Plum expands into five more territories

Fintech startup Plum is expanding its operations to five new European countries: Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, and Cyprus. Plum is a money management app that helps users save money automatically without any manual input.

The app can connect to a user’s bank account and round up all transactions from the past week, transferring the extra money to a Plum-managed account. Users can also set money aside every week or whenever they get paid, and the app can automatically decide how much to set aside based on income and expenses.

Plum, originally from the U.K., currently operates in France, Spain, Ireland, and Belgium. The app allows users to create different pockets with separate goals, such as saving for a vacation or a new bike. Users can withdraw money to their bank account or pay with a Plum debit card, but a subscription fee is required to get a card.

In the U.K., users earn interest on their savings, but this is not the case in other markets. Plum has partnered with Bitpanda to offer cryptocurrency trading in Europe, allowing users to buy and sell shares without downloading another app. The service is free to create an account, but users can pay a monthly fee for additional features and services.

Plum’s strategy is to act as a companion app and a sort of mini marketplace, rather than replacing a user’s bank account. This approach could make the app more mainstream and appealing to less tech-savvy users.