SAN FRANCISCO—Tally has launched an automated savings app that lets users earn rewards points for saving, as opposed to incentivizing spending like most rewards systems do.
The standalone app, called Tally Save, is separate from its initial product, a debt management app that automates credit card payments.
Tally Save is designed to motivate users to save by letting them earn points they can redeem for gift cards to 50 of the largest U.S. retailers including Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, and Starbucks as well as services like Uber or Airbnb. Users also have the option to donate their rewards, Cheddar noted.
Tally makes money through its core product, the credit card pay-off app. It offers a low-rate line of credit that users pay monthly; that payment covers the minimums on each linked credit card, Cheddar said.
‘Completely Free’
Cash-back and rewards incentives are expensive for financial services firms, but Tally CEO Jason Brown said Tally's savings product is completely free with no strings attached.
"It's all about giving this one job away for free, there are other financial gaps that we'll get paid for, he told Cheddar. "The first one that we automated, paying off your cards, we get we do get paid for, and we can use that to subsidize some of the financial jobs we do for free. We are rolling out this year and into early next year the next couple of financial jobs that will be automated, and some of those we'll also get paid for. We don't have to make money on every single job we do. But, you know, something like this is truly fundamental to financial health."