Fintech start-up Douugh scores partnership with US mutual bank Choice
Sydney-based fintech start-up Douugh has scored a partnership with US mutual bank Choice Financial, as it readies to launch its smart banking personal assistant, Sophie.
As part of the open banking partnership, Douugh will launch an integrated bank account and debit card with the bank, giving it the ability to accept deposits. Choice Financial has also invested in Douugh, as part of a $2.5 million seed round.
Founder and chief executive Andy Taylor, who was also a co-founder of successful peer-to-peer lending platform SocietyOne, told The Australian Financial Review he wanted to reduce society’s reliance on credit cards and help people save money.
“I’ve always been quite passionate about the whole financial wellness piece around banking. When I was doing a lot of research, we realised credit cards were a bit of a cancer on society,” he said.
“Looking at the future of banking, it was also clear artificial intelligence would play a pretty big role. We have no aspiration to be a bank … but we have a bold mission and that’s to get people financially healthier and get them out of debt and living within their means.”
The AI assistant Sophie analyses a person’s spending habits and helps them manage their money by allowing them to set budgets, which Sophie will ensure they stick to by providing recommendations about their spending.
Sophie will also be able to eliminate bill shock by predicting what a person’s electricity or water bill will be during the year thanks to historical data, or utilising weather patterns to predict if there’s going to be surge pricing on Uber rides over the weekend.
The company is already conducting beta testing, with users able to link their bank accounts to Sophie.
“We start by setting spending targets so you can budget in an automated way. On the savings side we have provisions for a rainy-day fund to ensure everyone has a three-month buffer and then Sophie gets you saving based on your goals,” Mr Taylor said.
“So long as she has a 360-degree view of your spending, she can tell you to move money between accounts because you’re about to go into overdraft, she’ll know what bills are coming up and she’ll be able to tell you want to expect. If you blow your budget on coffee, she can also tell you the flow-on effects.”
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