The whole concept is a bit of a quirky idea, one that involved adapting the prize-linked savings programs, already popular in the U.K., to be legal in the U.S. But on a basic level, SaveUp makes sense: Instead of getting rewarded for spending more, or penalized for messing up payments, people get rewarded for saving more. Instead of making money on quarterly fees and penalties like a bank, SaveUp makes money from advertisers who help put up sweepstakes prizes that its users want to win.
The San Francisco-based company says it has helped users move $1 billion to savings and debt payments so far. About 40 percent of its users come from partnerships with credit unions, and soon it is adding a partnership with PayPal.
Haji said her favorite soundbite about her own business is, “this is a bit of gummy on the vitamin.”
Meanwhile, Mogl is an app that connects to users’ credit and debit cards, and lets them know whenever they pay for a meal at a participating restaurant that they get 10 percent of what they spent back, and can donate some or all of it to local food banks.
The loyalty part has been around for a while, but the charity component launched just at the end of November. So far, users have donated more than half of their cash back, buying nearly 600,000 meals for local food banks (at a cost of about 20 cents per meal).
“I always say we’re Toms shoes for food,” said Mogl CEO Jon Carder. You buy one meal for yourself, you donate one for someone who needs it.
Mogl is similar to another company I’ve covered, called The Spring, but it’s off to a bigger start, with 650 participating restaurants in San Diego (where Mogl is based), 500 in San Francisco, and 100 in Phoenix.
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