With the student budget deficit increasing year-on-year, the cost-of-living crisis continues to negatively impact all areas of student university experiences. Blackbullion’s 2023 Student Money and Wellbeing Report found that students need an extra £548 a month to confidently feel they can complete their degree. The report also found that nine out of 10 students (87%) are worried about money; 58% say worrying about finances negatively impacts their mental health; almost one in 10 (9%) of students surveyed have considered or have dropped out of university in the last 12 months as a direct result of the cost-of-living crisis.

By connecting Blackbullion’s app to their bank accounts, students can access real-time insights into their spending, and receive personalised suggestions as to where they can make savings. Students can respond quickly to suggested changes helping to manage their budgets and support ongoing financial wellbeing. This all happens through open banking technology.

In addition, Money Monday, an interactive weekly money check-in helps encourage students to stay on top of their finances in a sustainable, healthy way, minimising well-reported habits such as money-avoidance or obsessive money tracking.

Blending practical tools, and financial learning, Blackbullion’s new app brings students:

A Spending Calendar with a bird’s eye view of term-time spending to help students manage their expenses and plan spending in advance, all in one place. An interactive session, Money Monday, helping to simplify budget management so that students can review and plan weekly spends with no spreadsheets. Bullion rewards, incentivising students to embrace positive money habits. Collecting bullions allows students to boost emergency funds, win cash prizes and receive discounts.

Designed to meet the specific financial needs of students, Blackbullion’s app wraps in considerations unique to student money - student loans dropping just once per term and term-time spending, for example, meaning students can better manage their finances around these.

“We know just how much pressure finances put on students’ mental health - and how it impacts all parts of student life today. Our app is designed to help students feel less scared and overwhelmed about day-to-day money management,” says Vivi Friedgut, CEO and founder of Blackbullion.

She adds, “It puts students in charge of their finances, so they know they can make their next rent payment or have enough money for three healthy meals a day, enabling them to focus on their studies and enjoy their university experience.”

Following an initial launch to Blackbullion’s existing community of students across partner UK universities, the new app can be downloaded in the App Store and Google Play Store.