Digit bot has saved people $250 million and is now available on Facebook Messenger

Digit, a bot that automatically draws money into a savings account, is now available on Facebook Messenger.

Since Digit bot was created in 2015, it has helped its users save $250 million, the company says.

To use Digit, connect the bot to your checking account. The bot then takes out money each day and places it into a separate savings account. Milestones are marked with funny GIFs or memes.

Based on your spending habits, an algorithm determines the amount of money Digit can take out without the user noticing it’s gone, what CEO Ethan Bloch referred to as operating “on the fringes of your budget.”

Above: Digit on Facebook Messenger

Image Credit: Digit

A feature to help users save a portion of their tax return will again be available this year, through iOS and Android apps and the new Facebook Messenger bot.

The bot will also begin to help customers save money for specific expenses, like a trip or wedding.

“We think there’s a great place for machine learning and automation around this idea of making sure you can pay all your bills on time and in full,” Bloch told VentureBeat in a phone interview.

New features may help Digit compete in a growing field of fintech personal finance offerings.

Another potential change for Digit is the ability to save your cash at different banks.

Today, all Digit savings accounts are held by Wells Fargo. That’s important for Digit, so much so that Bloch says “Digit would not exist today were it not for Wells Fargo.”

But the company has heard from customers who are unhappy that their money is being saved at Wells Fargo, a bank that fired more than 5,000 employees for wrongdoing last fall and was penalized by the Justice Department in 2012 for targeting communities of color during the subprime mortgage crisis.

“We’ve gotten to a level of scale that we can work with more banks to move money within the U.S. banking system — to one, give us redundancy, and two, potentially give customers an option should they not want to have any of their business run through Wells Fargo,” Bloch said.

Digit has raised $36 million from investors like Google Ventures, Baseline, and General Catalyst Partners.