Is Technology Changing Personal Finances For The Better?

Advancements in technology have changed our world in many ways, including in looking after personal finances. Most of the transformations have made things a lot easier and faster, but with safety concerns and more of a disconnect as people rely more on computers and machines for their personal finances, is it changing everything for the better?

Online Banking

It’s around 20 years since the first banks started offering online services for their customers, allowing them to deposit, withdraw and transfer their personal savings between accounts. From opening a new savings account to a stocks and shares ISA, these options and many more can now be done from the comfort of your own home. Need to pay a friend quickly? You can even make transfers from your smartphone to pay them back instantly thanks to online banking services and apps.

Contactless Payment

One of the most recent technological developments has been that of contactless payments. Much like with online banking, this has made making payments a lot faster and easier, yet there remain security issues. For this reason, there is currently a £30 spending limit when using contactless payments, which increased from £20 after contactless card use surged. Over time it is likely that this amount will improve as well, although there are still some security issues that need sorting out first.

Financial Comparison Sites

If you’ve seen some of the adverts, you may immediately think that financial comparison sites are simply an annoyance. Yet for those who can remember a time before the internet and the popularity of financial comparison websites, they have made organising personal finances a lot more efficient.

Nowadays you can quickly find the bank with the best interest rate, the cheapest insurance quote or broker with the cheapest rates in minutes. Before you would have needed to spend a lot more time finding the details and comparing between competitors.

Aggregation Platforms

Aggregation platforms have taken off in the USA but are less popular in the UK at the moment. These use information from bank accounts, credit cards, savings, loans, mortgages, pensions, insurance and more and put them all in one place.

It allows users to view all their personal financial information in one place. The data can all be broken down into charts so you can track your progress and see how close you are to meeting aims. Under new European legislation you will be able to make transactions from these platforms as well.

Investments

Trading and investing to boost your personal finances has become a lot easier with the internet and other technological advances. In the past, you needed to use a broker to trade stocks and shares, currencies and other commodities. Now there are numerous online platforms, tablet and smartphone apps which allow you to make trades at the click of a button and from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

Improving Security

Issues surrounding online security have always been a threat to managing personal finances, whether banking online or making payments. There have been many improvements made to internet security to ensure the changes that are happening to personal finances remain as safe as possible. Encryption, authentication and regular security updates are just some of the improvements.

On the whole, technology appears to be changing personal finances for the better, though there are still certain areas requiring more work.