Your family's finances, policies and papers, shared on your terms

What FinLens Family is

Family is a page in FinLens for the people whose money you look at together. A family has one owner, who adds people in two ways. They use FinLens sends an invitation to someone who already has an account; they join only if they accept, and they choose what the family sees. Add them myself creates a profile you keep for someone who does not use FinLens, such as a parent whose statements you already handle.

Once your family has another member, the money pages gain a Viewing menu: Myself, All members, or one member by name. The Dashboard has a Personal and Family switch, with a Who holds what card that sets each member's net worth, bank balance, investments, cards and loans side by side, and says Not shared where a member keeps an area closed.

Why family money is hard to see in one place

Households rarely keep money in one name. One spouse holds the home loan, the other the credit cards; an ageing parent's pension account and insurance papers sit in a drawer you look after. Seeing the whole picture usually means sharing passwords, forwarding PDFs or asking each person for screenshots, and it is all or nothing.

FinLens Family lets each person share only what they choose, in figures, while their own login, numbers and files stay with them.

Who a family finance app is for

• Couples who want one view of both their accounts, cards and loans.
• Adult children who manage a parent's bank statements, policies and property papers.
• Families who want each member's credit score and bills visible to the others, by agreement.
• Anyone who wants to share figures without handing over a password.

How sharing family finances works for you

How to set up your family in FinLens

1. Start your family

   Open Family and tap Add a family member. Your first addition creates the family, named after your surname; you can rename it.

2. Invite someone who uses FinLens

   Choose They use FinLens, enter their mobile number and pick the Relationship to you. Only their first name is shown until they accept. Send invitation; it stays open for 3 days and can be resent once a day.

3. They accept, and choose what to share

   The invitation appears on their Family page with Accept and Decline. Joining shares only their name and relationship; each area is shared when they switch it on.

4. Or add a profile you keep

   Choose Add them myself and enter their full name, mobile number and relationship, with date of birth and e-mail if you like. Then upload their statements as you would your own, with their profile chosen in Viewing.

5. View the family

   Pick All members or one person in Viewing on any money page, or switch the Dashboard to Family.

What you need to set up a family

• The mobile number of each member you invite, and how they are related to you.
• For a profile you keep: the person's name, mobile number and relationship, their statements and papers, and their agreement to keep them in FinLens.
• For your own account: the areas you choose to share.

What each sharing area shows the family

• Finance: accounts, cards, transactions, statements and bills.
• Investments: mutual funds, stocks, NPS, PF and deposits. Credit: the credit score, the report behind it and loans.
• Documents: uploaded documents and what was read from them, though the files themselves open only for their owner.
• Insurance: policies and premiums. Property: land, houses and vehicles. Tax: filed tax returns. Travel: trips found in booking mails.
• A linked member's data is read-only for the rest of the family; their mobile number and e-mail are never shown to others.

Limits of family sharing

• A person can belong to one family at a time, and only the family's owner adds people. The owner cannot leave their own family.
• An invitation can go only to someone who already uses FinLens; joining FinLens is by invitation. A profile you keep becomes the person's own account only when FinLens allows their number and they sign in.
• Credit reports of different members are never added together; choose one member to see a report.
• Profiles you keep receive no WhatsApp or e-mail messages, and Ask FinLens answers only from your own data.
• Invitations and family notices arrive in the FinLens Inbox, and by e-mail where the address is verified.

Questions about family finance in FinLens