Bud partners with subscription management app Little Birdie

Open Banking provider Bud has partnered with subscription and bill management app Little Birdie to help consumers save money on unused or unwanted subscriptions and recurring payments.

The Little Birdie app, launched in October 2022, is powered by Bud’s ‘Engage’ product, which enables customers to connect their accounts via Open Banking, so that they can identify and then manage their recurring payments and subscriptions, including cancelling those they no longer use.

The free app allows users to cancel subscriptions directly with almost 400 providers, including Spotify and Disney+ and also reminds users when payments are due, when a free trial is coming to an end, and when there is a price rise.

According to Little Birdie, the average household has between 10 and 20 subscriptions and regular payments, when utility bills, mobile phones, broadband, and other costs such as mortgages, are taken into account.

Research commissioned by Little Birdie and conducted by Opinium in September 2022, found that 32% of respondents aged 18 to 34-years-old expressed regret about subscriptions they bought during the pandemic.

Ed Maslaveckas, CEO of Bud

In addition, 41% said they were worried that regular subscription payments could push them into debt.

The research revealed that 33% of this age group say they can no longer afford to keep paying their current subscriptions and recurring payments.

Bud founder and CEO Ed Maslaveckas said: “Since 2015, we have focused relentlessly on building technology that can enable companies to understand their customers in a whole new way.

“At the heart of this is our transactional data intelligence. This product will help Little Birdie customers to take the stress out of financial decisions.”

Martin Bould, co-founder of Little Birdie, added: “With the cost of living crisis pushing household budgets to breaking point, people are desperate for a simple solution which gives them more control over their finances.

“Our partnership with Bud allows users to connect the Little Birdie app directly and securely to their bank accounts using Open Banking – seamlessly allowing us to identify all their regular payments – and manage their subscriptions in one place. This then makes it easier for users to view, switch and cancel regular payments meaning they can secure better value for money when finances are tighter than ever.”

In June last year, Bud raised $80 million in a Series B funding round, based on its recent work on data enrichment and its data labelling capability.

At the time, Maslaveckas told Open Banking Expo: “What we’ve always been interested in from an Open Banking perspective is the ability to use this newly-available dataset to automate and potentially change a lot of the ways, not only that customers experience their finance, but that businesses deliver finance to their customers.”