Mobile phone budgeting tool launched (Nov 2007)

Making Budgeting Mobile

Budgeting will be made easier for millions of people following the arrival of the Moneybasics Spendometer - a free financial tool available to anyone with a WAP mobile phone[1], launched today (November 19) by Mark Hoban MP, shadow financial secretary.

With the Moneybasics Spendometer mobile phone users can create personal budgets as well as track
and control spending by getting alerts when they go over their spending limits. It can be downloaded simply at no cost from moneybasics.co.uk, the financial education website set-up by CCCS, Credit Action and GE Money.

By tapping into the utility, ubiquity and desirability of mobile phones, the Moneybasics Spendometer aims to have particular appeal for young people and teenagers. Malcolm Hurlston, chairman of Credit Action, the money education charity responsible for developing the idea, explained:

"Budgeting is useful but boring; mobile phones are useful and fun. Good monthly budgeting is at the heart of financial prudence. By making money management easy with mobile phones, we hope to help millions to keep better control of their money."

Welcoming the charity's initiative with GE Money, Mark Hoban, shadow financial secretary said: "We all need easy ways of keeping track of how much we are spending if we are to avoid running up debts.

"The Spendometer does that by using technology that is part of everyday life for young and old. I think that it is a great idea which recognises the way we live our lives and the need to help keep track of how much we spend."

Richard Harvey, chief executive of GE Money added: "Our aim in supporting Moneybasics and the Spendometer is to make money management an integral part of everyday life. Helping young people get to grips with basic budgeting will give them the confidence to manage their finances better throughout their lives."

To download the Moneybasics Spendometer, go to http://www.moneybasics.co.uk/ where you can enter your number and the tool will be sent to your phone for free!

The tool is compatible with almost all WAP enabled phones less than three years old.

[1]

At the end of September 2007, 16.23m people in the UK had used their phone to access the internet. Source: Mobile Data Association at http://www.text.it/mediacentre/wap_figures.cfm