With the MyMoneyAppUp Awards Ceremony quickly approaching (September 28 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.), we thought we'd share a bit about the finalist apps. See below. And be sure to watch this space to find out which one wins the $10,000 Grand Prize!
BankUp
This app seeks to increase financial capability by motivating users to set and achieve financial goals. It also connects users to banking services. The design leverages gamification to engage users and their social networks in identifying and achieving their goals. For example, users earn rewards by achieving stated goals (such as opening a checking account or learning about debt), or when completing educational modules designed to help them improve their financial literacy.
Buying Happiness
The Buying Happiness app helps users identify their savings patterns and to think about their decisions in a new way. Users track purchases by entering and categorizing them into their phone (e.g., “spending time with family or friends,” “giving / charity,” “saving or investing,” “travel”). The app then follows-up and asks users to rate how much better their previous purchases have made them. The app produces graphs showing the record of purchases and the user’s happiness ratings over time, to help them see how each spending category relates to their happiness. The app also allows users to share information about their spending with family and friends, and to compare their spending habits with others.
Centz
This design helps make student loans easier and simpler to manage. Among other features, the app allows users to: link information about all their student loans in one place; create a payoff plan that syncs with their budget; identify how to reduce payment periods and total interest due by making extra payments; learn about managing student loans; and test their knowledge about student loans and personal finance.
Crazy Money
This tool uses a game interface to help users track and control impulse spending – that is, their “crazy” money. Essentially, the user uses the app to create a game to track his impulse spending. Users set a monthly limit for their crazy money expenditures. They also set parameters for their use of the funds. Alarms sound when the user exceeds his crazy money budget, and other people in the user’s network are notified about the spending, too.
The tool can be used by individuals to track their own impulse spending. It is also useful for helping others – such as a parent who wants to teach their child about spending, or an adult who is eager to keep their partner in line in terms of their spending. Families can play together – by allocating “crazy” money in the app’s account and tracking each others’ expenditures.
Know it ALL!
This app enables consumers to instantly calculate the full cost of a credit card purchase so they can make a fully informed decision about a purchase. It calculates the amount of interest the purchaser will be charged given their current interest rate, current credit card balance, and minimum monthly payments. The app includes a scanner for reviewing a price via a UPC or QR code. Once the information is scanned, the tool displays a full financial impact statement with details on the long-term cost of their purchase, given different credit cards.
Moolah
This app is a financial decision-making tool that assists low-income households with achieving their goals. The app enables users to assess their financial situation and create a budget with connections to public benefits, and it recommends relevant social services and financial products. In short, it is a combination of personal financial management software and a single-stop public benefits and community services referral portal.
My Next Car!
This app helps people save in advance of their next car, thereby avoiding car loan interest payments. It is designed specifically for first-time automobile purchasers, as well as for people who have paid-off their current car but want to continue making “car payments” into a savings account. The app includes features such as: upload a photo of the desired car to set a goal; shopping guides and tools; a monthly “e-bill” reminder to save for your new car; and a running total of “interest saved” by saving for the purchase rather than borrowing.
PayU
This app helps consumers “pay themselves first” by scanning / entering saving amounts from a store receipt or online order, charging a debit or credit card for the amount, and depositing that amount into a savings account. The app also includes a game feature that enables users to earn “points” for having a zero balance in credit card accounts or lowering their credit card balance, saving money, and so forth.
Merchants can take part by using the PayU icon to encourage savings along with promoting their business. The icon could be scanned to bring up the automatic savings and/or play the PayU game. Businesses also could provide coupons/savings incentives as a reward for success with the game.
And those are the eight finalist apps! Stay tuned to find out who wins the Grand Prize ($10,000), two Runners-Up Prizes ($5,000 each) and two Honorable Mentions ($2,500 each).
Thank you for your support and participation,
-The MyMoneyAppUp Challenge Team
