School of Fintech: Managing Your Finances as a College Student

An exciting transformative period awaits you as you brace up for your college life. It’s more than an academic journey, given that more significant social and financial exposure requires you to cultivate responsible money-management skills. You might sometimes feel overwhelmed as you try to balance your social life, studies, and financial responsibilities.

Regarding financial literacy and responsibilities, college students can hardly afford to overlook fintech to master money management like a pro! If you aren’t aware of how digital technologies are transforming money-handling habits among young students, it’s time to explore the fascinating domain.

By adopting fintech tools and practices, college students can optimize their money management skills. So, if you are busy applying for your scholarships or grants, understand the potential of fintech to ease up finances in your college life.

Why are college students embracing fintech?

The revolution in digital technologies has transformed the global financial landscape. Thankfully for college students, fintech solutions offer multiple benefits tailored to their specific requirements.

Think of digital wallets, expense-tracking tools, budgeting apps, and mobile banking apps. Isn’t it easy to keep track of your finances with a plethora of fintech tools? With greater accessibility, convenience, and real-time financial insights, fintech companies are helping cultivate financial literacy among young adults.

Financially resilient students at graduate or undergraduate levels remain organized while managing finances. This enables them to make informed decisions, whether it comes to clearing their student debt, contributing to their employers’ 401 (k) account, or saving money.

How can students manage finances using fintech?

Whether applying for your FAFSA through fintech platforms, starting a SIP, investing in the stock market, or splitting bills with your friends, fintech apps can transform your money-handling habits. Let’s delve deeper into how fintech has been redefining the financial lives of students.

Expense tracking and budgeting

Well, deciding to pursue your graduation might be the largest financial commitment you ever made! How about managing your finances and sticking to a budget throughout your college life? You won’t want your loans to haunt you long after you graduate, right?

A study reveals that 47% of millennials using budgeting apps are more confident in money management. Fintech companies have launched several apps to help students stay at the top of their finances. Some of the popular expense-tracking and budgeting apps include:

• YNAB (You Need a Budget): This is a budgeting app commonly used by students in the USA. It focuses on creating a proactive budgeting system and encourages students to save more.
• Mint: Mint is a comprehensive fintech app that syncs with your bank accounts. Students use this app for categorizing expenses and getting personalized recommendations on budgets.
• PocketGuard: This is an app that enables students to create a personalized budget. Besides, you can track expenses and monitor spending habits using this fintech app.

Some of these tools are designed to send notifications as you exceed your budget limits. No wonder these tools can help you gain a comprehensive overview of your financial health. Accordingly, you can identify where you are draining resources and curtail your expenses.

Digital payment solutions

There’s no denying that cashless transactions ensure greater convenience and security in managing expenses. You might already use digital wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal. Apart from making contactless payments at your hostel or locality, you can also keep track of your account statements.

Therefore, fintech payment solutions allow students to track their expenses, split bills with friends, and enhanced security features. Besides, there are some peer-to-peer payment platforms such as Zelle or Venmo. These apps enable seamless fund transfers between friends. This way, students find it easy to handle shared expenses such as utilities, rent, or group outings.

Since you can review the transaction history at any time, monitoring your expenses becomes easier.

Student loan management apps

Managing student loans shouldn’t give you nightmares! Of course, you wouldn’t like to graduate with debt. While you stream income through your side hustle or job, it pays to count on fintech platforms for valuable loan management tools.

Let’s take a look at the popular loan management fintech tools for students.

Student Loan Hero: This app offers student loan repayment calculators that can help you strategically put aside those funds before making other expenses. Besides, you might find their guides on student loan forgiveness programs valuable. Student Loan Hero also recommends personalized repayment plans. Your student loan burden wouldn’t weigh too heavily with the right approach.

LoanBuddy: LoanBuddy is another popular app enabling students to understand loan terms. Besides, exploring their refinance options and strategizing your repayment plans pays.

Using these loan management apps, students gain a transparent insight into the cost of their loans. In case you refinance your existing loan through one of these private lenders, you may end up saving hundreds of dollars. Besides, personalized repayment plans enable students to choose flexible repayment tenures while clearing their student loan debts.

Investment apps and robo advisors

You might feel that your college days are too early to start investing. However, investing early enables students to capitalize on the power of compounding. Besides, your college days are ideal for cultivating your savings habits.

Fintech investment apps go a long way in helping young minds understand the value of making early investments. For instance, tools like Stash and Acorns allow students to get started with investment using small amounts. These are robo-advisors or micro-investment platforms that can automate your savings contributions.

Once you start, you can gradually work on your financial literacy and cultivate healthy investment habits. Knowing how to channel your earnings through part-time jobs or side hustles paves your way to long-term wealth building.

