22seven beta to end soon; Virgin Money now supported

[jes]

22seven beta to end soon; Virgin Money now supported

Free beta will soon give way to subscription model

 

[Lydon]

I've been using the service and I'm loving it so far

 

[hsmnel]

Paying R70 / month, They must be crazy - or there are a lot of suckers out there.

 

[AntiThesis]

The service is pretty cool - I'd probably be down for paying the R70. What I'd dearly love is for FNB to release some sort of (very) safe API.

 

[phiber]

Wait, FNB have read only banking profiles? That would be AWESOME!

 

[AntiThesis]

Yep, that's how 22seven works. All I want is an API

 

[gregmcc]

Never heard of them - it does look good though, but not at R70 a month!

 

[Avenue]

I've been using the service and I'm loving it so far

What does it do? for 70 rand it better be damn good

 

[j4ck455]

What does it do?

I have not used it (refused to try it actually), my understanding is that it categorizes what people spend their money on and helps with "blonde budgeting" which can otherwise be accomplished by controlling one's spending and monitoring one's own bank accounts on a regular basis.

IMHO it doesn't do anything you cannot accomplish on your own, but then I have only looked at the promo stuff on their website and not used it myself.

 

[elvis_presley]

What does it do? for 70 rand it better be damn good

It tells you what you're wasting your money on. Ironically it doesn't say you've just wasted your money on subscribing to 22seven.

 

[martin]

I wonder how many of the naysayers in this thread have actually used the service? Even in it's beta form it's the best (web 2.0) personal financial management tool I've used and I suspect I've tested most of them. I want this service to succeed so I will be paying the monthly charge. I'm already saving more than that anyway since deciding to switch to FNB thanks to 22seven.

 

[elvis_presley]

I wonder how many of the naysayers in this thread have actually used the service? Even in it's beta form it's the best (web 2.0) personal financial management tool I've used and I suspect I've tested most of them. I want this service to succeed so I will be paying the monthly charge.

I've used it. Doesn't tell you anything you can't work out yourself by looking at your bank statement for 5 minutes a month and using common sense. But most people don't do even that.

I'm already saving more than that anyway since deciding to switch to FNB thanks to 22seven.

That's a smart move ... But now you've saved the money, you don't need 22seven anymore

 

[martin]

I've used it. Doesn't tell you anything you can't work out yourself by looking at your bank statement for 5 minutes a month and using common sense. But most people don't do even that.



That's a smart move ... But now you've saved the money, you don't need 22seven anymore

Nice try but you're wrong on both accounts I'm afraid. Since you've made an assumption I'll make one too! You're probably sitting with a single account with very little monthly activity if you assume I'd be able to track all my expenses in 5 minutes.

 

[elvis_presley]

Nice try but you're wrong on both accounts I'm afraid. Since you've made an assumption I'll make one too! You're probably sitting with a single account with very little monthly activity if you assume I'd be able to track all my expenses in 5 minutes.

Nice try but you're wrong. Maybe I just have enough common sense to keep track of my expenses. You should be mindful of your money every time you make any purchase, and just need the monthly reconciliation to run through the recurring expenses (stop orders, etc) and make sure nothing looks wrong.

I'm interested to know what 22seven told about your expenses you that you didn't know before?

 

[w1z4rd]

I tried it. It was not too accurate guessing my expenses. So I moved on. Also, for some reason the "money in/money out" was very inaccurate.

 

[martin]

Nice try but you're wrong. Maybe I just have enough common sense to keep track of my expenses. You should be mindful of your money every time you make any purchase, and just need the monthly reconciliation to run through the recurring expenses (stop orders, etc) and make sure nothing looks wrong.

I'm interested to know what 22seven told about your expenses you that you didn't know before?

I have five bank accounts that I manage. One of those accounts is for a co-op where three other people have access. My wife has access to the remaining accounts. These aren't run of the mill only-one-person-has-access to the account scenarios. But hey, maybe you're right and Christo Davel, a banking visionary got it completely wrong in starting up 22Seven. I mean it's not like Mint is a very popular in the US, is it? Or could it be that some people's needs for financial tracking and analysis differ to your own and that's why sweeping generalisations should be avoided?

