Money management app Plum has entered the Republic of Ireland market to help customers tailor their spending and saving.

More than half (51 per cent) of people in Ireland saved money regularly in the last 12 months, but 47 per cent felt they weren’t saving as much as they would like to.

Furthermore, saving has increased during the COVID-19 outbreak as spending dropped by around 45 per cent during the height of the Irish lockdown.

“In these fast-changing circumstances, Plum offers an alternative to traditional money management,” said the FinTech.

It uses APIs made available by the EU’s PSD2 regulations to make the process of saving “easy and effortless”.

Irish customers can now link accounts to Plum from four major banks, including the Bank of Ireland, PTSB, AIB and Ulsterbank, as well as digital bank Revolut Ireland.

Once linked, Plum’s AI kicks into action and starts setting aside small amounts every few days, depending on what the customer can afford.

The money can be withdrawn from Plum any time with no limits or charges, and is sent back to the bank for them to process “within five minutes”.

Irish customers can subscribe to Plum’s premium tier, Plum Pro, which offers extra features that help customers “ tobe better off even more quickly” for €2 per month. In addition to saving rules like the 52 Week Challenge and Rainy Days - which stashes extra when it rains - Pro subscribers can save into multiple customisable pockets.

By the end of 2020, Irish customers will also be able to get Cashback when they buy from certain retailers as part of a Pro subscription. Plum’s investment platform will be available in Ireland in the first half of 2021.

The company raised $10 million in its latest funding round in July, taking total funding to $19.3 million. The app now has more than one million sign-ups and aims to reach five million more across Europe “by the end of 2021”.

Launches in France and Spain are set for the the following months, said Plum.

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