Besides automating your savings, these tools provide students with a treasure of videos, articles, and interactive tools. These resources can help you with investment concepts like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

Fintech can enhance your financial literacy

Some of your peers might be obsessed with apps like Investopedia or MoneyUnder30. Well, they aren’t obsessed with money or leading a frugal life. They are simply paving their way to financial independence.

Free resources are available in plenty that can boost your financial literacy. Fintech apps also design quizzes, articles, or video lessons covering various financial topics. Besides, you can use these informative resources to grasp budgeting concepts of budgeting, saving, credit card management, personal finance, and investing responsibly.

Some of the fintech tools also provide personalized guidance on finance management. Why not leverage these free resources to elevate your financial knowledge? By the time you graduate, you will be better poised to make financial decisions and cultivate healthy savings habits. The financially resilient practice you start during college will deliver its value throughout your life.

Which are the most popular fintech apps for students?

Knowing how to use the best fintech apps makes the difference between responsible finance handling and graduating with student debt. Whether you are bracing for college or already enjoying your new responsibilities, it pays to use the best fintech apps to your advantage. Here are some common fintech apps for college students.

CommonBond

CommonBond has redefined the approach to student lending, loan repayment for students, and refinancing. College students already working full-time can also use this fintech tool to manage employee benefits such as a 401(k). CommonBond has also developed a flex contribution program that enables students to clear employee student loans. Besides, you can significantly reduce your debt by imbibing valuable financial literacy techniques by working with employees.

Gradifi

This popular fintech tool bundles employee benefits and refinance options with other benefits. They offer the student loan paydown (SLP) option and the College SaveUp program. The latter supports employees’ 529 college savings plans to fund their kid’s education. Although you might not use this tool directly, you might recommend it to your parents to better manage your education funds.

Earnest

Earnest is a fintech solution that offers students affordable refinancing options. So, if you consider your existing federal or private loan expensive, you may consider refinancing them with a low-interest loan. Earnest also helps students cultivate healthy saving habits.

However, the app expects a high earning potential from the candidates before disbursing the loans. If you do qualify, you may benefit from better rates.

FutureFuel

This is one of the most sophisticated fintech solutions that use behavioral economics to analyze the financial habits of borrowers. Thus, the company develops customized loan offerings to help students mitigate their debts. Unlike most other fintech companies, FutureFuel focuses primarily on the behavior and needs of millennials.

Starting early is key!

As you prepare to take control of your finances early in life, having the right fintech solutions puts you on the right track. Thinking of strategic money management, make sure to get yourself familiarized with versatile fintech apps. This way, you will manage to track your expenses while staying on your budget.

Fintech has revolutionized finance management for students. Getting started with investment and savings apps and student loan management tools would help you cultivate financial responsibility before you graduate. This way, you can take control of your finances and start thinking long-term. After all, your college life is the ideal time to develop financial resilience. So, it pays to enroll yourself in the school of fintech to develop responsible money-handling habits.

FAQ

Can student loan management tools help in saving money on my loans?

A student loan management app can help you save money on your loans. These robust solutions provide valuable insights into your loan terms, potential refinancing opportunities, and repayment options. When you explore these refinancing options, you may qualify for loans at lower interest rates. On switching to the new loan, you can save significantly in the long term on your student loan.

How suitable are investing and savings apps for students who have limited resources?

You might be engaged in a side hustle or part-time job as a student. After fulfilling your financial obligation, it’s natural that you won’t have much to save. However, investing these small savings through fintech apps like Stash or Acorns can help you accumulate the funds.

Once you cultivate the habit of investment, you can put in larger amounts when you start earning better. Apart from investing the spare changes, you may also invest in recurring contributions. This would help you develop a sound financial portfolio, while your investment habits would take you closer to financial resilience.

Will fintech apps charge any fees for managing my finances?

Not all financial apps offer the same features. Students can get access to the basic features of some of these apps for free. However, using the advanced features for better money management might require you to get the premium version of the apps, which are chargeable. Before you shell your money out, review the advanced features and the terms and conditions of each app. Students should also compare these tools before vouching for the premium versions.

Are budgeting and expense-tracking apps safe to use?

Most fintech apps for budgeting and expense-tracking prioritize the security of your financial information. The sophisticated tools use encryption protocols to protect your information from misuse. Besides, features such as biometric authentication and secure login methods make them safe for students.

Can fintech apps help me save money by curtailing expenses?

Yes, some fintech apps have been developed to analyze your spending habits. Backed by smart analytic tools, these apps generate and categorize reports on your expenses. When evaluating these expense patterns, you can identify areas where you might be potentially overspending. Accordingly, you can curtail your expenses and thereby save money.

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