AI application to track income and expenses causes a fever because it 'scolds' people who spend money

Rolly: AI Money Tracker was launched by developer Yoon Wei Chia three months ago, but has only become popular in Vietnam after a short-term subscription price reduction. On the App Store, Rolly: AI Money Tracker is currently second in terms of downloads and leading in the financial application category. The product is considered to bring an interesting experience in spending statistics, acting as a real assistant instead of a simple application.

Rolly has the same main features as other financial management applications such as recording income, expenses, and statistics over time. However, the special feature is the data input method via chat with natural language, instead of users having to classify expenses in the traditional way. For example, they just need to type "buy coffee 40 thousand", the application will automatically classify it into the food spending group. They can also set up data input rules to customize AI.

Through interactive chat, the app will respond every time the user enters a certain amount. The developer said that users will not know in advance how Rolly will comment on their spending, making the product interesting and fun.

Rolly allows users to choose three "personalities": Happy, Sad, Angry to respond to income and expenses. For example, with a sentence "coffee cost 40 thousand", the Happy personality will say: "This is a great way to start the day", while the Angry personality will reply: "Oh my god, a cup of coffee cost 40 thousand, are you frugal?".

Rolly's responses are varied and in some cases also appropriate to the context. When typing "buy medicine for 20 thousand", instead of blaming the user for spending money, Rolly will "scold" the user: "Why did you only buy medicine for 20 thousand? Isn't there a better one?"

In addition, users can also consider it a financial assistant by asking statistical and consulting questions, such as "what was the biggest expense last month" or "how should I save?" On social networks such as Threads and Facebook, many Gen Z users are constantly sharing screenshots of humorous exchanges with Rolly. However, there are also mixed opinions that the app sometimes appears harsh and overly critical of users.

To experience the full features, users must purchase a paid version. If they do not pay, they may have to wait a few seconds for each chat. In Vietnam, the iOS and Android app costs 49,000 VND per month or 499,000 VND for a lifetime use.

As a newly developed application that supports AI generation, Rolly still has many points to overcome. The application's interface is still sketchy, some cases respond incorrectly, such as asking in Vietnamese and answering in English, only recognizing one expense in a conversation. The application also does not accurately record the time element in the sentence. However, users can customize it right in the chat.

Additionally, because it uses AI, Rolly only works when there is an internet connection. According to security experts, spending data can be uploaded to the company's servers, so users should also consider when sharing sensitive information.