With an economy shaken by almost two years of a global pandemic, budgeting and financial planning has been more relevant than ever. Today’s younger consumers, in particular, want convenience and simplicity for their money. And, they want it served up in front of them in the digital equivalent of an easy button without having to think about it. More than anything, the emerging generations are more interested in learning and being educated, and guided as they grow into their financial lives.
The stakes are high for banks to get this process right and maintain the valued customer relationships. Traditional banks currently offer a low 0.02% interest rate, out-dated UI, lack of social integration, overdraft fees, and nothing more than a checking account or credit card. Mooch aims to revolutionize traditional banking by creating financial incentives for better money habits.
Richard Velasquez started with the idea of building an app that would automatically manage his personal finances for him, with an added bonus of paying people to budget. Sticking to a budget is something people struggle with the most, so he decided to create financial incentives to overcome this. After posting on a subreddit called r/cofounders, he recruited Kevin to join him. They both left their full time jobs in June of 2021 and have been working on Mooch full time ever since! Richard left Facebook after four years as a tech lead and Kevin after two years of working as a banking consultant. Kevin started testing the waters and making TikToks on personal finance, which have since garnered over 3.8 million likes. An excel budgeting tutorial on how to automate your budget blew up and he has been enjoying a semi-secret life as a TikTok influencer ever since.
On his inspiration for starting Mooch, Ricky said “I started working on Mooch because I was tired of worrying about my budget. I wanted an app that could budget for me. Once I saw that I could actually make bonuses / returns for my money, I figured others would want something like this too.” Kevin had this to say: “Today more than ever Gen Z is entering a world littered with financial gurus and advice and they know they should be doing something about their money but don’t know where to start. Our goal with our Mooch is to help people build their financial confidence by helping them build better money habits. TikTok has been a great platform to reach our audience and post budgeting/personal finance content that is easily digestible.”
Mooch — originally called Kanbee — is the world’s first automated budgeting app that pays people to budget. Built on the blockchain, Mooch pays bonuses to users and has no fees, ever. The app is totally free and is available for download on the app store as of November 2021. Users, who Mooch refers to as “partners,” can link their bank accounts in less than five minutes. From there, they can create envelopes that will budget automatically for them. The app automates the movement of money to and from the app using stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency that is linked to the US dollar. Mooch hopes to replace dated methods of budgeting, such as stuffing physical envelopes with cash to manage spending. With an early access list of over 16,000 partners, Mooch is well on it’s way to establishing itself in the fintech space. Just last week, Ricky and Kevin presented Mooch at University of California, Berkeley’s Blockchain Xccelerator Demo Day. Graduates of the program’s ‘21 cohort, they are currently meeting with interested investors and preparing to raise a seed round.