An innovative new service has just been launched to help households record important financial information securely in one place, and then use that as part of an interactive budgeting tool - privately and safely - online.
And it’s already receiving attention from several high street banks, as a potential offering to new customers and those making loan applications.
Your Nutshell offers a number of interlinked services, with the facility to store everything important to a person or household including diaries, life histories and living Wills.
The financial offering, Your Money in a Nutshell, takes users through a full range of prompts to be answered to record every conceivable asset, liability, income and expenditure affecting their household.
Contact details and policy numbers remain fire-, flood- and burglar-proof if ever they’re needed in a hurry, and all payment amounts in and out are recorded with dates.
These figures in turn automatically populate the twelve-month budget forecast, which is unlike any other in that it allows completely interactive control. If a repayment rate is due to change on a given date, or the user has a future one-off expense to factor in - such as a family wedding, holiday, or income such as a bonus - these can be included with dates and amounts, and they will then be reflected in the appropriate section on the budget.
There is even the facility while storing details of policies and accounts to set reminders by email in advance of renewal dates, to ensure smooth transition and finding the best prices.
There is interest from banks in offering membership to their customers, partly to help manage the current economic climate and partly to cut internal processing time when considering loan applications. The list is exhaustive and the resulting budget gives a true reflection of a household’s financial position; and could cut an hour-long application review by more than half, while also helping customers focus on their genuine ability to repay.
It’s useful both for more established households with regular income and expenditure and for others just starting out - such as students or those setting up home for the first time. And membership can be given as a gift.
The website is as secure as any bank’s – password-protected at several levels and encrypted, and only members have access to their files.
Of course, Your Money in a Nutshell makes managing finances easier for absolutely anyone who uploads their details; but should something unforeseen happen to them, those left managing their financial affairs would find everything far easier to administer. Members are encouraged to leave instructions about access to their account with a solicitor or executor, or stored with their Will.
There are more light-hearted parts of Your Nutshell which tie in neatly with storing everything important safely online, surviving mishaps to household or computer - recording memories and events during the year, and last wishes including personal messages and hopes for the future, all with pictures, video and documents as extra illustration.
Your money, your year, your life, your wishes – it’s everything important, in a nutshell!
A premier cash home-buying service in London has this week relaunched its website. The online refurbishment comes at the perfect time for many home owners, desperately looking for fast house sales to release home equity as the credit crisis looks set to continue for the next year.
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