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SoFI Budgeting Assistant
"How might Generative AI be leveraged to make people financially more responsible?"
Context
Personal finance is an important aspect when unexpected life events happen, and having savings is important.
Financial institutions/banks have made purchasing goods and services convenient which has been a blessing. This has however made us less aware of our spending habits.
AI-powered budgeting tools to become more sophisticated with features like predictive budgeting and goal-based scenario planning.
Integration with financial institutions and other financial tools will likely increase, providing a more holistic view of finances.
The Problem
• Managing finances feels overwhelming: Modern payment methods are convenient, but tracking spending and maintaining a budget can feel like a chore.
• Lack of spending awareness: With easy access to credit and digital payments, it's easy to lose track of daily expenses and overspend unknowingly
Discovery through quick User Research
Survey Insights
The purpose for sending out the survey was to uncover:
1. What percentage of people budget currently?
2. What digital tools do people use to budget currently?
The following were results from the survey:
1. Almost all participants mentioned budgeting was at the top of their mind, however given their busy schedules they found it harder to keep track of their expenses
2. Tools such as SoFI and Monarch are used to budget. SoFI is an application in particular that aggregates spending from other banks
Competitive Analysis
The Solution
SoFi currently provides users with the capability to categorize their spending and derive meaningful insights into their financial behaviors using data sourced from linked bank accounts. Building upon this foundation of spending data, a SoFi budgeting assistant holds the potential to enable users to proactively manage their finances with precision, offering real-time transaction tracking and heightened financial awareness to help users maintain control over their financial well-being.
Amazon Bedrock is a service that offers a variety of foundational models. Using the foundational models an agent can be built using an advanced "encoder-decoder" model, adept at processing vast datasets on spending behaviors and integrating insights from reputable financial sources.
Through this mechanism, SoFi could seamlessly analyze and interpret user spending patterns, enabling the budgeting assistant to generate highly personalized recommendations and insights tailored to individual financial goals and preferences. SoFi, leveraging its robust resources as a leading financial institution, possesses the capability to deploy a sophisticated recommendation engine.
The "SoFI Budgeting Assistant"
The following is a potential design solution that a SoFI user could opt into. It is important to give the user the optionality to use the feature as some users might be concerned about their privacy.
Business Impact
1. Integration of a powerful budgeting assistant within the SoFi app enhances its value proposition, encouraging users to remain active.
2. Comprehensive financial management tools readily available within the app foster higher engagement and increased loyalty.
3. Personalized insights and recommendations build trust, fostering a deeper reliance on SoFi's services and solidifying customer retention
4. Introduction of a sophisticated budgeting assistant incentivizes users to link external bank accounts to SoFi.
5. Promise of seamless integration and enhanced financial management across all accounts encourages users to consolidate their financial activities within the SoFi ecosystem.
6. As users experience centralized financial management benefits, they're motivated to link additional accounts, expanding SoFi's user base and market presence.
