Oportun Smart Bills uses AI to save for recurring expenses

Oportun Smart Bills, an AI-powered feature added to the company’s Set & Save app, is designed to identify recurring bills and automatically put money aside for upcoming payments, Oportun said Monday. The company said initial users of the feature saved 48% more per month than members who used Set & Save without Smart Bills.

The feature broadens Oportun’s savings product at a time when consumers are trying to match income cycles with predictable obligations such as housing, utilities and subscriptions. Oportun said Smart Bills can help members prepare for car payments, rent, insurance, utility bills and other repeat expenses by linking savings activity to bills that are expected to come due.

How does Oportun Smart Bills work?

Smart Bills uses artificial intelligence to assess a member’s financial habits and identify routine expenses, according to Oportun. Once the system recognizes likely recurring bills, it can set aside funds within Set & Save toward those future payments.

Recurring expenses are payments that tend to arrive on a regular schedule, such as monthly rent, loan payments or subscription charges. A savings feature tied to those obligations can help users reserve cash before a due date, rather than relying on whatever remains in a transaction account when the bill arrives.

Oportun said members keep control over the process. Users can place limits on how much is saved, stop the automated savings activity, or withdraw money whenever they choose, according to the company’s release.

Annie Ma, Oportun’s head of savings, said in the release that Set & Save is intended to support day-to-day financial habits and that Smart Bills connects savings activity with priority recurring expenses. She said the aim is to help members budget, plan and feel more prepared when bills are due.

Why Oportun is focusing on bill-linked savings

The launch speaks to a broader consumer-finance problem: many households earn enough to cover obligations over a month but still face pressure between paychecks. PYMNTS Intelligence, in its report “Generation Zillennial: How Financial Literacy Drives Financial Confidence,” found that zillennials often have lower to middle incomes from entry-level roles and gig work and may have difficulty setting aside savings.

The same report found that zillennials are more likely than other generations to describe living comfortably between paychecks as a financial goal. It also said zillennials who did not have access to financial-literacy tools while growing up are more likely to have trouble paying bills between paychecks.

For Oportun, the savings update follows another consumer-finance move announced earlier in July. On July 9, the company said it had formed a lending partnership with Column, a nationally chartered bank that provides regulated financial infrastructure to technology companies.

Under that arrangement, Column will originate unsecured personal loans through the program, while Oportun will provide marketing, servicing and program-support functions through its platform, according to the companies. Gaurav Rana, Oportun’s senior vice president and general manager for lending, said at the time that the partnership was aligned with the company’s goal of expanding access to responsible credit.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.