It’s no secret Americans aren’t great at saving, and the financial services community — belatedly — is rolling out new solutions to help.
There are startups like Dyme and Digit that help simplify the savings process; neobanks like Simple and Moven that provide sophisticated budgeting tools to help plan for purchases and goals; and financial institutions like Key Bank, PNC, and USAA, which provide digital financial wellness tools and scores.
A new entrant to the savings game is Hip Pocket, a Lincoln, Neb.-based startup that began as a lead generation tool for mortgage and retirement products. The company’s offerings have expanded considerably recently to include Hip Money, its new app that includes a simple yet powerful feature: Swipe to Save. The product premiered in Sept. at FinCon in Charlotte, N.C.
Users set up goals or savings targets and a date by which they hope to achieve that goal. They then receive periodic prompts to set aside a certain amount with a swipe. Hip Pocket CEO Mark Zmarzly told Bank Innovation that the service works because it can be personalized according to user preference, the behavior is addictive and positive, and the action is intuitive and requires no behavior change or, crucially, math.
Hip Money also contains extensive personal financial management tools and budgeting and analyzes users’ cash flows to help optimize for saving.
Hip Money can be white-labeled and made part of an existing mobile banking app, Zmarzly said. Hip Pocket is currently raising an investment round of $500,000, and won runner-up at the fintech startup competition at FinCon last month.
FamZoo, a family money management service, and TickerTags, which monitors social signals for information for investors, shared first prize.
Learn about fintech innovation at Bank Innovation Israel, Nov. 10-11 in Tel Aviv. Request an invitation here.