22Seven didn't tell me too much that I didn't know before. I am the custodian of all accounts mentioned above and as a result I have to keep a very close eye on expenses and trends in order to remain accountable (especially in the case of the co-op account). What it did however do is save me a quite a few hours every month in reconcilliations - it's now at a point where it identifies 95%+ of my income and expense correctly. The other people that have access to the co-op account can now also log in at any time of the month to get an idea of our finances and don't have to wait till end of month to get a reconcilliation from me. Since I bill my time at a higher rate than R70 an hour the question becomes why wouldn't I use this service?

 

[Sherbang]

The R70 a month is to ensure high standards of service and support. Basically if their service isn't up to scratch or isn't useful to you or their support sucks then you will just stop paying them - simple.
Their income thus depends on them keeping you happy, providing a worthwhile service and a site free of adverts!

 

[elvis_presley]

I mean it's not like Mint is a very popular in the US, is it? Or could it be that some people's needs for financial tracking and analysis differ to your own and that's why sweeping generalisations should be avoided?

Generally speaking, people don't manage their money well. I'll stand by that. Sometimes you can generalise, because it's true. And come on - just because a lot of people use a service, doesn't mean it's the right thing. I take it you're a big Justin Bieber fan? I mean, he's very popular in the US.

Common sense trumps personal financial management services every day of the week. Which is why you do it yourself. People just don't realise how EASY it is, and don't do it. It annoys me how lazy people can be with important things in their life.

The other people that have access to the co-op account can now also log in at any time of the month to get an idea of our finances and don't have to wait till end of month to get a reconcilliation from me. Since I bill my time at a higher rate than R70 a month the question becomes why wouldn't I use this service?

Okay for you it sounds useful, but it's telling that you're not using the service what it was made for, just as a shortcut to do something else, and aren't getting any of the value that it touts as its primary function.

 

[martin]

Generally speaking, people don't manage their money well. I'll stand by that. Sometimes you can generalise, because it's true. And come on - just because a lot of people use a service, doesn't mean it's the right thing. I take it you're a big Justin Bieber fan? I mean, he's very popular in the US.

Your generalisation was in regards to people being able to perform the same level of financial analysis (as offered by 22Seven) on their accounts in the space of 5 minutes. Now your saying that generally people don't manage their money well which is precisely why a service like 22Seven is viable and useful! Your analogy regarding Justin Bieber misses the point. A lot of people use gyms right? They'r very popular - even in the US! I have a strength training programme I follow at home that uses only ropes and a pull-up bar and thus I see no need in paying a monthly gym fee. Does that mean other people are wasting their money on gym membership? I'd say no because I see a lot of people who go to the gym achieve even better results than I do at home. Don't make the mistake of thinking miserly decisions constitutes common sense.

Common sense trumps personal financial management services every day of the week. Which is why you do it yourself. People just don't realise how EASY it is, and don't do it. It annoys me how lazy people can be with important things in their life.

Finally something we do agree on! But if people followed their common sense we'd all be eating less McDonalds and exercise regularly. Perhaps 22Seven is at least a step into the right direction? If a person can develop sound financial habits using the service and then down the line realise that they no longer need it anymore it's served a good purpose in my opinion.

Okay for you it sounds useful, but it's telling that you're not using the service what it was made for, just as a shortcut to do something else, and aren't getting any of the value that it touts as its primary function.

Not sure how I'm not using it for what it's made for? From their website:
22seven uses smart technology and insights from behavioural science to help you look at, think about and use your money differently. See how much money you have coming in and going out. Check out exactly how much of it goes where. And explore ways to find more of it.

That's exactly what I'm using it for.

 

[elvis_presley]

Finally something we do agree on! But if people followed their common sense we'd all be eating less McDonalds and exercise regularly. Perhaps 22Seven is at least a step into the right direction? If a person can develop sound financial habits using the service and then down the line realise that they no longer need it anymore it's served a good purpose in my opinion.

I think that services like 22seven are counter-productive. They'll never be as good as doing it yourself because they're doing what you hate - using generalisations to try and figure your money issues out, and give you a false sense of security about your finances. If 22seven does half the job for them, they'll think that it's problem solved, and just keep doing that and never learn to do it themselves.

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll eat forever. 22seven is giving you fish. That's deep.