In this Zeta review, you’ll see how this financial management app helps couples specifically in handling their finances. We bet you’ll love it.
Marriage is such a beautiful thing. Do you agree?
It’s nice knowing that you have someone with you for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death you part.
But successful marriages do not come so easy. It definitely is not a walk in the park. Truth is, it takes a lot of hard work to make a marriage last.
A couple deals with lots of problems and challenges along the way, and unfortunately, one of the common causes of conflicts among them is — yes, you guessed it right! Money.
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In a study entitled, “For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home,” which was published online at the United States National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health, it says:
“Contrary to findings from previous laboratory-based surveys, spouses did not rate money as the most frequent source of marital conflict in the home. However, compared to non-money issues, marital conflicts about money were more pervasive, problematic, and recurrent, and remained unresolved, despite including more attempts at problem-solving.”
Meanwhile, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysis, 22 percent of all divorces in the United States were caused by money issues.
So, you see, while money is not the primary cause of failing marriages and relationships in general, it does take a big part of the picture.
But, you know what? There is nothing in the world that cannot be resolved, right?
Every problem comes with a solution or at least a way to make things work.
There are actually a lot of things that couples can do to not let money get the best of their relationship.
One of the many ways to make things work in terms of handling finances between married couples is using a financial management app like Zeta that is specifically designed for them.
While there are lots of financial management apps out there, the majority of them are for personal use. But this one, Zeta, was designed to help couples be better in handling their money as one.
Are you curious now to know more about this app? Well, in a couple of sections, we are going to share with you key information about the Zeta app.
In particular, this Zeta review will provide answers to the following questions:
- What is Zeta?
- What makes it different from other financial management apps?
- Who is Zeta best for?
- How does Zeta work?
- What are the best features of Zeta?
- How to get started with Zeta?
- Are there fees involved?
- Is Zeta safe?
- What to like about Zeta?
- What not to like about Zeta?
WHAT IS ZETA?
While most budgeting apps are great for solo users, Zeta is a financial management application that was specifically designed with couples’ needs in mind.
It was founded by Aditi Shekar, a family finance expert with a mission to “help couples get smarter about money.“
Zeta is a great financial tool that allows couples to stay on top of their finances as one. You know, promoting teamwork between couples, which is actually what it should be.
Anyway, the Zeta app helps couples merge their finances, set common goals, as well as track their financial progress together — not leaving the other behind.
Zeta is a free app, which honestly makes it even better!
Zeta can be accessed online or through a mobile app, which makes it even more convenient to use. So, even if you two are apart, you can still see what’s going on with your money with just a click.
Using the app, you can connect all of your accounts including checking, savings, investments, as well as debts — all in one place.
Although you can opt to let your partner see all your accounts, you also have the power to choose only what you want to share with the other person while still using the app to manage the others without them knowing.
On a business note, Zeta is backed by world-class investors, which include “a group of diverse, experienced and hands-on operators and venture investors from financial and consumer industries.”
If you’re interested in knowing more about what the Zeta app is about and what it has to offer, here’s an insightful video by Money at 30:
WHAT MAKES ZETA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT APPS?
Similar to other money management app out there, Zeta has features that make it easier for users to track income and expenses.
The app allows you to customize how you categorize several expenses and allows the user to review transactions, check bills calendar, as well as ensure that the expenses are within the budget.
However, what makes Zeta different from other apps you see in the marketplace is that it specifically focus on helping couples manage their finances together at different stages of their relationship.
As mentioned earlier, one of the major triggers of marriages that do not work is money issues. The main founder of Zeta wishes to address that by providing a tool that will help couples become more transparent with each other in terms of finances.
Moving on, Zeta has features that allow users to categorize transactions as “his,” “hers,” and “ours” (tagged with names, not with pronouns), which makes it easier to track shared as well as individual expenses.
By the way, Zeta also includes a savings bucket, which is not common among budgeting apps.
