Buddy, which claims to be one of the most popular budgeting apps in the world for Gen Zers and young people, has partnered with Klarna Kosma, Klarna Kosma, Klarna’s financial technology platform for banks, fintechs and innovative retailers, “to allow Buddy users to connect their bank to automatically and seamlessly track expenses for greater budgeting accuracy and efficiency.”
With over 3M users, Buddy claims it is “the fastest-growing budgeting app on the App Store for Gen Z internationally, garnering over 25,000 five-star ratings.”
The app provides “a simple way to build and share budgets, track expenses, and better understand overall financial health.”
The bootstrapped company claims it “has become the most popular app of its kind in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Sweden, and others, and the second most popular in the US.”
Buddy’s partnership with Klarna Kosma will “provide users with the option to directly link their incomings and outgoings from their bank thanks to Klarna Kosma’s open banking API, add manually, or do a mix of both.”
This makes it easier than ever before for people “to track their expenses, gain valuable insights into their spending habits, and better control their finances.”
The new feature “enables users to check account balances in real-time, monitor their spending and even set up payment reminders, all from one centralized place.”
With an added layer of security, users are “able to safely track their spending with just a few taps.”
With increasing inflation, rising energy costs, and a volatile housing market, the cost of living crisis “means budgeting is more important than ever for young people.”
During such turbulent times, Buddy aims “to not only help people gain control of their budgets, but to educate them on how to make responsible decisions around spending and saving.”
This is especially “pressing for younger people, with a 2021 report from the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) at the George Washington University (GW) School of Business showing Gen Zers have the lowest levels of financial literacy of any generation.”
Buddy’s Founder and CEO, Olle Lind said:
“Buddy’s mission is to empower young people with the knowledge of how to spend and save sustainably, Through this integration we’re helping individuals gain control of their finances by offering an easy-to-use, intuitive budgeting app that connects directly to their bank feed, helping them to manage their money during this difficult financial period and beyond. We’re giving users peace of mind in knowing that their Buddy app is always up-to-date, which results in much better budgeting visibility.”
Wilko Klaassen, VP for Open Banking at Klarna Kosma said:
“We are excited to be joining forces with Buddy to make budgeting simple and fun for Gen Z and millennials. With Kosma’s help, Buddy could create a more smooth consumer experience, resulting in 52% more monthly active users for the Personal Finance Management App. It’s fantastic to welcome Buddy to Kosma’s platform and we look forward to being part of their future growth and continued success, helping even more users to shore up their finances.”
Founded by Olle Lind (CEO) in 2017, Buddy is “a personal finance app catered to Gen Z and millennials, with 3M users worldwide and is the fastest growing budgeting app on the App Store for Gen Z internationally.”
They are headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, where the company “employs a team of four, and has taken on no external investment.”