Another week…another new app to get millenials to save (after all those under 35 had a negative savings rate in 2014!).  Details from American Banker:  

At Qapital, users will be prompted to establish goals to guide their savings efforts after linking their checking-account data to the app. Users can set up a rule to round up the change on card purchases to the nearest dollar or two dollars, which is reminiscent of Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” program. Qapital users could also set rules to spend less: they could tell the app they can spend $400 on Uber per month. Then, if they only spent $300, the “extra” $100 would be routed to Qapital-branded savings accounts.

The idea is to set up a way to save small amounts passively — something that increasingly matters as more transactions are card swipes or phone taps.

App goes live in mid-March.  Do your students think it will work?

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Check out our lesson on Mobile Banking

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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