Developer(s) | Qapital, LLC |
---|---|
Initial release | December 2013 (Sweden); March 2015 (US) |
Operating system | iOS and Android |
Type | Personal finance |
Website | www |
Qapital is a personal finance mobile application (app) for the iOS and Android operating systems, developed by Qapital, LLC. [1] The app is designed to motivate users to save money through a gamification of their spending behavior. It moves money from a user's checking account to a separate Qapital account, when certain rules are triggered. Its database is used by psychology professor Dan Ariely to study consumer behavior. Qapital was released in Sweden in 2013, then in the US in early 2015. The application was later withdrawn from the Swedish market in April 2015, in order to focus on the US market. [2]
The idea for Qapital was conceived by ex-bankers in Sweden. The software was designed by twin brothers Daniel and Andreas Källbom of Studio Källbom and released in Sweden in December 2013. The original software was a personal finance dashboard, similar to Mint.com, to show its users how they spent their money. [3]
Qapital introduced the app into the US market with a different design in 2014 and started focusing exclusively on the US market. [4] The app was re-designed to focus on building savings rather than managing personal finances. [4] The Swedish version shut down in April 2015. The app was initially restricted to the iOS platform, but an Android version was released at the end of 2015. [3] [5] [6]
Shortly after its US launch, Qapital invited psychology professor Dan Ariely to join its team as its "chief behavioral economist". [7] He uses the app's database to conduct research into behavioral economics and Qapital in turn uses Ariely's research in design and programming decisions. [8] [9] In 2017, Qapital added checking and debit card services to the app. [4]
Qapital is a free personal finance app for iOS and Android devices, intended to encourage its users to save money. [10] Qapital directs each of its users to set savings goals, then automatically transfers money from their checking account to an account for savings, when a rule established in the app is met. [3] [11] It uses the "if this then that" (IFTTT) rule-based web-service. [10] For example, one rule could be that if a user purchases a cup of coffee, then the app will round up the charge to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference into savings. [11] Users connect their bank accounts to Qapital, so it knows when purchases are made. [10] When a rule is met, money for savings are transferred to a Qapital account operated in partnership with Lincoln Savings Bank. [4]
As of 2015, Qapital can connect to more than 180 other apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and Instagram. [6] For example, connecting to Jawbone allows the user to set a rule that if they take a certain number of steps during the day, a set amount of money is transferred to savings. [3] [11] The app also allows users to monitor activity among their other financial accounts, such as deposits and withdrawals. [3] [11] [12]
In an October 2015 review, PC Magazine gave Qapital four out of five marks and an editor rating of "excellent." The review praised the app for having a "lovely design" and criticized it for being a, "bit simplistic in some of its rules." [11]
Bankrate , in a May 2015 review, gave the app a score of 3/5 for "ease of use," 5/5 for "features," 4/5 for "effectiveness," 4/5 for "value," for a total score of 16/20. The reviewer criticized Qapital's savings account for providing a low-interest rate, but concluded that its numerous features make the app "intriguing" and "it would be difficult to find a standard bank app more fun to use than Qapital." [13]
Google Calendar is a time-management and scheduling calendar service developed by Google. It became available in beta release April 13, 2006, and in general release in July 2009, on the web and as mobile apps for the Android and iOS platforms.
Google Pay Send, previously known as Google Wallet, was a peer-to-peer payments service developed by Google before its merger into Google Pay. It allowed people to send and receive money from a mobile device or desktop computer.
Dan Ariely is an Israeli-American professor and author. He serves as a James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. Ariely is the founder of the research institution The Center for Advanced Hindsight, co-founder of the companies Kayma, BEworks, Timeful, Genie and Shapa., the Chief Behavioral Economist of Qapital and the Chief Behavioral Officer of Lemonade. Ariely's TED talks have been viewed over 15 million times. Ariely is the author of the three New York Times best sellersPredictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth about Dishonesty, as well as the books Dollars and Sense, Irrationally Yours – a collection of his popular The Wall Street Journal advice column “Ask Ariely”; and Payoff, a short TED book. Ariely appeared in several documentary films, including The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley and produced and participated in (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies. In 2018 Ariely was named one of the 50 most influential living psychologists in the world.
The Green Dot Corporation is an American financial technology and bank holding company headquartered in Austin. It is the world's largest prepaid debit card company by market capitalization. Green Dot is also a payments platform company and is the technology platform used by Apple Pay Cash, Uber, and Intuit. The company was founded in 1999 by Steve Streit as a prepaid debit card for teenagers to shop online. In 2001, the company pivoted to serving the "unbanked" and "underbanked" communities. In 2010, Green Dot Corporation went public with a valuation of $2 billion. Since its inception, Green Dot has acquired a number of companies in the mobile, financial, and tax industries including Loopt, AccountNow, AchieveCard, UniRush Financial Services, and Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.
