We think Emma is good for connected accounts. At its heart, it’s a budgeting and savings app which groups all your bank accounts in one place. It’s more than this though. The app works like a personal financial adviser, letting you see how you’re spending your money and flagging any wasteful payments. We’ve analysed all the saving and budgeting features offered by Emma in this review.
Emma is a money management app based in London. The app uses Open Banking to connect to your bank accounts and credit cards. With all your financial information in one place, you can track all your transactions in real time.
It goes further than giving you a simplified bank statement. It helps you find wasteful subscriptions, set aside money into different pots, and gives you keen insights into your spending.
“There is a financial algorithm managing your money for you”: Finder interviews Emma’s CEO Edoardo Moreni
How does Emma work?
Emma aggregates all your bank accounts and credit cards in one app. Here are the other budgeting and savings features it offers:
End to wasteful subscriptions. It separates repeated payments (such as subscriptions and bills) from daily spending. This lets you easily cancel subscriptions you don’t use.
Spending categories. It categorises your spending by categories and vendor, so you can see exactly where you’re spending – and what on. If you’re spending too much at Costa, or on coffees specifically, you’ll know.
Set budgets. Tell the app how much you want to budget by category. The app sends you notifications if you go over.
Savings advice. Using smart tech, it tells you an affordable amount to put aside for saving at the end of each month.
Emma Pots. You can also create different savings pots to set aside money for different goals. Choose from an easy access pot, a 45-day notice pot and an instant access pot. Interest is paid on the easy access and notice pots.
Emma Invest. You can choose from various investment options too and invest from as little as £1.
Cryptocurrency integration. Easily track your cryptocurrency balances. Supported cryptocurrency exchanges include Coinbase, Bittrex, Bitstamp, Kraken and individual Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses.
How safe is Emma?
You might have reservations about providing a third-party app your bank credentials. However, Emma’s access is read-only so it can’t touch your money. In addition, it is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
If you choose to transfer any money into your Emma Wallet, it will land here as e-money. Your Emma Wallet is operated by Emma’s e-money institution provider which means it must be held in a segregated account to keep your cash safe. However, any money you hold in savings accounts or savings pots with Emma is held with a UK bank and is covered up to £85,000 per person under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
In terms of app security, Emma uses several of the same security measures, including end-to-end-256-bit TLS encryption. This is used by all major banks.
Which banks and credit cards can you link Emma to?
Offers premium accounts. Emma Plus is a premium version of the Emma app – if you prefer a more customisable experience. For a monthly fee, you can earn cashback on your purchases at selected retailers, take advantage of rent reporting, where your rent payments are reported to the credit reference agency Experian to improve your credit score, and set up fraud detection features to check whether your personal details have been part of a known data breach. Emma also offers Pro and Ultimate account plans that come gift wrapped in extra perks.
Savings and investments. Emma also makes money from users who invest or save with Emma or its affiliate partners.
Emma account information
Product Name
Emma
Cancel subscription
Cost
Free (paid-for plans available)
Spending categorisation
Spending analysis
Budgeting tool
Automatic switching service
Savings pots
Account types
Current accounts, Savings accounts, Credit cards, Investments, Loans, Cryptocurrency
Pros and cons of Emma
Pros
Grouping all your accounts in one easy app will make budgeting easier
Stylish app with a number of budgeting features
Monthly savings prompt could help you save an affordable amount each month
Can integrate with all the big banks and several of the rising digital banks like Monzo and Starling
Track your cryptocurrency balances alongside your more conventional bank accounts
Cons
No week-by-week or month-by-month comparison feature. Makes it harder to track changes to spending habits
Customer service information for Emma
Email support
Telephone support
In-app or live chat
Contact form
Branch support
Bottom line
The Emma app looks good, is slick and easy to use and offers some really helpful features – in particular, its ability to track your subscriptions and keep track of your crypto assets as well as of your regular bank accounts.
On the downside, it could do with some more visuals and graphs, and some of the features that allow greater flexibility are only available to premium users, which isn’t ideal. Some of Emma’s competitors are better from this point of view.
Still, Emma is a really solid budgeting app. It’s a really clever tool for organising your money, allowing you to manage it more efficiently and to ultimately save more.
Frequently asked questions
Emma makes money in two main ways. Firstly, it offers premium subscription tiers, which charge a monthly fee. Secondly, Emma makes money from those who invest or save with it and its affiliate partners.
This depends on the plan you choose. There’s a free plan, but Plus, Pro and Ultimate charge monthly fees.
Emma currently supports NatWest, Halifax, Lloyds, Nationwide, Barclays, HSBC, First Direct, Santander, TSB, RBS, the Co-operative Bank, Starling Bank, Monzo, Revolut, Chase, Metro Bank, Bank of Scotland. You can also link it with your American Express, MBNA or Barclaycard cards.
Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken, Binance, Bitfinex, Bittrex. Warning: Binance and Bitfinex both offer cryptocurrency derivatives, which the regulator banned from sale to UK consumers in January 2021.
Very! Any information that you send to Emma is securely encrypted using the same security measures as the major banks. Emma is also only granted read-only access to your financial information, and is regulated by the FCA.
To delete your account with Emma, go to the ‘Feed’ area in the dashboard on the app, select your profile in the top left and tap on ‘Account’. Then tap on ‘Delete account’.
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Matthew Boyle is a banking and mortgages publisher at Finder. He has a 7-year history of publishing helpful guides to assist consumers in making better decisions. In his spare time, you will find him walking in the Norfolk countryside admiring the local wildlife. See full bio
Matthew's expertise
Matthew has written 281 Finder guides across topics including:
Helping first-time buyers apply for a mortgage
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