulnerable to hacking either via Plum or via Yodlee.

If MSE has decided they're not going to promote Plum anymore then simply pretending it didn't happen is not good enough. They should formally retract the article and tell their readers not to put their savings at risk of both fraud and counterparty default for no good reason whatsoever.

Malthusian

For those who didn't see the article before MSE deleted it without explanation, here is Google's cached version.

ColdIron

The article is still up, just not with the link in post #1
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/2016/12/15/get-up-to-5-interest-with-the-app-that-automates-your-saving/

Malthusian

No, that's a different article. That article was about Chip and is from December 2016, this was about Plum and was posted on March 2. See my link to Google's cached version.