You Need a Budget (YNAB) is an American multi-platform personal budgeting program based on the envelope method. In 2013 it was the most popular personal finance software among Lifehacker readers. It is also listed by Wirecutter for 2021 as a "great pick for hard-core budgeters".
A mobile application, also referred to as a mobile app or simply an app, is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on desktop computers, and web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device.
Google Now was a feature of Google Search of the Google app for Android and iOS. Google Now proactively delivered information to users to predict information they may need in the form of informational cards. Google Now branding is no longer used, but the functionality continues in the Google app and its discover tab.
Simple was an American neobank based in Portland, Oregon. It is recognized as the first neobank. The company provided FDIC-insured checking accounts to US citizens, but not to Permanent Residents, through a partnership with The Bancorp Bank before transitioning over to BBVA USA in 2016. It is part of the Allpoint network for surcharge-free access to around 55,000 ATMs. Since 2014, Simple has been part of the BBVA Group, one of the largest banks in Europe.
Prize-linked savings is the concept of using the chance to win a prize to incentivize personal savings. A prize-linked savings account or PLSA is a savings account where some of the interest payment on bank deposits or marketing dollars are distributed as prizes based on chance. They are attractive to consumers as they function both as a sweepstakes or game of chance and as savings vehicle. PLSAs are similar to lottery bonds except they are offered by banks, credit unions, prepaid card companies, and FinTechs, and can be held for a period of time determined by the consumer. Sometimes the returns are in-kind prizes rather than cash.
Onavo was an Israeli mobile web analytics company owned by Meta Platforms, Inc. The company primarily performed its activities via consumer mobile apps, including the virtual private network (VPN) service Onavo Protect, which analysed web traffic sent through the VPN to provide statistics on the usage of other apps.
OfficeSuite is a cross-platform office suite application developed by MobiSystems. It has versions for Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows (PC) and adds extensive PDF abilities to its compatibility with the most frequently used Microsoft Office file formats. The software has over 220 million downloads on Google Play and is among the top Android business applications.
Cafe Bazaar is an Iranian Android marketplace founded in April 2011 by Reza Mohammadi and Hessam Armandehi. In April 2019 Cafe Bazaar announced it has surpassed 40 million users. Cafe Bazaar provides its services specifically to Persian-speaking users and offers more than 25,000 downloadable Iranian and international apps for gaming, social media, messaging and other uses. It gets roughly 20 million visits a week within Iran and its value is estimated at €380 million.
Vipps is a Norwegian mobile payment application designed for smartphones developed by DNB. Vipps was released May 30, 2015 and, having reached 1 million users by November 5, 2015, Vipps became Norway's largest payment application. Although Vipps was developed by DNB, customers of any Norwegian bank can use it. Vipps is a member of the European Mobile Payment Systems Association.
Monzo Bank Ltd, is an online bank based in the United Kingdom. Monzo was one of the earliest of a number of new app-based challenger banks in the UK.
Wealthsimple Inc. is a Canadian online investment management service focused on millennials. The firm was founded in September 2014 by Michael Katchen and is based in Toronto. As of November 2021, the firm holds over C$15 billion in assets under management. It is primarily owned by Power Corporation indirectly at 70.1% through investments made through their holdings in Power Financial, IGM Financial and Portag3.
Stash Financial, Inc., or simply Stash, is an American financial technology and financial services company based in New York, NY. The company operates both a web platform and mobile apps, allowing users to incrementally invest small amounts. By summer 2017, it had approximately 1 million users. As of July 2020, the number has grown to over 5 million.
Google Opinion Rewards is a rewards-based program developed by Google. It was initially launched as a survey mobile app for Android and iOS developed by Google. The app allows users to answer surveys and earn rewards. On Android, users earn Google Play credits which can be redeemed by buying paid apps from Google Play. On iOS, users are paid via PayPal. Users in the available countries who are over 18 years old are eligible. Google Opinion Rewards works with Google Surveys, market researchers make the survey through Google Surveys and answers are received through Google Opinion Rewards by app users. This process provides surveyors with a large pool of surveyees quickly. This "fast and easy" surveying process has been criticized due to contention over the validity of results as well as concern over the privacy and security of the app users' data.
Google Pay is a digital wallet platform and online payment system developed by Google to power in-app, online, and in-person contactless purchases on mobile devices, enabling users to make payments with Android phones, tablets, or watches. Users in the United States and India can also use an iOS device, albeit with limited functionality. In addition to this, the service also supports passes such as coupons, boarding passes, campus ID cards, car keys, event tickets, movie tickets, public transportation tickets, store cards, and loyalty cards.
Acorns is an American financial technology and financial services company based in Irvine, California that specializes in micro-investing and robo-investing. According to Fortune's Impact 20 list for the year 2020, Acorns had 8.2 million customers and $3 billion in assets under management.
Azlo is an American technology neobank company which provides financial services for small businesses through a mobile app and website. On January 7, 2021, Azlo announced that it was shutting down.