{"624774":{"#nid":"624774","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Mobile App Makes a Game of Saving for a Rainy Day","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAccording to a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zackfriedman\/2019\/04\/18\/no-savings-retirement\/#6671b6273d76\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esurvey done earlier this year by a national bank\u003C\/a\u003E, nearly 1 in 4 Americans don\u0026#39;t put any money into a savings account from\u0026nbsp;their paychecks, while almost half of the survey respondents said they only have access to enough money to cover general expenses for 0 to 3 months.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help these and other people better prepare for a proverbial \u0026quot;rainy day,\u0026quot;\u0026nbsp;a group of Georgia Tech student entrepreneurs has created \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.moneypie.app\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMoneyPie\u003C\/a\u003E, a new mobile app that turns saving money into a fun social activity\u0026nbsp;for friends, families, or other groups wanting to work together to achieve a savings goal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe developers \u0026ndash; set to showcase their work this \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/create-x-demo-day-tickets-63434536406\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThursday as part of\u0026nbsp;CREATE-X Demo Day at the Fox Theatre\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ndash; initially wanted to figure out how the same mobile technology that enables purchases with one tap of the screen, could be socially engineered to encourage people to consistently put more money away for later.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/views\/CreateXStartupLaunch\/Dashboard1?:embed=y\u0026amp;:display_count=yes\u0026amp;:origin=viz_share_link:showVizHome=no\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E[DATA VIZ: 2019 Create-X Demo Day Teams]\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Spending is a social activity, and we wanted to make saving money one as well,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Cstrong\u003EEithan Martinez\u003C\/strong\u003E, a computer science undergraduate and one of three co-founders. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMoneyPie allows any size group to decide how much to save (the goal is the same for all members) and gives users the ability to create intermediate goals and a target due date. Rewards are set for meeting the savings goal and penalties are incurred for missing it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe development team left the incentive system open-ended so that people could be creative.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you don\u0026rsquo;t reach your goal, the penalty might be doing the laundry for your roommates,\u0026rdquo; said Martinez. \u0026ldquo;If you hit your savings mark, maybe your friend picks up the check when you go out to eat.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat happens if everyone meets the goal?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Then I think that we\u0026rsquo;re doing something right,\u0026rdquo; said Martinez.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team researched the mobile app market and didn\u0026rsquo;t find anything similar to what MoneyPie is attempting to do. Aside from \u0026ldquo;gamifying\u0026rdquo; saving money, Martinez said it helps teach financial literacy and good money habits to younger generations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Spending money is easy, saving is harder, and this type of social framework has a lot of potential to help kids, young adults, and even older people with established incomes to view money in a more thoughtful way,\u0026rdquo; Martinez said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe app maintains the security and privacy of user information through the Plaid API, a global financial standard that connects user bank account information to apps.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor those socially motivated savers, MoneyPie has built-in functionality that allows group members to see each other\u0026rsquo;s progress, something the development team hopes stokes friendly competition. By saving in a group and keeping track of each other\u0026rsquo;s savings, friends can also mutually motivate each other to reach their goals and share tips in the process.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mobile app is available\u0026nbsp;on Google Play and the App Store. The team includes Martinez and computing engineering undergrads Andres Strulovic, Samuel Gedaly, and Daniel de Matheu. Explore all the CREATE-X teams from this summer by market segment in an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/views\/CreateXStartupLaunch\/Dashboard1?:embed=y\u0026amp;:display_count=yes\u0026amp;:origin=viz_share_link:showVizHome=no\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einteractive data graphic\u0026nbsp;from the GVU Center at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A team of student entrepreneurs have turned saving money into a game with a new mobile app."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2019-08-19 17:56:47","changed_gmt":"2019-08-22 19:24:29","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"624775":{"id":"624775","type":"image","title":"MoneyPie","body":null,"created":"1566237450","gmt_created":"2019-08-19 17:57:30","changed":"1566237450","gmt_changed":"2019-08-19 17:57:30","alt":"screen capture from MoneyPie website","file":{"fid":"237891","name":"Screen Shot 2019-08-19 at 1.38.40 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-19%20at%201.38.40%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-19%20at%201.38.40%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":57096,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-19%20at%201.38.40%20PM.png?itok=u7wnd9AL"}}},"media_ids":["624775"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"137161","name":"CREATE-X"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jpreston@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJoshua Preston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nResearch Communications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGVU Center and College of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpreston@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}