Thinkmoney digital-only banking provider may help you to put money aside for your monthly bills.
What is thinkmoney?
A thinkmoney current account lets users make a budget for their expenses and bills and prevents overspending. The existing account is currently available to UK residents regardless of their credit ratings. However, a credit check is required when applying for a loan or credit card.
Is thinkmoney safe?
Thinkmoney is a banking services provider, but it is not technically a financial institution. However, it is authorised and regulated by the FCA UK as an EMI. Unlike the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, your funds are not protected to a certain amount as thinkmoney does not have a banking license. However, when it comes to the protection of client’s money, thinkmoney keeps its customers' money in separate accounts securely. In case thinkmoney goes bust, the clients will always receive back their money.
What can I use a thinkmoney account for?
One of the best features of a thinkmoney account is enhancing a user’s credit score by holding aside the funds reserved for bill payments. Users can’t spend the money needed to cover their monthly bill payments. Thus they are able to handle the payments well. Thinkmoney asks for details on your income and expenses when you are registering an account. It helps you set up your spending limit by setting aside the funds needed to cover your bills and the rest on the debit card you can freely spend.
Users can also analyse their budgets for the upcoming three months to view how much their funds will split for bill payments. You can make any adjustments to your budget anytime via thinkmoney app or online banking. The thinkmoney budgeting feature is a clever way to help those who struggle to pay bills and improves their credit ratings.
Thinkmoney account types and services
Individual current account to have your salary or other benefits directly credited and have your bills paid via direct debit or standing order. Users will also get a prepaid MasterCard debit card with this account that can be used anywhere in the world online, in-store, or at an ATM worldwide that accepts MasterCards.
A joint account operates the same way, and the account holders will get the prepaid debit card along with access to the funds in the account.
Thinkmoney also offerscredit cards (with a limit of up to 1500 GBP) andloans to help users with extra cash when in need. I recommend checking their official website for more information and requirements.
Pros
- No credits check required to open a thinkmoney account
- Depending on the user’s credit score, thinkmoney offers a loan facility (Flexi loan)
- Its budget features let users put aside money for bills and payments, ensuring they can only spend the rest of the funds and pay bills timely
- It helps boost a user’s credit score
- User’s don’t need to pay any fee on bounced direct debits
Cons
- A monthly fee charges on individual and joint accounts
- thinkmoney load payment is challenging and bounding as it has a higher interest rate
Conclusion
Thinkmoney has nothing more to prove but continues its evolution towards more simplicity. It helps users with bill payments and uses the rest of the funds online and in physical stores with its prepaid debit card. Compared with others, it is not the only and the cheapest option in the market. Other challenger banks offer current accounts with a less monthly fee and offer fee-free spending abroad. I advise looking at other options on Askwallet, a platform to help you find the best solution to manage your finances.