Along with its SME focused My Business solution, Softline Pastel further showcased its free cloud-based solution, My Money, with which individuals can better manage their finances.

At an event held in Sandton, the company explained that while difficult economic times called for stricter control of one’s personal finances, it was not easy to save money if one did not know how it was being spent. To this end, it elaborated that My Money was the “perfect tool” to manage transactions and track spending.

And, befitting the always-on, mobile world to which users have become accustomed, the solution could be accessed from one’s, tablet or smartphone, provided one is connected to the internet.

“The need for mobility is a reality in everyone’s lives and a personal financial management tool in the cloud is the perfect way for money-conscious consumers to manage their budget,” explained Steven Cohen (pictured), managing director of Softline Pastel.

My Money at work

Each profile allows up to three users and three households all at no cost, and users only need register at www.pastelmymoney.co.za. The first notable feature on offer is the program’s automatic bank feed, which imports bank statements from an unlimited number of internet bank and credit card accounts.

The company added that for a monthly fee equivalent to one cappuccino, Pastel My Money will update and automatically refresh users’ account daily with any new transactions available in their online bank statements, ensuring that they are never out of touch with their financial status.

Other features include the ability to automatically attach till slips to a transaction by taking a photo with a smarthphone, or by scanning slips onto a computer. The details of household contents can be recorded on the program, including where they were purchased, the purchase price, the replacement value and a photograph of each item, for insurance purposes.

Counting the cost

Additionally, users can create their own expense categories that will be remembered by My Money, so that every time a transaction is captured, it will automatically be assigned to a relevant category – a feature which the company enthused makes it easy to track and analyse expenses. A budget can also be created based on a user’s historical spending which can then be compared to actual spending.

Like with its SME business offering, Pastel My Money similarly provides users with the ability to get an overview of all bank balances, transactions, and spending habits in one place. Spending categories and groups can tell the user whether they are spending money on essentials or splashing out on other things. This can be generated into a report tracking income versus expenses over time, which can be printed or emailed.   

No less important is the fact that one’s data is backed-up daily, encrypted and stored in a managed hosted environment which ensures that its users’ spending trends will not be lost.

To the point

“With an economy still recovering from the global economic crisis and prices on essential items like petrol and electricity on the rise, we are all, regardless of economic status, acutely aware of how stretched our bank balance really is,” says Cohen.

“Initially we wanted to develop a piece of software to help our clients manage their personal finances. But because we've all been through the wringer and need as much help with our money management as we can get, Pastel has decided to make the program available to everyone,” he continued.

“With financial freedom now just a mouse-click away, I encourage everyone to register with Pastel My Money. It's not every day you're offered something priceless for free,” he concluded.

For a humorous demo video of the product in action, cast your eyes on the video below.