We’ve become such a subscription culture that sometimes it’s hard to remember exactly what we’re paying for (see: the two million people were still paying for AOL dial-up Internet, at least in 2015.)
But now financial firms are offering up apps that can help customers weed out payments for services they no longer need or can’t remember signing up for, according to a recent story at Bloomberg.
These apps and services — including Clarity Money by Goldman Sachs and Control Tower by Wells Fargo — scan recurring payments and either cancel memberships, offer to renegotiate prices or send an alert if the monthly fees increase. According to Kelly Newton of Goldman Sachs, two of the three most-cancelled expenses are video services, which could include anything from Netflix to traditional cable.
As noted by Deloitte’s Digital Media Trends survey, the average U.S. household subscribes to three streaming-video services and 43 percent pay for both streaming and traditional pay TV; however, half of the survey respondents were “frustrated” by the increasing number of viewing outlets.
It’s only going to get worse for customers, at least regarding streaming options. Besides the myriad of options we have currently (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, CBS All Access, DC Universe, etc.), we can look forward to subscription video options from Disney+, WarnerMedia and Apple. Add in monthly music (Spotify, Apple Music) and even podcast services (hello, Luminary) and suddenly your monthly cable bill doesn’t look that bad. Or your AOL.
Editor’s Note: RealClearLife, a news and lifestyle publisher, is now a part of InsideHook. Together, we’ll be covering current events, pop culture, sports, travel, health and the world.
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