A group of business-minded Maltese youths has won the top prize at an international business challenge for their innovative financial saving app.

The Buddies, a team from St. Albert the Great College, emerged victorious in the first-ever edition of the Global FinCap Challenge, organised by JA Worldwide and HSBC, besting teams from 12 other countries with their financial savings tool known as the ‘Saving Buddy Tool’.

The Saving Buddy Tool helps teach students saving strategies for various financial situations and also incorporates an automated mobile or landline service to assure everyone has access to it.

Through the tool, you can plan how much you need to save by inputting various metrics such as your savings, income, expenses and start and end dates. In doing so, the Saving Buddy Tool determines whether your purchase is possible or not during the desired date stated.

A walkthrough on how to use the app was provided by The Buddies themselves, along with a comprehensive business plan.

“The Saving Buddy Tool addresses practical issues that many people of different ages face when making savings decisions, while at the same time assisting people who may not have access to the internet,” said HSBC Malta CEO, Simon Vaughan Johnson.

“It’s fantastic to see young people successfully creating new ideas that have real value,” he said.

The Buddies competed against other teams of students aged 12 to 16, with each team having to pose solutions to business and community-related problems.

The Maltese team finished first ahead of INJAZ Egypt and JA Malaysia.

“We are delighted that our team from St. Albert the Great, Valletta has put Malta on the JA map as the first-ever to win the Global FinCap Challenge,” said JAYE Malta Foundation CEO, Fiona Captur.

At such a young age, The Buddies are already planning for their future financial stability and are providing other youths with the tools they need to save a penny or two.

Tag someone who could use the Saving Buddy Tool!