US cash backs NZ-made money robot
Funding from the United States could allow New Zealand’s first artificially intelligent personal money assistant to go live before Christmas.
‘‘Sophie’’ is the female-styled AI persona of Douugh, one of the three leading contenders to launch an open banking service in New Zealand.
Armed with customers’ banking data, Sophie will help them run their financial life more efficiently, Douugh founder Andy Taylor said.
Douugh has just inked a deal securing US$2.5 million (NZ$3.7 million) in seed funding in the US, he said.
The money will be used for advance testing of Sophie prior to the service’s launch in New Zealand and Australia.
‘‘Open banking’’ is a term used for customer-friendly mobile banking services developed by nonbank fintech companies.
They are gaining ground in Europe and the United Kingdom, but so far none have launched in New Zealand.
Taylor said Douugh will allow users to link all their bank accounts to to Sophie, no matter which banks they are with.
Sophie will collate the information, and start giving users recommendations of how to better manage their money, and build their wealth.
‘‘Customers will soon be able to sign up for guidance from Sophie on how to get on top of their credit card debt, manage their budget, and save money,’’ Taylor said.
Users would also be able to ask Sophie to perform transactional tasks such as paying and splitting bills, automatically saving, and tracking their spending and saving, Taylor said.
In technical terms Sophie is a ‘‘recommendation engine’’, which will provide recommendations users can choose to follow.
Douugh also planned to launch its own bank account and debit cards, Taylor said, and was negotiating with local banks to find a supplier. Beta testing was under way in Australia and New Zealand, he said.
Taylor hoped Douugh would become indispensable to ordinary people: ‘‘We are aiming to be the Xero of banking.’’
Douugh is one of three open banking startups hoping to launch in New Zealand in the coming weeks. New Zealand-based Jude, founded by former Xero employee Ben Lynch, and European company Revolut are also working towards launch.