Personal Finance
Americans Have So Many Subscriptions They Need Apps to Track and Cancel Them
- Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo among the players using new twist
- Applications target forgotten monthly bills’ recurring costs
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Old-guard financial firms are targeting youngsters like Netflix Inc. with apps that can help customers weed out payments for services they no longer use or have forgotten about -- even as options to take on more monthly expenses multiply.
The applications, including those from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Discover Financial Services, assist users in finding recurring fees and in some cases cancel them or renegotiate their costs. Gym memberships, food-of-the-month-club dues, cable commitments, as well as video-streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, are all vulnerable to impulsive house cleaning. The apps, which sometimes take a cut from the money they save, can also alert subscribers when services hike prices.