5 Chatbots that Help You Deal with Your Money

Chatbots are the way of the future.

For quick questions, like “What’s my bank balance?” chatbots are great. For longer processes, like “Can you explain to me all the possible ways that I can pay back my student loan?”, you need to talk to a real person.

Developers worldwide are building bots that do a wide variety of tasks. They can answer questions, automate tasks and update you when something important changes.

Chatbots work right in the messaging apps you’re already using, like Facebook Messenger, Slack, Kik or Telegram (they’re nearly impossible to find on WhatsApp). But because chatbots are hiding in our messaging apps, some of them are hard to find.

Check out these 5 chatbots that can help you manage your personal finances this year.

     1. Sentinel

Sentinel tells you when Amazon lowers the price on any item you want.

Just like movies magically appearing and disappearing on Netflix, Amazon changes the prices of their items all the time without telling you.

Using Facebook Messenger, simply send the link of the product you want from Amazon to the Sentinel bot. It asks you how much less you’re willing to pay – for example, 10 or 20% lower – and then it’ll message you when the price drops.

An excellent bot for holiday shopping…

Find it on Facebook Messenger.

   2. Market

Market shows you the price of any stock, right from Slack.

Type in the ticker code (like AAPL or SHOP) and Market will show you everything you need to know: the most up to date price and a daily, monthly and yearly chart of its value.

Market is the best in its category because it shows you all of this information inline, which means it never directs you away from Slack.

Other similar bots, like Unicorn Bay’s FinanceBot does the exact same thing on the less popular platform Telegram. StockFlare is another lookalike on Facebook Messenger, but it mostly just directs you back to their site (which defeats the purpose of a chatbot now doesn’t it?).

Find it on Slack. 

    3. Neomy

Find out when currency exchanges are in your favour.

If you’re planning a trip or need to send money overseas, it is worth the wait to exchange your money at a good rate.

Neomy asks you where your money is starting, and where it needs to go.  She’ll show you the current exchange rate. For example, according to the bot, yesterday one Canadian Dollar was worth 0.6998 euros. And if you want, Neomy will send you a message on Facebook Messenger when the exchange rate goes in your favour.

Find her on Facebook Messenger.

    4. PennyCat

Get coupon deals from basically anywhere.

Forget swiping through Flipp for coupons at the only two grocery stores in your neighborhood. Type in Zehrs or No Frills into PennyCat and scroll through the 20-odd deals available, right in Facebook Messenger.

Most of PennyCat’s deals are for online shopping. For example, right now they have a great deal on Pumpkin Spice Syrup, which you can order online through Starbucks if you’re ever afraid you’re not close enough to one of their locations for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

And, if anything goes awry while you’re asking PennyCat’s bot questions about coupons, they send you a funny cat gif while they try to fix it.

Find it on Facebook Messenger.

     5. Wall Street Journal

Know exactly what’s happening on Wall Street all the time.

The Wall Street Journal usually publishes about 240 new articles a day. Instead of compulsively checking their front page, set an alarm and their chatbot will send you a message on Facebook Messenger when something new is published about that topic.

Instead of firing up a new app or a web browser, you can check out the journal’s headlines directly from Facebook Messenger. Articles pop up within messenger so you aren’t chewing up too much battery on your phone.

Find it on Facebook Messenger. 

To find more chatbots, check out botlist.co.