INSPIRATION

Cleo - AI chatbot

For answering questions about your spending

Innovation | Finance

Cleo is an AI-powered chatbot helping users change the way they look after their money. Hosted via Facebook Messenger (Facebook is just the platform Cleo uses, but the company can’t access your banking data), the chatbot can provide insights into spending across multiple accounts and credit cards, all broken down by transaction, category or merchant. Users can ask questions about their current balance and how much they have spent on what, as well as set budgets and other types of alerts.

When it comes to managing your money, the digital financial assistant offers more seamless, integrated capabilities than traditional online banking. ‘Nobody needs to be a bank to replace your banking app,’ co-founder Barney Hussey-Yeo told TechCrunch, referring to Cleo’s potential as a disruptor.

All of this is packaged in a playful conversational interface. From a user experience perspective, the use of emoji, gifs and a purposefully overfamiliar personality make Cleo a breath of fresh air in the finance sector. By offering a more engaging way for users to understand their outgoings, the chatbot is encouraging a generation of non-savers to save, set goals and take control of their finances.