Take control of your finances with Standard Bank’s My360 app

There is a lot we can’t control in our financial lives: the economic fallout from an event such as the pandemic is one example. But there are ways to soften the blow of such experiences by focusing on the aspects of our finances that are within our control. 

“Those who have a handle on their finances will be better positioned to weather a financial storm,” says Kobus Burger, head of data and analytics for client solutions. “The unfortunate reality is that too many people have low involvement in their finances. It is a widely known fact that South Africans are big spenders and face high levels of debt.”

The financial challenges posed by the pandemic have prompted, or even forced, many to understand and gain control of their financial positions.

“While small purchases here and there may seem as if they won’t make too much of a dent, they tend to pile up and fester into something bigger. The solution lies in getting your money in order, but managing personal finances can be overwhelming.” 

Not so long ago, clients conducted most of their financial affairs through a single bank. Nowadays, it’s not unusual to have multiple banking relationships. As a result, a person’s assets and liabilities are with a range of institutions. For example, your pension or provident fund is seldom invested with one’s own bank.

“Our financial lives are multifaceted, which makes it trickier to keep track of everything at once,” says Burger. “We may have a credit card/s with one institution and a transactional account with another. Added to that are pension and provident funds, savings and investment accounts, which are often with multiple financial institutions, locally and even abroad.” Fortunately, personal financial management apps are making it easier and more cost-effective than ever before to manage your various assets and liabilities securely, from anywhere and at any time. 

Standard Bank harnessed advanced technology to provide its customers with more convenient solutions for managing their money. The Standard Bank My360 app, for instance, provides a global, consolidated view of your entire financial life across more than 20,000 global financial institutions from one touchpoint. This means you can get a full view of your assets and liabilities and the specific asset classes, regardless of institution or geography where your accounts reside. 

Get an accurate picture of your net wealth

My360 provides the opportunity to see your wealth from a myriad of views, namely asset allocation charts, net wealth breakdowns, and onshore vs offshore allocations. After setting up a My360 profile, users can start linking all their accounts. These could be with Standard Bank or any other financial institution such as Online Share Trading, Webtrader or Wealth International. 

For a more accurate picture of net wealth, users can link private or alternative investments such as valuable art, a classic car collection and property to their My360 dashboard. 

“Standard Bank has integrated the LookSee Home Evaluation capability into My360 so that when users link a property, they can retrieve an estimated current value for the property by entering the property’s address,” says Burger. 

Easy to use, friendly interface

The My360 app has been designed to provide clients with a platform that offers simplicity and ease of use, and to reduce the complexity and time-consuming nature of managing your finances. Users have access to a range of easily understandable masterclass videos about investing. 

Save and invest towards your financial goals

To make it easier for clients to set and achieve financial goals, Standard Bank has developed a save and invest feature into My360, which provides a way for users to receive financial planning assistance. The feature gives you information that will help you set and reach a goal as if saving for your child’s education or to buy a home. 

“The save and invest feature helps users define their goal, and set an amount, which can be adjusted for inflation. It will then reflect a more accurate idea of how much it will cost to fund the goal over the years. Depending on your risk profile, the feature will recommend a savings or investment plan to fund the specific goal. The progress can then be tracked daily,” says Burger.

Secure, 360 views of your assets

As Standard Bank increases its efforts to roll out new digital solutions, so too do considerations about safety and security. My360 complies with the same stringent security patterns as the Standard Bank Banking app. 

My360 recognised for promoting financial wellness

Standard Bank’s My360 app was recognised at the sixth annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards in the Most Innovative International Fintech category, which honours financial institutions that recently implemented technology, allowing users to improve their financial wellness.  

Burger believes this recognition shows the business’s commitment to placing digitalisation and client needs at the centre of its strategy. “We are encouraged by the recognition of My360, which allows clients to manage their financial activities in one place.”

This article was paid for by Standard Bank.