The Big List: Cleo’s countdown to a full US product
It’s time to end the US alpha. Here’s what we’re building to get there.
Cleo launched in the USA in March. Since then, we’ve gained over 240,000 US users across 50 states. Cleo’s sent nearly 6 million insights, responded to 4 million US queries, and processed 70,563,175 transactions.
We’ve built continually for the US during that time. The alpha evolved, as we hungrily took in feedback — thousands of surveys and community posts collected from an amazing community of US users. We built things we didn’t necessarily anticipate — a new bills classifier, to account for fortnightly and cash bills; a hyper flexible budget; even-more-proactive nudges, as requested.
Now we’re focusing all those efforts, and ending the alpha with a bang, with loads of new features and big fixes. It’s an opportunity to achieve not just parity across the UK & US products, but to use as a springboard toward a bigger, smarter, slicker Cleo.
Check out the plan below. This is the stuff that’s happening right now — even as you read this, we’re getting these features out the door.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be back here, ticking items off. Expect blogs and videos with each new launch, and intros to the team members who are making it happen.
And ask Cleo about it! Say ‘alpha update’ to her for the latest…
Done so far:
✅ Balance refresh
We worked with our US banking partner, Plaid, to ensure that US users can get their latest balance any time. Just say ‘refresh’ to Cleo and she’ll grab it from your bank.
✅ Transaction enrichment
We’ve made Cleo smarter in how she presents your US transactions, neatening up names, categories, and logos.
✅ Bills
You guys gave us a ton of feedback on your bills — how you pay them, when you pay them. Now you can also search for your bills, select their frequency, and — our machine learning engineers built a new way of classifying them. Cleo’s getting better at it every day.
✅ Cleo Game
You know about the game, right? Every week, Cleo gives you a personalised quiz on your spending. Get all the questions correct, and you’re in with a chance of winning some cash. It’s fun *and* informative 🙃
We’re working on making the US version a bit slicker — plus cash prizes are imminent. On which note…
In Beta:
❇️ Smart saving
We launched the beta a few days ago! Over 1000 US users are already saving with Cleo! The full product will launch next week, so watch this space.
To do smart savings, we set you up with your own Cleo wallet. We partner with leading payments provider, Dwolla, to offer the wallet, and there are tons of other stuff you can do with it. Read on.
Being built:
☑️ Budget 2.0
Cannot wait for you guys to see this one. Featuring a customisable budget calendar, focused insights, end-of-budget roundups, and tips to help you get there — it’s so nearly ready.
☑️ New design
From icons to homepage, Cleo’s getting a refresh. (Wonder what a Cleo app might look like? …We’re saying nothing.)
☑️ Friend referrals
Every day we get feedback and reviews from Cleo users who say they’re ‘that person’ at the bar on a Friday, telling all and sundry about their AI money pal. Seems right that we should thank you for that. With the new Cleo wallet, you’ll get cash for every friend you badger into budgeting 🙏
☑️ Sending money
Soon, you’ll be able to check how much you owe your mate for drinks, and repay them in the same Cleo conversation. Just tell Cleo who you want to send money to, and she’ll whip it across.
☑️ US-focused insights
We want Cleo to get you —to understand what you care about, where your money’s going and why. Health insurance, student loans, petrol prices, Chipotle addictions —we’re building US-focused insights to help Cleo get to grips with the things that matter to you.
☑️ Cleo’s voice
Cleo’s colloquial. She speaks like you do to your friends — or that’s the intention. But how do you account for 500,000 people’s colloquialisms? As Cleo’s reach grows, she’s got to be able to support and relate to people across a range of geographies and backgrounds.
Slang, pop culture references, internet registers, all that good stuff — it’s far from universal. So, we’re starting to split out Cleo’s voice. You make different references with different friends. Cleo’s beginning to do the same.
☑️ Help and guidance
This whole AI money pal thing is pretty new. Cleo’s learning how to walk you through what she does, with everything from a full tutorial, to a quick-access Help menu.
What’s next?
Launching a full US product is just the beginning. Soon, Cleo will be the home for all of your finances — she’ll give you interest on your savings, help you invest, cover you at the end of the month, set you challenges, and support you with ever more nuanced and intelligent conversation. We’re getting this feature list checked off fast so that we can move toward that reality.
From the whole team — thank you so much for joining us in the US alpha. You bore with us in the early days, and gave incredible and generous feedback as the months progressed. In Community discussions you trialled new features, bashed bugs, and laughed at Cleo’s blunt bedside manner. You got Cleo to this point, and we’re massively grateful.
