Is talking to our money the next user experience paradigm?

Written by Dave Wallace
15th March 2024

In my previous column piece, I discussed how the history of banking experience has not kept pace with the history of banking technology.

We need a way of literally talking to our money to help build a proper relationship with it

The way we bank is different in terms of the tools we use, but it is fundamentally the same. We pay money in, move money, and then pay money out. In essence, money was and is transactional.

However, what money represents is far from transactional.

Money provides the means by which we achieve or do not achieve. It defines the strata of our societies and the place our countries take in the world.

Much of what happens in the arch that occurs from the moment we are born to the day we die is defined by money.

Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers on the savannah. Today, the office is the new grasslands. The ancients stalked and ate the food they killed. Now, we are almost entirely removed from that process, relying mainly on commerce to buy the necessary sustenance to survive.

Money is the intermediary that drives us and our societies. As the adage says, “Money makes the world go round.”

The philosopher Descartes famously declared, “I think, therefore I am.” In today’s consumer-driven society, he might instead assert, “I spend, therefore I am.”

It is no surprise that money has infiltrated our consciousness and now forms a part of our inner dialogue. If you are anything like me, many of my conversations with myself are about money. Sadly, for most of us, these conversations are negative – in my case, I would describe them as relentlessly negative.

According to research conducted by Bankrate US, worrying about money is the most significant factor that negatively impacts the mental health of US adults. Research conducted by the UK’s Money and Pension Service on more than 10,000 adults concluded that 36% of the population, equivalent to 19 million people, experience financial anxiety. The research also showed that young people aged 18 to 34 (50%), parents (48%), and private renters (51%) are the most likely to feel worried when thinking about money.

Unfortunately, half of the UK population currently lacks the confidence to control their finances, and many tend to avoid thinking about money due to related anxieties. This is the reason why such a large number of people don’t feel equipped to tackle their money worries head-on.

I have recently been asking people to undertake a simple exercise: close your eyes and think about you and your relationship with money. What do you see? A few responses have included handcuffs, continual struggle, and an albatross around my neck. In no instance has the mental image been a positive one, even from people who, when I look from the outside, you would assume are financially sorted.

What are the root causes of this negativity? A need for more understanding? Or a lack of clarity about the current situation? All of these things are true. But there is something far more intrinsic at play.

Conceptually, money has to do many things, including reach into the future. In evolutionary terms, we are still subjected to fight or flight instincts – that is what anxiety is, our bodies trying to determine what to do. Our money conversations seem to have aligned themselves with this primitive dilemma, so we constantly try to decide what to do. And it is what digital transformation has so far failed to do, which is address our relationship with money.

Imagine conversing with one of your children about making good choices in life. If they are depressed or anxious, we intuitively know that they will not be in the headspace to make the best choices. The same is true of money. How can people make the right choices if money fills them with anxiety or dread? We know that helping stabilise a depressed or anxious child and making them feel better about themselves is all important. The same goes for money. Building or mending that relationship has to be the first step. We know that we cannot rely on family or friends. Most are in the same boat, and honest money conversations are still taboo.

We need a way of talking to our money and building a proper relationship with it. And I am not speaking figuratively. I actually want a conversation with my money. I want my money to educate me about its role in the here and now and in my tomorrow. I want it to speak to me about my dreams and aspirations and what it can do to make them a reality. I want it to advise, educate, and tell me when to invest or save. I want it to give me solutions to help me get out of trouble or tell me how to deal with my money worries regarding my family.

And technology may have the answer. I recently noticed something very interesting. I say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to ChatGPT. I ran a poll online, and of the over 100 people who answered, 82% are doing the same. Like it or not, we have all started anthropomorphising technology. And rightly so, GenAI is as close to magic as we will ever see. It responds in a way that means we are starting to engage with it emotionally.

My hypothesis is simple. We need to start anthropomorphising finances. Conversational interfaces with the smarts of GenAI could enable us to talk to our money. As I say, actually converse with it. So as well as providing basic transactional services, technology could provide a means to chat to cash.

You know what? The building blocks are all there. They haven’t been compiled in the right way yet. And as for mistakes and hallucinations, yes, these are issues, but being human is also sometimes about getting it wrong.

About the author

Dave Wallace is a user experience and marketing professional who has spent the last 30 years helping financial services companies design, launch and evolve digital customer experiences.