Ever wonder how much you spend each month on Uber? The newly released Trim chatbot will tell you in a text.
Trim also helps you manage subscriptions, set up spending alerts and check your bank balance. But there is no app, only a bot that can be linked to SMS or Facebook.
“Anything that you can do on your mobile banking app, you can do with trim with the exception of moving money,” said CEO and co-founder Thomas Smyth. He founded the business alongside fellow Yale alumni Daniel Petkevich and the duo is based in San Francisco.
Ashton Kutcher believes in the concept, and is participating in their $2.2 million financing round through Sound Ventures. Eniac Ventures led the round, with Version One Ventures and Core Innovation Capital also participating.
“I love backing teams like Thomas and Daniel who are passionate about advocating and moving the financial needle for average American families,” said Tim Young, general partner at Eniac.
Trim first launched seven months ago, with a focus on identifying and canceling unwanted subscriptions. The team estimates they have saved users $6 million so far.
Now with more features, Smyth expects that the service will be an alternative to not only banking apps, but also personal finance apps. He believes that “people prefer to use the messaging interface.”
The service is free, but Smyth says that they will eventually monetize by charging for premium features.
It’s only been a few months since Facebook launched chatbots, but many businesses are testing the concept out to see whether it will catch on. From customer service to news digests, users can communicate with a robot to get an AI-powered response.
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