Liv., the lifestyle digital bank by Emirates NBD, today announced two new features within its mobile app, allowing customers to instantly split bills with friends and family, and tag their expenses according to personalised categories.

A year since beginning operations, Liv. is building a portfolio of services that cater to the specific needs of its millennial customer base, offering them 24x7 digital convenience as well as providing them the tools to lead a financially-healthy lifestyle.

‘Bill Split’ allows customers to instantly pay for a bill on their Liv. debit card and send money request notifications via social channels (including Whatsapp and Facebook) to friends and family. The service makes it easier and quicker for large groups of people to split dinner, cinema and other bills while going out, and allows the payer to keep clear track of who has repaid them.

The second new feature, ‘My Tag’ is an expense management tool which helps users understand where they spend most of their money and thus, budget better. Liv. offers customers insights in a simple, intuitive format, for example, tracking how much they spend on coffee every month or how often they order take-away from Zomato, so they can plan future expenses.

In addition to the 10 predefined categories such as dining, entertainment, shopping etc., the feature empowers customers to personalise expenditure tags. For example, a user can create a tag titled ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ and tag all the money that they spend on their friend’s wedding under this category.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Suvo Sarkar, senior executive vice president, head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD said: “Liv. has evolved over the past year to address those touch points that most affect its young customer base. Our new features have been designed keeping in mind the feedback we have received, along with the evolving technological and lifestyle preferences of our customers, and we are fulfilling those needs by implementing simple and innovative banking solutions. Bill Split is a much-needed tool in today’s social environment in which a new generation of consumers rarely carry the correct change or physical cash to pay one another. The feature saves them the hassle of splitting the bill via individual card transactions and bank transfers, and instantly allows them to pay back their friend or family from their smartphone.”

“Financial literacy has been a key focus for the bank in the past few years, and we are working towards incorporating healthy financial habits for our customers within all our products and services. Liv.’s My Tag features is very much part of that business model and lets millennials keep track of their spending in the manner which they find the most convenient: tagging,” added Jayash Patel, head of Liv.

Launched in early 2017, Liv. is the UAE’s first digital-only bank established in line with UAE Vision 2021’s strategic objectives of creating a smart innovation-driven economy. It aims at providing a differentiated digital experience for a new generation of customers, empowering them in their daily lives, learning and adapting to their individual preferences, and providing a banking platform that is intuitive and simple to use. Liv. curates a daily feed of personalised lifestyle promotions and offers for its customers, supported by a growing number of partner brands which include: Careem, Zomato, Tesla and Voucherskout, and is available on the App Store as well as Google Play. - TradeArabia News Service