Gone are the days when dropping quarters into a shiny and fragile piggy bank was enough to manage your money. These days, it requires constant vigilance, daily reminders, uncomfortable cutbacks, and a savvy awareness to really build up your money and put it in the most beneficial places. Money management and savings are two things that are no longer simple — not with hidden fees and surprise utility bills and that weird car part that needs to be fixed ASAP if you’re ever going to leave the house again.

But what if a readily available and user-friendly app could help you track your spending, notify you of upcoming bills, automatically set aside savings — as well as countless other things that will boost your money management confidence AND your bank account?

Empower is a revolutionary app that gives you more control and more freedom to handle your money in ways that are simple, easy, and beneficial. We all lead busy lives, but with this app, we can spend less time wrangling our financial tasks and more time doing what we do best all while keeping our bank accounts organized and happy.

Empower gives everyday people the ability to manage their money in ways they never could before.

A Unique Way to Manage Your Money

Empower is different from other apps in that it categorizes your expenses, tracks your monthly spending, alerts you of overages, offers tips and advice to save you money, and (according to their FAQ’s page) essentially serves as your very own “financial advocate.”

Tasks that are traditionally complicated — like choosing the best credit card for your lifestyle, or finding the best savings account — are made easy and manageable in today’s busy lifestyle.

The creators of Empower began this startup company so that everyday people could gain the knowledge and power to handle their money in smart and profitable ways.

So for those of us who struggle to keep up with bills, it might be a smart tactic — plus, it’s giving users the power to fatten up their wallets and their financial expertise.

Ten Benefits of Using Empower

(Perhaps worth clearing off that gaming app or those hundreds of photos of your dog in a sweater.)

Easy Budgeting: You can easily check your account balance and know how far under (or over) you are on your weekly budget. Debating whether to buy that automatic waffle maker? Now it’s easy to decide. Watch where your money is going: Every time you swipe your card, the transaction is categorized, which means you’ll always know how much you’re spending on home, food, car, pet, and other miscellaneous bills. Automatic savings: You can choose how much or how little of your income is automatically put into your savings account, or put towards paying off credit debt. Advice on choosing accounts: Empower helps you find a savings account that is the best for you — that is, one that is high-interest and will do the most with your hard-earned cash. Manage bills: You’ll receive alerts when things are due, as well as notifications when some of those sneaky bills go up. Additionally, this app can show you areas where you can save — like monthly bills that can be reduced and leave more room for savings (or fancy dog treats). Subscription awareness: Pretty much everything can be ordered as a subscription — whether it’s monthly exercise equipment or quarterly editions of your favorite comic. With this being the case, it’s easier than ever to subscribe to things without even realizing how much of your annual income is being devoured by those subscriptions. Empower helps you review and analyze all of your subscriptions in one easy place. Move your money easily: Similar to PayPal or Venmo, the Empower app allows you to transfer money between any U.S. bank account for whatever reason you may have. Take control of credit card debt: Right from within the app, you can pay your credit card bills and even receive automatic notifications for when those bills are coming up. Credit awareness: Empower lets you know whether your spending and saving habits align with a healthy credit score or an unhealthy credit score. Limit your spending: According to your monthly income, Empower sets a “Spend Limit” for you and tells you when you’re nearing your limit — which means you can always stay on track.

Technology That Empowers Everyday Users

Managing your income requires a technique that is typically learned over time as you open accounts, make investments, choose careers, and establish a particular lifestyle. Most high school students don’t pay attention to things like what a credit score is or its importance, but by the time they’re on their own and looking to buy a house or get an apartment…suddenly “credit” and “score” become two very big words that hold a lot of control.

Maintaining a good credit score can become a tricky business for people who don’t have the knowledge behind it. Even for many seasoned adults, financial literacy isn’t a major priority, and knowledge concerning their financial health becomes obscure and impossible to grasp.

Before, this situation required a financial expert. Now, financial literacy becomes even more achievable with technology that is easy to use and available anywhere.

Not only is the information available at the tap of a finger, but also easily digestible for those who don’t have extensive knowledge.

Things like your credit score are no longer stressful concepts, but instead easily identifiable numbers. With Empower’s app, users can simply log in and check their financial situation to see whether they are at a healthy credit level, or if they need to make a few adjustments to regain that health.

However, with any financial app comes the danger of putting your private information at risk. It’s a good idea to learn about the precautions that any app takes to guarantee the safety of your data, as well as to be aware of steps that you yourself can take as you choose whether to give — or not give — certain information.

Is Your Data Still Safe?

In a field that has been traditionally dependent on trusted and up-to-date financial advisors, this app is blowing open a door to the everyday layman that never existed before.

But to what cost? Even when we sit down with a financial advisor, with all of our private financial papers spread out upon a desk, we are choosing to put ourselves at some risk. However, you can at least trust your one chosen financial advisor — what’s less trustworthy is the internet and susceptible devices where thieves lurk, just waiting to snatch up your valuable information.

And financial apps require you to put in a large amount of private information in order to do the amazing things they can do. Your banking information, your credit card account login, your phone number, address, and email…these are all major pieces of information that put you at risk.

Not only could the app be susceptible to vicious malware, but also your phone could be stolen and all of the information it holds end up right there in the palm of someone else’s hand.

Pretty scary, right?

So is it worth trying out incredible money management apps that could literally transform the way you handle your money for the better? Are the chances of having your data stolen higher than the chances of simply having an amazing experience with an innovative app?

These are the questions that must be asked as we go further into a world dependent upon technology. Only a handful of years ago, the number of stolen smartphones was recorded to be 3.1 million. In 2017, the annual number of exposed records was nearly 179 million.

That’s a lot of private records that were stolen, exposed, or compromised in some way. It means that any app that requires private and sensitive information needs to take security very seriously. There should still be a way to enjoy apps while also knowing that your data is safe and secure.

An App That Takes Security Seriously

Everyone has to graduate from piggy bank to bank account eventually. When today’s technology joins forces with the financial expertise of top advisors, it means more opportunities and more freedom for everyday users. We’ve seen apps that boost businesses and tech startups that are revolutionizing age-old industries, and now we have Empower, an innovative app that is simplifying the finance industry and putting the power of money into the palm of every user’s hand.

So how does Empower tackle the difficulty of creating and managing an adept financial app while also keeping your private information secure?

As we harness the power of technology to boost our finances, we also have to take great care in choosing where we put our private information. Are the tech tools you use safe? Are you aware of the information you’re feeding it, and of the value of that information?

With Empower, the importance of your data security is taken very seriously. The company uses the same security measures for your Empower account that banks use, as well as guaranteeing that none of your personal information will ever be shared or sold — two reassuring characteristics of an app that holds your sensitive financial information.

So as you gain more knowledge in the world of finances with the Empower app, you can practice data safety as well. Your piggy bank would be proud.

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Written by: Rebecca Nanako Juchems