How does the Plum app work?

What is Plum?

Plum is a money-management app offering an AI algorithm and automated tools designed to help you build your wealth over time.

Currently trusted by more than 1.8 million people, Plum customers across the UK and EU have so far set aside €2+ billion Euros with help from the app.

Although Plum does a lot of the heavy lifting, you stay in control of your money by setting the rules which control your overall strategy.

We’re already busy building more fresh features for our customers in the Republic of Ireland, but in this article we take a tour of the features currently available through the Plum app where you live.

How does Plum work?

Even the Basic (free) version of Plum lets you automate deposits and access stock investing, so you can trade fractional company shares in real time.

Here’s what you can expect from Plum Basic:

• Automate deposits with our AI Algorithm, Round-Ups and Pay Days.
• Invest with Plum Interest to get a projected yield of 3.61% VAR*
• Choose from 1,200+ company stocks and trade commission-free^†.
• Access crypto investing^‡ through the Plum app, via services provided by Bitpanda, and choose from 5 coins: Binance Coin (BNB), Bitcoin (BTC), Cardano (ADA), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
• Create a personal Watchlist to monitor the performance of investments you might consider in the future, with no commitment.
• Unlimited withdrawals, with no hidden charges or fees.

* Variable APR (Annual Percentage Rate) projection correct as at 20/10/23. The projected return is shown after fees (net). A projection is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed. Plum Interest is an investment product. Plum Interest Terms & Conditions can be found here.

^† A 0.45% currency conversion charge and nominal regulatory fees apply.

^‡ Cryptocurrency is a high-risk asset class and you should not invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invested. You will not be protected if something goes wrong. Powered by Bitpanda via Plum Money CY Ltd. The crypto services are made available by Bitpanda via the Plum App and subsequently executed on the online or electronic platform provided and operated by Bitpanda GmbH.

Capital at risk if you invest. Terms & Conditions apply.

Automated deposit rules

Plum was built on the principle of financial automation.

When we talk about automated saving and budgeting, we’re referring to the process of using machines or computers to manage money... so humans don’t need to think about it!

Automating your personal finances is like putting your money on autopilot, and unlike a traditional standing order, a smart money app like Plum can tailor the amount that’s set aside based on your available balance, upcoming bills and spending habits.

The Plum Brain is where you can choose which rules you want to use, and configure the app to suit you and support your financial goals.

You can also pause your deposits at any time from within the app, or choose which individual rules you enable.

Automatic

This Automatic setting is where you control the algorithm that arranges weekly deposits on your behalf. It does this by analysing your income and expenditure to calculate where small amounts of money can be set aside.

Because the amount is tailored specifically for you, we’ll never leave you short so you have money available when you need it!

You can use Plum Moods to configure the amount that is set aside through Automatic deposits, with options ranging from ‘Shy’ to ‘Beast Mode’.

Your mood only affects the amount Plum will deposit for you, not how often these deposits are made. This is key to our approach, because making small, regular contributions is a great way to get into the habit of saving.

Round Ups

If you want to boost the amount you set aside, beyond the standard algorithm, Round Ups will calculate additional savings every time you spend.

We’ll round up each transaction you make to the nearest whole euro, then set aside this ‘spare change’ for you on a weekly basis.

Pay Days

The idea here is to ‘pay yourself first’ by immediately transferring your planned savings out of your current account and into a separate pot.

When you pay your future self first, it can help prevent you from spending money that should be put to better use. Plum Pay Days lets you specify when you get paid and choose an amount that you’d like to automatically deposit to your Plum account.

The rule is completely customisable, so it doesn’t matter if you get paid weekly or monthly. We can even suggest an amount to get you started.

Weekly Depositor

Arrange a balance transfer for a set amount so you can predict exactly how much money will be saved in a given week.

It can be a great way to get into the regular habit of setting money aside!

Advanced budgeting features

In addition to automated deposit rules, Plum also includes some features that can help you manage and stick to your budget. In fact, even the free version of Plum can make a powerful budget app!

When you link all your bank accounts and credit cards to Plum, you can get a complete overview of your financial status.

Regular balance updates can help identify unauthorised account usage or forgotten subscriptions. And with better visibility over your spending and regular payments, it can help make managing your budget easier.

Accessible investing options

We’ve made stock investing available for all our customers. So, provided you’ve signed up to Plum and created your investment account, our trading platform will be available to you with no additional subscription required.

You trade over 1,200 US company stocks (with up to 3,000 options available for Premium subscribers) through the Plum app using a General Investment Account (GIA) and get started with just €1.

The benefits of a Plum subscription

It’s free to download and start using the Basic version of the Plum app.

If you’d like to benefit from a wider variety of automated deposit rules and investment options, or even a better projected yield (thanks to lower fees) for Plum Interest... A monthly Plum subscription might be for you!

In addition to our Basic (free) tier, we also offer 2 higher subscription levels, Plum Pro and Plum Premium. You can trial either tier for 1 month, totally free of charge, before deciding which one best suits your needs.

Plum Pro (€2.00 per month)

In addition to the smart stuff in our Basic tier, Plum Pro provides customisable Pockets, gamified deposit Rules and access to our introductory range of investment funds.

Here’s what you can expect from Plum Pro:

• Gamified deposits with our 52-Week Challenge (to set aside £1,378 in a year) or Rainy Days Rule (which will set money aside when it’s forecast to rain in the area where you live).
• Create and customise 15 extra pockets and set goals.
• Use the Splitter to automatically apportion your deposits between pockets and Plum Interest.

Capital at risk if you invest.

Plum Premium (€9.99 per month)

When you subscribe to Premium you get everything Plum has to offer! All our Rules, investment options and automated tools. Complete your experience with our best rate for Plum Interest and our full range of company stocks.

Here’s what you can expect from Plum Premium:

• Receive a discount on the investing fees you pay for Plum Interest (the net yield is currently 3.81% VAR* for Premium subscribers).
• Invest in up to 3,000 company stocks, commission-free^†, including more meme stocks, greater geographic diversification and a wider selection of the brands you know and use every day.
• Automate your investing strategy, with Price Alerts to notify you when your chosen company stock reaches the desired price, and recurring buy orders to drip-feed money into the investments you’ve selected.

* Variable APR (Annual Percentage Rate) projection correct as at 20/10/23. The projected return is shown after fees (net). A projection is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Returns are not guaranteed. Plum Interest is an investment product. Plum Interest Terms & Conditions can be found here.

^† A 0.45% currency conversion charge and nominal regulatory fees apply.

Capital at risk if you invest.

You should always monitor your investment performance when using our automatic solutions.

This article relates to Plum’s offering for customers in the Republic of Ireland. Learn more about the Plum money management app by visiting our website.