Furthermore, the app is flexible enough that couples can share as much or as little with the other person as they want. It allows users to still have that personal space.
The app allows you to link all your accounts at the same time, letting you choose only the ones you want to share with your partner and manage the others on your own without the other person knowing.
WHO IS ZETA BEST FOR?
Obviously, Zeta is specifically designed for couples. Whether you are married, engaged to be married, or living together, this app is best for you.
Well, of course, for as long as both parties are in for this shared financial management journey, this should work.
As mentioned, while it primarily promotes “shared” financial management, couples can still use the same app to manage their “personal” accounts. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone, yeah?
As for single people, you can still use the app although of course, you cannot enjoy the majority of its features because, again, it’s designed for couples.
HOW DOES ZETA WORK?
If you have used a budgeting app before, then it should be easier for you to get familiarized with how Zeta works.
However, if you are totally new to the whole financial management app thing, then this part of our Zeta review is for you.
Basically, like any other financial management apps in the market, Zeta tracks the user’s income and expenses.
To be able to do that, you either sync your transactions automatically or do it manually.
Zeta helps couples simplify their finances.
Once the user adds an account, he or she could mark it either “personal” or “shared.” Obviously, when you share the latter that means your partner gets to see it as well.
The software updates spending in real-time. More so, it allows couples to create their own budgeting categories or opt to use the preset ones in the app.
Zeta has a feature that allows users to track shared financial goals at the same time, keeping expenses separate.
WHAT ARE THE BEST FEATURES OF ZETA?
In this part of our Zeta review, you will see the best features of the app so far. This includes the following:
Bill Splits
Some couples prefer splitting the bill between each other. To be honest, this could sometimes be a headache when you do not have a system in place.
But, with the Zeta app, couples can easily keep track of bills that are meant to be shared, at the same time, keep track of who owes what.
Bill Calendar
Obviously, this feature allows couples to stay on track of their monthly financial obligations specifically — bills.
This feature shows when a bill is due to help ensure you do not miss paying anything.
Budgets and Goal Setting
Using the Zeta app, you can set up budgets and goals together. At the same time, track their movement.
Having budgets and goals will surely help you as a couple to stay motivates, make adjustments when necessary, and celebrate wins together.
Memos
What’s nice about the Zeta app is that it comes with this feature that allows you to leave a memo for your partner.
You can use this when making a purchase that the other person does not know about, or when you want to ask your partner about a particular expense.
Net Worth Tracker
One of the best ways to improve your financial situation is by tracking your net worth. This allows you to spend within your means and not go overboard.
Net worth refers to the value of your assets after subtracting your liabilities. With the help of Zeta, the process is simplified by syncing all your accounts in one place and doing the math on your behalf.
The tracker lets you see your net worth go up and down based on you and your partner’s choices.
Joint Cards
This is actually the company’s attempt at couples banking. By partnering with Radius Bank, Zeta gets to offer a joint bank account that comes with two debit cards allowing each couple to manage their finances and goals with the tools provided by the app.
Zeta Joint Cards allows couples to merge all or a part of their money. For some couples, this helps them manage their finances better. It makes things easier, in fact.
The Zeta Joint Cards provides the following features:
- No Account Fees or Minimums
- Account-holders could earn 0.14% APY
- FDIC-Insured through Radius Bank for up to $500,000
- Instant notifications
- Early Direct Deposit
- Allows transferring money from an individual or joint accounts
- Mobile check deposit
- Digital checks (write and send)
- Access to 32,000 ATMs for free
- Contactless payment via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal
- Unlimited transfers
- Bill pay
To avail of this feature, all you need to do is follow these simple steps:
- Tell Zeta about you and your relationship.
- Invite your partner and have their information confirmed.
- Receive your respective Zeta Joint Card.
- Start spending and saving as a team.
The Zeta Joint Cards is ideal for married duos, the newly moved-in, families, trusting roommates, or any other case where a joint bank account is handy can work.
