MEET CLEO: The Fastest Growing Fintech App in History

It was just a matter of time before your kids got a bank app that only speaks their language! Let’s meet Cleo, the money management app with a sense of humor and zero tolerance policy for bullsh*t, has announced their U.S arrival from their base in London.

British data scientist, Barnaby Hussey-Yeo started Cleo in 2016 as a fun, quirky budgeting tool for friends. After quickly picking up 600,000 UK users in the first year and a half, Cleo alpha-launched in the US in April and started growing at triple the speed.

Unlike competitors in the market, Cleo is not a banking app and she doesn’t want your money. For millennials, the 2008 recession and Occupy Wall Street movement are still fresh in their minds, leading to a general distrust of banks, and Gen Z’s are no different — with a high level of general distrust of “big banks” and fear of falling into student loan debt.

“For decades, banks used data to predict how likely customers would overdraft their accounts or pay back their mortgages. Now, with CLEO, it’s the customers’ turn to benefit from data,” said Hussey-Yeo. “In lieu, Cleo gives our users the tools to make the most of their own spending data and ensures they’re the only person who profits from it.”

Drunk at 3AM and wondering whether you can afford pizza or fries to sober up? Text Cleo and she will likely clap-back in a voice that sounds more like a close friend versus stoic robot. The dedicated, cult-like personality has led to a whopping 67 percent of users continuing to use Cleo on a monthly basis within six months of downloading. On average, users have about 14 conversations per month, and while 81 percent report they feel stressed about money, another 78 percent say Cleo helps them to reduce their financial worries.