PFM

It sounds like a crazy mix, but Fifth Third says its new app would help young consumers round up debit card purchases and apply the money to their burdensome student debts. The motivation to attract millennials is clear, but will it work?

First Tennessee took a leap of faith to hire a young digital services company for its overhaul of mobile and online operations, and it says its decision has paid off.

Two popular personal financial management apps are being shut down this week. But optimism remains about banks' investing in PFM tools — so long as they rethink a technology that has failed to win over the masses.

Today a money management app, tomorrow — if all goes according to plan — a portal to all one's accounts.

It is the latest of several popular apps to close down in recent weeks.

The tie-up comes as banks put more resources into helping customers manage their finances digitally.

Through the partnership, Clarity Money customers can use Acorns’ automated investing features, while Acorns users can see a snapshot of their investing activity in the Clarity app.

The app allows users, many of them first-time investors, to get started for as little as $5.

The companies will use an application programming interface to let Chase customers send the data to the apps Finicity supports, including personal financial services apps and income verification tools.

Digital banking services should solve consumers' problems and offer them advice, and they must rely on artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technology, bankers from TD, RBC and Bank of the West said.

Vault and Retiremap are launching products this week that are designed to help people stash cash where they can.

KeyCorp is acquiring HelloWallet, a personal financial management product it has offered its bank customers since 2015, from the investment research firm Morningstar.

Long Game uses behavioral economics and the mass popularity of lottery games to redirect lottery spending toward savings.

Bank of America is giving its "erica" chatbot more time to learn the nuances of language and banking basics. A profanity filter is one recent addition.

Brendan Dickinson of Canaan Partners says PFM startups have deep relationships with customers, unlike online lenders, but the revenue model isn't as strong.

Self Lender and Wela, two fintech startups, are making their marks on the savings app space by providing incentives to users to manage their money wisely.

Wells Fargo is piloting features that could help customers boost savings or plan for a trip.

The funding comes as the financial services industry continues to search for safer ways for customers to share their account data with third-party apps.

The startup Dave (just Dave) sells an app that forecasts short-term bank balances and sends users small-dollar advances when necessary, part of a wave of efforts to improve consumers’ financial health using digital tools.

The battle over screen scraping seems to be subsiding into a series of agreements between banks and fintechs using open APIs.