Chip has started charging users if they auto-save too much

AI-powered savings app Chip has begun charging both new and existing customers £1 if the fintech saves you more than £100 in a 28-day period.

Chip uses AI to calculate how much its users will save and to learn about their savings patterns—the more you use Chip, the smarter it becomes.

Currently, users aren’t charged anything to use the money-saving app but from this week, if they set aside more than £100 over four weeks users of the app will be charged a £1 fee, up to a maximum of £13 per year.

If users don’t save more than £100 then they won’t be charged and can still manage their savings for free.

Users will be able to see how close they are to the £100 limit and will be able to track their saving and moderate it accordingly.

In a blog post, Alex Latham Chip’s chief marketing officer, wrote: “We would love it if we could keep Chip free forever. But we are a business and we do have costs we need to cover.” 

“We wanted to do things differently and make it totally fair for all our savers. This small charge means Chip will be free for our more vulnerable customers, whilst not charging anything for storing your money.”

Latham went on to say that the money collected from the £1 fee will cover Chip’s costs and help the fintech realise its global expansion plans.

Chip gained FCA authorisation to operate as an Authorised Payment Institution at the end of March and is now supported by over 18 banks including challenger banks Metro Bank,Monzo and Revolut.

The savings app also appointed former Funding Circle finance chief as its first-ever chief financial officer, Philip Wright, at the beginning of April.

On the 24 April 2020, Chip also closed a £2.6m private crowdfunding round on Crowdcube which saw over 4,000 investors take part and the initial target of £1m was reached in just a few hours.