True Link

Last updated

True Link Financial, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Financial services
Headquarters San Francisco, California, U.S.
Website www.truelinkfinancial.com

True Link Financial, Inc., is a San Francisco, California based financial technology firm that offers investment accounts and prepaid cards customized for seniors, people with disabilities, and people recovering from addiction. Notable investors include Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, QED Investors, Mitch Kapor, Alexis Ohanian, Eric Ries, Initialized Capital, Matt Cutts, and Centana Growth Partners. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Services for seniors with memory loss

True Link offers a Visa card with special controls that prevent common types of fraud and financial abuse targeting the elderly. In addition to fraud-detection algorithms developed by the company, the card can be customized to restrict telemarketer purchases across the board, block certain charitable organizations and allow others, set limits on ATM usage and receive text messages, or selectively block only a few problematic merchants. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

The company was inspired by CEO Kai Stinchcombe's experience with his grandmother Ruth, who gave tens of thousands of dollars to pushy telemarketers and charitable solicitors. [12] [13] [14] According to survey research, fourteen percent of seniors are victimized by fraud every year, and an additional fifty-four percent are targeted. [15] The company was formed in November 2012 by co-founders Kai Stinchcombe and Claire McDonnell and launched its product in August 2013. [16] Financial institutions have expressed interest in partnering with the company to help protect their customers from fraud. [17] [18]

According to True Link's research, fraud targeting seniors is a $36.5 billion per year problem. [19] [20] [21] [22] True Link uses fraud detection algorithms and maintains a large database filled with scams and suspicious merchants, [8] [9] [23] [24] [25] [26] and members of True Link's data science team are frequently cited as experts on scams and fraud targeting the elderly. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]

Services for people with disabilities or special needs

The company also provides services to people with disabilities, including by working with ABLE accounts, special needs trusts, pooled trusts and representative payees. [32] [33] Its cards are used by the ABLE programs of twelve states [34] and are mentioned in the Social Security Administration operations manual in the context of disbursements from special needs trusts. [35]

In its investment strategies, the company sometimes uses bond ladders which reduce interest rate risk,[ citation needed ] and a time-based investment strategy described by experts as a "strategy for a lifetime of income." [36] The investment allocations are based on Modern portfolio theory and include stocks and bonds as well as an annuity component in some cases. [37]

Services for people recovering from addiction

The company provides its cards to people recovering from addiction to help manage cash and prevent relapse. [38] The company's research states that 8 in ten people agree that regaining control of one's finances is among the biggest obstacles in recovering from a substance use disorder, and 77% of adults with a loved one who has a substance abuse disorder felt that their loved one having access to cash could result in relapse. [39]

In August 2016 True Link acquired Next Step Network, LLC., a company that offers payment cards to people recovering from addiction. [32] [40] [41] Around 2.5 million rpeople eceive care at an addiction treatment facility every year. [42]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debit card</span> Card used for financial transactions, usually without a credit line

A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. Debit cards are similar to a credit card, but the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visa Inc.</span> American multinational financial services corporation

Visa Inc. is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards. Visa is one of the world's most valuable companies.

Elder abuse is "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person." This definition has been adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) from a definition put forward by Hourglass in the UK. Laws protecting the elderly from abuse are similar to and related to laws protecting dependent adults from abuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet fraud</span> Fraud or deception using the Internet

Internet fraud is a type of cybercrime fraud or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Internet fraud is not considered a single, distinctive crime but covers a range of illegal and illicit actions that are committed in cyberspace. It is differentiated from theft since, in this case, the victim voluntarily and knowingly provides the information, money or property to the perpetrator. It is also distinguished by the way it involves temporally and spatially separated offenders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment card</span> Card issued by a financial institution that can be used to make a payment

Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.

Voice phishing, or vishing, is the use of telephony to conduct phishing attacks.

Telemarketing fraud is fraudulent selling conducted over the telephone. The term is also used for telephone fraud not involving selling.

The payment card industry (PCI) denotes the debit, credit, prepaid, e-purse, ATM, and POS cards and associated businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Dot Corporation</span> American issuer of prepaid debit cards

The Green Dot Corporation is an American financial technology and bank holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It is the world's largest prepaid debit card company by market capitalization. Green Dot is also a payment platform company and is the technology platform used by Apple 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.

Internet fraud prevention is the act of stopping various types of internet fraud. Due to the many different ways of committing fraud over the Internet, such as stolen credit cards, identity theft, phishing, and chargebacks, users of the Internet, including online merchants, financial institutions and consumers who make online purchases, must make sure to avoid or minimize the risk of falling prey to such scams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit card fraud</span> Financial crime

Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is the data security standard created to help financial institutions process card payments securely and reduce card fraud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit card</span> Card for financial transactions from a line of credit

A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services or withdraw cash on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PSCU</span> Credit union service organization

PSCU, formerly Payment Systems for Credit Unions, is the largest credit union service organization in the United States. The organization was founded in 1977 and is based in St. Petersburg, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carding (fraud)</span> Crime involving the trafficking of credit card data

Carding is a term of the trafficking and unauthorized use of credit cards. The stolen credit cards or credit card numbers are then used to buy prepaid gift cards to cover up the tracks. Activities also encompass exploitation of personal data, and money laundering techniques. Modern carding sites have been described as full-service commercial entities.

An IRS impersonation scam is a class of telecommunications fraud and scam which targets American taxpayers by masquerading as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collection officers. The scammers operate by placing disturbing official-sounding calls to unsuspecting citizens, threatening them with arrest and frozen assets if thousands of dollars are not paid immediately, usually via gift cards or money orders. According to the IRS, over 1,029,601 Americans have received threatening calls, and $29,100,604 has been reported lost to these call scams as of March 2016. The problem has been assigned to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Studies highlight that most victims of these scams are aged 20-29 years old and women are more affected than men. One way to decrease the risks of an individual falling victim to IRS impersonation scams is through awareness programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elder financial abuse</span>

Elder financial abuse is a type of elder abuse in which misappropriation of financial resources or abusive use of financial control, in the context of a relationship where there is an expectation of trust, causes harm to an older person.

Global Payments Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company that provides payment technology and services to merchants, issuers and consumers. In June 2021, the company was named to the Fortune 500. The company processes payments made through credit cards, debit cards, and digital and contactless payments.

Utility scams are fraudulent acts where a perpetrator calls or arrives unannounced at a utility customer's house in an attempt to take money or sell unnecessary energy accessories through misrepresentation. Often, the fraud involves telling the victim that he or she owes the utility company money and that their power, gas, or water will be shut off immediately unless payment is made.

References

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