Personal finance apps and low-income households

The use of personal finance smartphone apps results in an improvement in various measures used to assess financial knowledge and skills, attitudes and motivations, and financially capable behaviors for those in low-income households. Those provided with smartphone apps demonstrated increased self-confidence in financial decision-making and financial literacy and improved their ability to delay self-gratification and their sense of being able to effect change. Financially capable behavior changes manifested in being better able to keep track of finances and manage unexpected bills. User engagement with finance apps could be improved by targeting users with a specific financial decision-making problem, personalizing the apps through push notifications to encourage ongoing user engagement, and incorporating game mechanics.