Let’s be real: money apps usually suck. Most of them expect you to be a spreadsheet wizard and forget that life happens. And adulting? It’s actually really hard, thank you very much.
Right now, 4.2 million young people in the UK are feeling that tight knot of financial anxiety in their stomach. If you’re one of them, know this: it’s not just you, and it’s not your fault. We’re on a mission for fairer finance, and we’ve been doing the homework to prove how we can actually make things better.
In 2022, we teamed up with the psychologists at the University of Plymouth to put our app to the test with 85 young adults (mostly students, with an average age of 21). We wanted to know: can a bit of psychoeducation and a friendly chatbot actually help you stress less?
The science of money confidence
Our research team used some heavy-duty maths (a multiple linear regression, for the data nerds) and found something major. It turns out your money anxiety isn't just about how much is in your bank account. It’s actually driven by two big things:
- Financial Confidence: That belief that you’re actually the boss of your money, and not the other way around.
- Financial Wellbeing: How secure and ‘well’ you feel about your money overall.
The data was clear: if your confidence is low, your anxiety is going to be high. In fact, these two things predicted over 54% of financial anxiety in our users. Makes sense! If you don't feel like you know what you're doing, of course you're going to feel stressed.
Real impact for real people
We invited our beta users to hang out with our chatbot for 6–8 weeks, exploring lessons on everything from the Hot Cross Bun model of CBT to how your emotions trigger "guilty" spending.
Here’s what we saw:
- The confidence boost: For our users who started out feeling the most vulnerable (like those living in more deprived areas or dealing with tight budgets), we saw a significant boost in their money confidence.
- Better vibes: We saw a clear trend toward improved financial wellbeing across the board.
- Goodbye, avoidance: In our focus groups, users told us they stopped doing the "scary bank notification" dance. Instead of closing their eyes and hoping for the best, they started turning notifications on and actually doing something about their money.
Why you loved our ‘social stories’
One of the coolest parts of the app is something called vicarious learning. In plain English? It’s learning through the eyes of other people so you can explore decisions in a simulated environment and not feel like you're being lectured. Our focus group participants loved this because it felt kind, not judgey.
Here’s what they had to say:
It didn't make me feel bad
- Feeling less “harsh” on themselves: Some users loved that no matter what choice they made in a scenario, the app reinforced them.
- The perfect balance: Others told us it helped them find that sweet spot, being smart with savings while still being allowed to have a good time and enjoy life.
- Not so taboo: Most users felt a huge sense of relief just being able to talk openly about money, realising it shouldn't be a "stigmatised thing."
What’s next: Good With for every life stage
This research was just the beginning. We learned that while raising awareness is great, you need a supportive hand to hold while you navigate the "adulting" transition. We also learned that money stress doesn’t just happen in our twenties!
That’s why we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to evolve our prototype app into a personalised ally for everyone. Based on test-user feedback, we moved away from an entirely chatbot-driven app. Instead, we’re building more interactive tools like digital journaling and tailored learning pathways based on your unique financial hurdles, expanding our reach into problem debt, financial exclusion (can’t get credit if you haven’t had credit), and fighting that impulsive urge to get. that. thing. right. now.
We’ll be sharing more with our latest case study landing later this year.
Want in? Get in touch here