Accessible Finance Made Simple: Andrew Babin on HaloFi and Voice-Controlled Money Management

Chris Peterson and Liz Botner sit down with Andrew Babin, co-developer of HaloFi, a new voice-controlled money management app designed with accessibility in mind. Andrew shares his journey with Stargardt’s disease, his unexpected path from construction to finance, and how his experiences inspired the creation of HaloFi—a tool merging AI and voice technology to make financial management more inclusive. The conversation explores how AI-driven voice interfaces are transforming accessibility in finance, what it takes to break into the financial industry without prior experience, and how to persevere through personal and professional obstacles with determination and creativity. Contact Info Guest: Andrew Babin, Co-developer of HaloFi 📧 [e-mail] 🌐 halofiapp.com Organization: Penny Forward 🌐 pennyforward.com Production Partner: Aftersight (formerly Audio Information Network of Colorado) 📞 [phone] ✉️ [e-mail] 🌐 aftersight.org Producer: Jonathan Price Show Credits Hosted by Chris Peterson and Liz Botner Produced by Chris Peterson and Liz Botner Audio editing and post-production by Jonathan Price Music composed and performed by André Louis Distributed in partnership with Aftersight Penny Forward is a nonprofit providing accessible financial education programs by and for people who are blind. Chapter Markers 00:00 – Introduction and welcome back 01:10 – Andrew’s early life and Stargardt’s diagnosis 03:25 – From construction to finance: a career pivot 05:50 – Breaking into finance during the COVID era 07:30 – Navigating work and independence with vision loss 09:45 – Lessons in perseverance and enthusiasm 11:00 – The idea behind HaloFi 14:00 – Overcoming barriers in finance exams and accessibility 16:20 – Building inclusive technology from the ground up 18:40 – HaloFi demo and functionality walkthrough 23:50 – Future features and AI-driven financial actions 26:30 – Launch timeline and how to join the waitlist 28:15 – How to contact Andrew and follow the project 30:00 – Partnership announcement with Aftersight 30:36 – Closing remarks and credits