Emma, a money management app that helps users “avoid overdraft fees”, is reportedly preparing to launch a new feature that allows users to manage their crypto assets by connecting them to many different digital currency exchanges.

As more investors are now taking an interest in cryptocurrencies, Emma’s development team thinks that a modern personal finance management (PFM) app should support digital assets.

“Read-Only” Access To Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The first version of Emma’s new app will allow users to access the following crypto exchanges: Bitfinex, Binance, Bittrex, Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken – in addition to individual Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) addresses.

When Emma first adds support for crypto to its app, users will only have “read-only” access – which means that the company’s software may only be used to view transaction logs and not to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. Users looking to purchase them will have to go directly to the exchange’s website.

Edoardo Moreni, the co-founder and CEO of Emma, said:

We see cryptocurrency as the next emerging asset class. At this point, there are more than 3 million people who have bought crypto in the U.K. It’s pretty evident that we need to start accepting this as any other type of financial product, in the same way we treat current accounts and credit cards.

Support For All Types Of Financial Products

Moreni added:

If Emma is able to help people control and manage a current account, she should be able to do the same for any type of financial product or service

Going on to explain why the app will strictly allow read-only access when first launched, the London-based computer science graduate (from the University of Manchester) said Emma’s main goal is to provide a high-quality financial tracker.

Moreni added that the UK-based firm has always been focused on helping users manage their financial assets, which is why they have not yet worked on “write-access” functionality for any of their products.

He also revealed that Emma’s read-only financial management tools were now “solid and almost complete” and that the company “was … going to release several write features in both spaces, traditional and crypto.”

Emma’s decision to expand into “write-access” services has come at a time when an increasing number of businesses in the UK are calling on institutions to offer Open Banking services. Moreni thinks the Open Banking initiative will be “extremely useful” for users who have substantial investments in traditional assets – as new regulations such as GDPR will allow users to have more control over their financial privacy.

“Write-Access” Financial Software

Moreni further noted that his company has been talking to various crypto firms about developing “write-access” financial software that helps users save their investments by studying their money management habits such as their “risk appetite.”

Moreni believes this could be “a huge opportunity and if [Emma] helps [more] people understand and invest in crypto for the first time, [then] it fits [the company’s] core mission.”

According to Moreni, Emma’s mission is not only to provide a useful financial tracker, but to also help users learn better money management skills, in order to help them achieve their long-term financial goals.

The Emma co-founder said: