Debt Weighs Heavy on the Minds of Americans. There’s an App for That.

Dealing with debt is foremost on the minds of many Americans and understandably so. In December, the New York Federal Reserve announced that Americans have a record $14 trillion in debt, including mortgages, credit cards, and student loans. The situation can cause a great deal of anxiety.

According to a recent survey conducted by insurer Nationwide and ENGINE1, 44% of Americans feel stressed and 36% feel overwhelmed when thinking about their debt.
Many are left wondering, “Is there a way we can get rid of our debt without completely changing the way we live today?”

Nationwide is helping consumers answer that question through a new app that can help users get out and stay out of debt.

“Nimbl by Nationwide” analyzes a user’s financial situation, develops a plan to get them out of debt on a timeline that fits their lifestyle, and puts information at their fingertips to help users real-time spending decisions.

Their plan can be adjusted to account for changes in their debt and life situation. In short, it can be “Nimbl” to their ever-changing needs.

How it works

  • Users download the Nimbl app from the Apple AppStore or Google Play.
  • From there, Nimbl helps the user connect to some of their financial institutions to bring in spending and debt information. Nimbl uses that information to build a basic budget and understand spending patterns – all in a matter of moments.
  • Based on that information, and how the user feels about their debt, Nimbl puts together a simple recommendation for how they could reduce their spending to get out of debt on a timeline that fits their lifestyle.
  • As users follow that plan, Nimbl stays connected to their financial situation and helps them do even better or recover from a bad day or week to get back on track.
  • Nimbl will provide guidance to help the user decide what tradeoffs to make, what steps to take, and coach you along the way.

The survey also discovered that Americans would be willing to give up some of their favorite things if someone would develop a plan for them to get out of and stay out of debt. 63% would be willing to give up their favorite food for a month while 49% would forgo their coffee and other forms of caffeine for 30 days.

Those sacrifices to eliminate debt would certainly boost consumers’ mindset, according to the survey. More than half of those Nationwide surveyed said they feel a sense of relief (55%) and accomplishment (52%) when they pay off their debt.

More information about Nimbl can be found at www.actnimbl.com.


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