If you are worried or concerned about your finances, particularly how they may change in the near future, you are far from alone. Individuals, businesses and families around the world face anxiety over the current recession and the cost of living crisis. Advice is everywhere, but at times so difficult to decipher and understand.
You need to manage the money you have coming in, handle your budgets, put aside savings and loan repayments and, if you have anything left over, consider where to invest it to protect your future. Dealing with all of this uncertainty and the financial pressure we are all under can feel overwhelming at best. Where can you turn for help? You may be surprised to know that the solution may have been in your pocket all along: your handy, trusty, cell phone.
Mobile phones have been part of the everyday technological landscape for decades. A handheld communication device has been a vision since the very early days of telephone engineering, as far back as the year 1917. This vision came to be a reality when the first mobile phone was developed in 1973. This amazing new invention revolutionised communication.
Now, perhaps to our detriment, many of us are always accessible, always reachable, always able to receive communication. In this modern age, after years of advancement and development in the technology, there are even more mobile phones in use across the world than there are people to use them. While the global population stands at around 7.9 billion, there are 10.98 billion mobile connections. Clearly, the use of a mobile phone is widespread.
From this small device that fits in the palm of your hand, you can make video calls around the world, play interactive games, browse the internet, navigate to a new destination, track your fitness levels, even pay for your weekly food shopping. Therefore, it makes sense that such a valuable tool could be utilised when it comes to handling finances. Do you really know just how powerful your phone truly is? From knowing how to add insurance card to Apple Wallet, to using apps to manage your income and expenses, your mobile phone could be the key to helping you navigate more than your way home from work, but through the stormy seas of the current financial crisis.
Technology Can Be a Helping Hand
Mobile apps are not new, but financial apps relatively are. Mobile phones became a more convenient way to make purchases, transfer money, get an overview of your bank account and making bookings. The pandemic was a catalyst to the exponential growth in mobile phone usage for financial reasons as physical banks had to close, cash became a plague-ridden blight that everyone wanted to avoid, and hence online payments and mobile card payments became the new normal. As regulations around banking have also developed, open banking has been able to turn to open financing which allows data sharing to be possible between a variety of financial products. This means that there are now more ways than ever to access financial services, safe in the knowledge that the data you use and rely on is protected. Now that third parties have access to your financial information, it opens the way for even more ways to find financial assistance. Now, the power is with you to make well informed financial decisions with the help of a variety of different applications to assist you in doing so.
Arm Yourself with the Right Applications
Now it’s time to find the right app for you and your finances. There are so many to choose from, and it can feel daunting when looking for one that will fit your needs and is reliable and trustworthy too. Besides, this is the most important information you hold, all of the value you possess. You want to make sure you leave it in secure, capable hands. A great number of people have the desire to move digital, but the fear of the unknown is holding many of them back from taking the leap. People have problems talking about money at the best of times, and technology isn’t a favourite topic for many either. Combine the two and you have a recipe for complete terror!
However, think about all the time and energy you put in to budgeting and money managing. In many ways, while it is key to dealing with financial stress, it somewhat adds to it as you sit and agonise over the figures and worry about your decisions. This is why financial applications worth the investment. There are some that take care of everything for you, regularly readjusting your budgets and updating your spending so that you don’t have to spend every minute of the day worrying about money. These invaluable hands-off apps allow you to achieve your financial goals without needing you to think about them all the time. You can easily gain an overview of your financial situation while the app takes care of your bills and budgets without you needing to do a thing.
Technology isn’t just helping individuals with their finances – it’s supporting businesses too. Companies now are often relying on technology to handle their budgets, spending and investments. With these powerful tools to hand, businesses can make insightful, well-informed decisions based on real-time data and evidence backed facts. This great intelligence is proving to be a lifeline during this turbulent time of economic uncertainty. Whether you are a mum looking to manage the household bills or a financial director looking to manage company funds, there will be an app for you!
Help is Just a Tap Away
You don’t need to navigate financial storms alone, blindly tossed around by opposing advice. Take control – it’s easier than you think! Trial a few apps and find one that fits your needs. When you see how much time, effort and (most importantly!) money you save, you will wonder why you never took the leap to technological before!
