How digital apps are helping millennials meet their financial needs in Covid-19 times

In these trying times of coronavirus-caused Covid-19 pandemic, many unprecedented things have become a new normal. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic distress, it seems that most of us are inhabiting a world that was completely unknown to us just two months ago. Amid all this, millennials are in the eye of the storm - especially with a large number of them being the first-generation entrepreneurs or freelancers. Most of them have been dealing with variable or unpredictable sources of income and career uncertainty. Meanwhile, a mix of apps are helping out millennials shape their financial future and serve their emergency cash needs. Here is how an array of digital apps are helping millennials meet their financial needs:
 
Expense Tracker Apps

Millennials have awakened to the fact that they often spend a lot more than they need to. In these uncertain times, they are using expense tracking apps to check their monthly expense ratios and trying to cut out expenses where possible. Apps like Walnut, Splitwise, Wizely, Thriv and Saveabhi are popular choices among millennials. These apps help them keep track of their digital spendings, pay their bills on time, and present an easy to understand visual representation of where they are spending the most without significant returns.
 
Tax Savings Apps

Some expense tracking apps also provide tax saving tips. However, there are dedicated apps like ClearTax, ThinkTax and MyTaxIndia which are helping millennials save against massive tax deductions, leaving a little more spending power and liquidity in their hands every month. It’s quite easy to create an account on these apps and get help in understanding how much tax is payable for their income and what kind of investments to make to save a particular amount from their income.
 
Investment Apps

That brings us to investment apps - the next popular option for millennials looking to grow their wealth and become financially independent. With expenses lowered with the lockdown forcing them to stay at home, they have a little extra cash in their pocket. Financially savvy millennials are opting to invest this disposable cash, and investment advisory apps like Zerodha, Groww, Kuvera, Paytm Money, ETMONEY and Scripbox are their go-to choices. They enable a hassle-free and educated process of investing in mutual funds or directly in equities or the stock market. They have a ton of educational material on the apps for first-time investors and the KYC process is considerably shorter.
 
What are the borrowing options for millennials in the current COVID crisis?

No matter how prudent someone is, there just might be occasions of insufficiency of funds, especially if millennials have to pay high rents, manage multiple EMI repayments or medical emergency costs. It’s not advisable to immediately dip into one’s savings or dilute FDs or PPF accounts to meet these expenses. Sometimes opting to pay for bigger expenses by credit cards is ok. However, if not paid, credit card interest rates can often be the highest, up to 36 - 40%. Thus it might not be the wisest choice to increase credit card debt. Given the current instability of the job market, it might not be a good idea to opt for payday loans either.
 
Digital Lending Apps

One of the most feasible ways that millennials can manage their immediate cash requirements is with digital lending apps. Credit line apps like MoneyTap are a popular choice among millennials as they can borrow bite-sized amounts and choose a comfortable tenure of repayment. All they need to do is download the lending app, fill in the requested information and get approved for a credit limit. The entire process is swift, mostly digital, and fits the bill for quick, flexible, and hassle-free borrowing.
 
Digital lending apps are some of the must-haves on the millennial generation’s smartphones. However, it is important that millennials focus on prioritising their expenses and postpone any discretionary spending until the economic situation stabilises.

(Suggestions of apps by Anuj Kacker, Coo and Co-Founder, MoneyTap)