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH ZETA?
Signing up with Zeta is pretty simple. All you have to do is go to their website, look for the Get Started button, and click it.
Provide all the information that will be required from. They’re basic information such as your email address, name, address, phone number, etc.
Also, you will be asked to link your financial accounts, and then, invite your partner to join in.
The whole signing-up process does not take long. In fact, you can finish it within 10 minutes.
ARE THERE FEES INVOLVED?
Now, here’s one of the most important things about the Zeta app — anyone can use it absolutely for free!
To be honest, it’s quite surprising since some of the most popular budgeting apps out there come with a cost.
By using Zeta, couples get to enjoy all the perks that come with the app without having to worry about paying for the services they use.
Zeta is a powerful budgeting tool that allows users to do automatic transaction importing, net worth tracking, the ability to customize categories, as well as a bill payment calendar, and keeping track of your personal and shared accounts and expenses.
IS ZETA SAFE?
Since users will have to link their accounts to the Zeta app, it is important that in this Zeta review, we also look into how secure the app is.
So, how secure is the Zeta app?
Zeta uses bank-level security measures to ensure that your personal information is secured.
None of your logins are stored in the Zeta app. They also use reputable third-party technology to link your financial accounts to the app without storing information anywhere.
Once you invite your partner to join, there is a two-step identification process in place before the other person can see the shared information. Rest assured that Zeta will never access your account unless you permit it to.
Meanwhile, we mentioned earlier that one of the perks Zeta users can enjoy is the Joint Cards, a joint bank account that comes with two debit cards allowing each couple to manage their finances and goals with the tools provided by the app.
Once you enroll for the said account, your money gets insured through Zeta’s partner bank, which is an FDIC member. All deposits are insured for up to $500,000 in the event of a bank failure.
WHAT TO LIKE ABOUT ZETA?
There are a lot of things to like about Zeta especially if you and your partner are so game with sharing financial information and are willing to work as a team.
Some of the things that really stand out are the following:
- Free App – Zeta is available for all for free! Imagine getting all the perks it offers without having to pay a cent!? That’s great, right?
- Financial Management App Designed for Couples – Unlike the majority of budgeting apps you find in the market, Zeta is specifically designed to help couples be better at handling their finances together. This, hopefully, helps saves marriages from breaking up because of money issues.
- Zeta Joint Cards – This feature allows couples to have a joint bank account that comes with two debit cards allowing each couple to manage their finances and goals with the tools provided by Zeta. This one’s nice to have for couples, really.
- Zeta Joint Cards are FDIC-Insured – What’s nice about this feature is that all deposits are insured by the FDIC through Zeta’s bank partner. The insurance is up to $500,000 in case of a bank failure.
WHAT NOT TO LIKE ABOUT ZETA?
While there are a lot of things to like about Zeta, it also has its share of drawbacks.
In this section of our Zeta review, we are going to share with you some of the drawbacks of this financial management app for couples. It includes:
- Work In Progress – Zeta app is still a work in progress. New features are still being added, which is actually good because it means there’s a lot more to look forward to.
- App Tends to be Slow – Well, we thought, since the app is still a work in progress, this explains why some users find it slow. Don’t worry, though, because the team is working on speeding things up. Also, we thought it’s fair to be a little forgiving since this one’s a free and a newly-built app anyway.
- Tracking Progress on Savings Goal Falls Short – Unfortunately, in case you are saving up for something, Zeta does not update your progress automatically at the moment. So, you have to do it manually instead. We, however, believe that the team is also working on it.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON ZETA
Zeta is a financial management app designed specifically for couples. The app provides a number of helpful features to help couples be better at handling their finances together.
Since the app is relatively new (needless to say, it’s free), there is still a lot of work in progress. But, imagine when it’s done and the app is already very functional. It would definitely be a big help.
So, given all the information we shared, are you thinking about downloading the app already?