Wells Fargo's Greenhouse Puts a Digital Spin on Envelope-Based Budgeting 

Wells Fargo is targeting young consumers with Greenhouse, a mobile banking app with the lofty goal of fundamentally rewiring how consumers budget and manage cash flow. It was launched in November, just five months after Chase unveiled Finn, a similarly ambitious mobile banking solution analyzed in a previous Javelin report. Greenhouse takes a forward-looking approach to what users have left to spend, in contrast to typical snapshots of “available balances” derived from a rear-view look at transactions. The app also offers a fresh digital alternative for consumers who gravitate to an “envelope system” to compartmentalize finances. Greenhouse’s seven core innovations – and its four key challenges to adoption – offer important lessons for all financial institutions seeking innovative approaches to financial fitness that can fundamentally alter consumer behavior.

Key questions discussed in this report:

• What is Greenhouse and why is it important?
• What are Greenhouse’s key innovations?
• What challenges will Greenhouse face as it matures into an app in regular release?
• What lessons does Greenhouse offer bankers?
• What does the user experience look like?