Great premise, poorly executed
Firstly, the app doesn’t make use of other installed financial apps (e.g. Barclays, Monzo etc) to authorise the open banking request. This makes it an incredibly manual process to dig out usernames, account numbers, passwords and memorable information and so on. Other apps simply open the related bank’s app and asks for confirmed sharing.
Secondly, there are a number of providers who simply hit errors when trying to connect accounts with the app (MBNA as an example)
Thirdly, the app performance itself is incredibly inconsistent, with slow loading times, false error messages and prompts for reconnection immediately after first connecting.
In short, needs a lot of work to be considered a useful financial planning app, and I hope it gets sorted quickly.
Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you have experienced some issues with our app. We are keen to understand these, fix and improve as quickly as possible. We are surprised to hear your experience on account connection. The app does make use of installed apps so if you have the Barclays or Monzo app installed they will be accessed using what ever method you use e.g. FaceID and the account connection authorised with one or two clicks. This should take just a few seconds. We have not experienced or had any feedback to date to suggest this is not working. If you can email me at ben@pennyworthfinancial.com I can then look into this issue that's impacting you in more detail. More generally on account connections - If the connection is not supported by Open Banking then they are managed through credential entry e.g. MBNA. There is no standard for this or requirement for the provider to enable this which means there may be issues from time to time as changes are made on the provider side. Broadening Open Banking application and developing it into Open Finance will enable apps such as Pennyworth to enable a much broader selection of connections, with standardised connections that will be more stable. We are a big proponent of this and are at the forefront of the industry pushing for this change to help consumers. With regards the error messages, we are aware of an issue with our Manual Accounts feature and we will be publishing a minor release today that will fix this.
Could be better.
Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback. Very sorry to hear that you’ve experienced issues. We’ve found some users have been impacted by this error. We are working on a fix and will deploy as soon as possible. Regarding Chase connection. If we could we would have it. Unfortunately Chase has not provided an Open Banking API yet. We are waiting for it and as soon as it is available we will add it and of course let our users know.
Good app
Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback. Great to hear that you like the app. Regarding Chase connection. If we could we would have it. Unfortunately Chase has not provided an Open Banking API yet. We are waiting for it and as soon as it is available we will add it and of course let our users know.
A use for open banking at last
Great app, would highly recommend for goal based financial planning
The Pennyworth app is a lifesaver when it comes to managing finances, offering a crystal-clear picture of your financial standing.
One of my favourite features is the fact that you can set financial goals and see them materialize in a well-defined plan.
The interface is really user-friendly, making it accessible even to those who are new to managing finances.
