Brenda J. Cude, a professor of financial planning, housing and consumer economics in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, was recently quoted in ThinkAdvisor about banking apps.
Consumers use apps like Acorns or Mylo to round up purchase amounts to the next dollar and invest the change. The apps let parents build up investments for their children or can help young adults jumpstart their savings even before landing a job with a 401(k). The apps are popular among college-age students and post-college adults.
“They state a preference for apps over websites or any other mechanism that might achieve the same goal,” said Cude, whose research focuses on the financial literacy of college students. “Clearly, a part of it is convenience, but I think there’s something else at play here. It almost seems as they view an app—versus some other format—as a signal of trustworthiness or that this is the most appropriate way for them to achieve their goals.”
