Billi Review | Manage your finances with ease

Digital finance tools have been a great help to many Canadians. We can invest online, pay off our credit cards with a few taps, send e-transfers in seconds, and even create personal budgets on our phones. But chances are, if you are doing all of these things, then you have several different apps on the go. This can become a tricky and onerous task.

Wouldn’t it be easier if everything was all in one place? With the Billi app, it is.

What is Billi?

Billi is an app created by finance experts and developers that has been designed to create a one-stop shop for all your financial information to improve your relationship with your money.

So, how does this work?

Billi makes it possible to keep track of your finances by allowing you to connect all of your credit cards and financial institutions. The data provided empowers you to track your spending so you can see your financial habits and trends. All bill payments and subscriptions are tracked, and spending is broken down into categories to better understand where your money is going.

On top of these handy core features, Billi also offers its members the ability to build their credit with Billi Boost.

Billi Boost

Billi Boost is a unique feature that allows users to build their credit without having to worry about creating any new debt. The program tracks your monthly rent payment – a bill you’re paying anyway – and reports it to Canada’s top credit bureaus. This allows you to build credit faster. This is important because a higher credit score could lead to increased credit limits and lower interest rates in the future. This is an ideal way for people to build their credit history without having to use credit cards, loans, or other debt-inducing methods.

Billi Boost comes with a monthly fee of $4.99. If you’d like to use Billi Boost, all you need to do is download the app and fill out the quick Boost form. Once this is done, you connect the bank account that your rent payments are withdrawn from so Billi can verify and report these payments. After you are all set up, you just need to continue paying your rent as usual and Billi will report your monthly payments to the credit bureaus. Please note that it will take about 4-6 months to see your credit score increase, but as long as you continue to pay your rent in a consistent and timely fashion, it’s estimated that Billi can help you raise your credit score by up to 150 points.

A couple of things to note. Billi can still find your rental payment if it is paid by cheque, e-transfer or cash. Split rent can also still be tracked and used to boost your credit score. Should you wish to cancel your subscription, you may do so anytime by updating your subscription in the app itself.  

How much does Billi cost?

The core Billi app, which allows you to link all of your accounts and track your money is free of charge. If you would like to use the Billi Boost feature, then, as said above, there is a monthly fee of $4.99. There’s no additional cost to cancel at any time.

Is Billi safe?

Like other financial apps, Billi prioritizes the safety of your personal and financial information.

Any data sent from a user’s phone to the Billi servers uses bank-grade encryption. This means nobody can read the data as it is being transferred.

Furthermore, none of this data is permanently stored on your phone. As soon as you log out of the app, the data on your phone is wiped clean. The data is stored in Billi servers, in a top-of-the-line database which is encrypted, inaccessible from the internet, and protected by multiple firewalls.

Is Billi for me?

Billi is for everyone. The core Billi app streamlines your online financial tools and puts everything into one place to help you manage your money better. Whether you are a super saver well on track with reaching your goals or someone who is new to budgeting and trying to get a better idea of where your money is going, Billi can be a helpful tool for your needs.

Billi Boost, in particular, is an incredibly helpful tool for individuals working on building their credit score. The option of being able to build credit without having to worry about debt is something that many Canadians will find very useful. At $4.99/month, the cost for this feature is very reasonable.

Final thoughts

Billi is a new app available to Canadians. At the time this review was written, they recently finished the beta testing stage and have launched to the general public. Users so far are loving the streamlined and easy to use design, and there is plenty of positive feedback regarding customer service. As someone who uses plenty of financial tools and apps myself, I am really looking forward to seeing how Billi adapts and grows in the future.