Money Watch – Personal Finance Blog

A new app has been launched which is designed to help students manage their money.

Loot, which has launched just as University students start a new academic year, has been built with students in mind, and comprises of a prepaid contactless debit card, which you top-up with money to spend, and an iPhone app which shows you where your money has gone, the remaining balance on your card, and set savings goals.

The card can be used to spend online, and as it is contactless, it can also be used on London Transport bus and tube services, instead of an Oyster card.

For international students, the benefit of using a prepaid card like this is that it will be quicker and easier than getting a UK bank account setup. There’s also an international money transfer service built in to the app, meaning parents can add funds to the card from abroad.

Here’s the Loot promo video:

The costs

For the most part, using Loot is free; the app is free to download, spending on the card is free, and topping up your card via a bank transfer is free too. However, there’s a £5 charge for lost cards, a charge of £1 + 2.5% to top-up your card via PayPoint, and if you want to take out cash from an ATM, you’ll be charged 75p per withdrawal, so it’s not ideal if you’re intend to regularly withdrawing cash.

App Screenshots

The app is currently only available for the iPhone, and can be downloaded from the app store.

It’s very early days for the Loot app, so if you’ve used the service, we’d be interested to hear your thoughts. Let us know what you think of it in the comments below.