BANKING... ON YOUR WATCH
From smartwatches to apps and even gloves, we look at the tech serving our finances
BACK To The Future has finally arrived – with the actor Michael J Fox as Marty McFly having time-travelled in a DeLorean car from the 1980s to 2015. We may not yet have the hoverboards featured, but other futuristic gadgets have been invented that look like they have come straight from the film set. Here, The Mail on Sunday explores the latest sci-fi ideas for financial services.
WRISTWATCH FOR BANKING
TECH giant Apple is set to launch a smartwatch in March. The wearable computer joins a growing number of high-tech watches already on the market, as offered by Pebble, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Meta Watch.
The watches are typically linked to an owner’s smartphone using bluetooth technology and can offer access to the internet, music, health tracking and messaging – plus be in contact with a wearer’s bank.
Nationwide Building Society is among the first to take advantage of this new technology and allow members to check their balance at the touch of a button – or even have it shown as part of a wake-up call.
There is also an Impulse Saver facility allowing customers to transfer cash into savings accounts with just a couple of quick taps on their wristwatch.
Layla Delgosha, 26, of Swindon in Wiltshire, bought a £150 LG ‘G’ smartwatch for herself as a Christmas present and is already using the Nationwide technology to help with her banking.
The married computer analyst says: ‘I set it to text me how much money I have in my account at 7.30am every day – this way I start the day knowing exactly what state my finances are in. I also use the watch to move money from a current to a savings account whenever there is spare cash because I want to build up a deposit to buy a home.’
Daryl Wilkinson, head of innovation development at Nationwide, says: ‘No one predicted how much smartphones and tablets would play a vital role in everyday life – the smartwatch could be just the same. We no longer use mobiles only for calls so why use watches just for telling the time?’
The building society also introduced video links for offering mortgages last year – where customers chat with a mortgage adviser at their local branch through a TV monitor while the expert is in another location. Paperwork can also be filled out during the interview.
TOMORROW’S WORLD VERDICT: THE wristwatch is no longer just for telling the time and could soon offer a gateway to the computer age. Could transform our banking habits.
VIDEO GLASSES FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
WEARABLE technology seems to have come of sci-fi age with Google Glass – offering a way to read a computer screen via spectacles. But the glasses were taken off the shelves last week amid fears they might breach privacy rules – though Google says it is still working on future versions.
The specs have a small prism screen above the right eye that can be used to visually communicate using smartphone technology.
The glasses are also fitted with a
small battery, camera and GPS system and are able to respond to voice and touch commands.
The technology would certainly not look out of place in the Back To The Future film. It predicted that glasses would be worn for phone calls in the future – much like internet communication using Skype.
Although the technology is facing teething troubles health experts believe the high-tech specs could be invaluable at spotting potential problems – and if used correctly could then drive down the cost of health insurance.
Jeremy Chadwick, managing director of insurer VSP Vision Care, says: ‘Weara- ble technology such as Google Glass has the potential to detect people’s health through their eyes. ‘Conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels can be detected long before they might cause serious illness. Such health alerts can cut insurance premiums.’ The insurer says an eye test can spot diabetes up to seven years before it might otherwise be diagnosed – and treatment costs rise. The average cost of private health insurance has risen by more than 50 per cent over the past decade due to the soaring cost of treatments.
A healthy 35- year-old man can typically expect to pay about £850 a year for private health insurance. With video glass technology this could be lowered by 20 per cent with early health prognosis dramatically cutting the cost of future treatments. TOMORROW’S WORLD VERDICT: THIS has the potential to save lives so it’s not just a great high-tech gimmick. But for now, it’s back to the drawing board.
PHONE APPS FOR BUDGETING
THE internet as we know it was not predicted in the 1980s – back then the fax machine was going to take over the world. And hand-held phone technology was still in its infancy with brick-sized mobiles a far cry from the modern smartphone.
The film’s inventor character ‘Doc’ Brown could not have imagined the arrival of software apps – some helping with money.
Pocket money website goHenry is among the growing number of appbased services to help the family learn about managing money and budgeting.
Karen Wilkinson, 37, and husband Greg, 43, from Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, have two children Jamie, ten, and Alya, nine, who use a goHenry app to keep tabs on accounts where their pocket money is held.
Marketing manager Karen is in charge of the budget and monitors any spending – typically done using a pre-paid Visa debit card and PIN number at shops. The app also helps them to save.
She says: ‘The children are growing up in a world where money is increasingly not being held in cash but on a card – this online piggy bank helps them to understand the value of money and saving.’
Karen adds: ‘They typically get £2 each a week pocket money – plus an extra £1 if they have done all their homework and help with household chores. This goes into their account – which they can then view on a smartphone.
‘It gives them the responsibility to look after their own money, but I am still able to see how they are spending it in shops.’
Go Henry charges £1.97 a month for each child. Alternative money apps targeted at families with under18s are offered by Rooster bank and Osper.
Household budget management apps include ontrees, Money Dashboard and Your Wealth. Specialist money apps include Paym, which allows payments to be made by just using a mobile number, and Splitable, offering a solution when trying to divide up the bill at a restaurant.
TOMORROW’S WORLD VERDICT: APP technology is transforming the world – already a great option for improving budgeting skills. An ideal tool for youngsters now and in the future.