224 – Chatbots: Helping Your Finances or Up-selling?

Financial technology, or fin-tech, has come a long way. Much more than just a budgeting app, now you can do your banking, money management, investing and even borrowing, online. In addition to apps, fin-tech companies are following the chatbot trend. On today’s show I talk with Alan Whitton, (known as the Big Cajun Man), who has spent 35 years working in the tech industry, about whether chatbots are good for us financially and security issues around fin-tech in general.

Alan interestingly points out that there isn't a lot of fin-tech companies helping people get out of debt. Most fin-tech companies go where the big money is - and that's selling new stuff.  There are very few apps that tell you to prioritize savings, create an emergency fund, or pay off debt.  Instead, we hear about robo-investors and companies like Borrowell that make a lot of money offering 'free' credit scores to entice you to borrow more.

Are chatbots just a sales pitch, or can they really help us?  Tune in for more on today’s show.