ANN ARBOR—In support of Financial Literacy Month in April, the Ann Arbor fintech firm Plinqit announced that it has exceeded $6 million in total saved by users since launching. Plinqit is the only savings platform of its kind that pays users for learning about personal finances.
Not only has total savings now exceeded $6 million, Plinqit has helped more than 80 percent of its users reach their savings goal. On average, Plinqit users are saving $1,400 over the course of 11 months. Additionally, users have earned more than $10,000 in rewards and completed over 1,600 hours in financial education courses, demonstrating strong interest and growing literacy.
A month dedicated to raising awareness on the importance of educating people about the significance of planning for a secure financial future, Financial Literacy Month started in 2004 and continues to be a major focus. While great strides have been made, millions of consumers still lack the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting and investing.
According to the National Financial Educators Council, lacking key financial knowledge affects people’s personal finance situations in powerful ways. In fact, the average estimated money loss reported in 2021 due to lack of personal finance knowledge was $1,389.06 per individual, or $352 billion total. Additionally, nearly 20 percent of respondents said they lost over $2,500 last year due to knowledge gaps.
Even worse, there is a clear trend of declining financial literacy. On average, young Americans could not answer a majority of financial literacy questions correctly. As examples, 46 percent of teens do not know what a 401(k) is and 32 percent cannot identify the difference between a credit and debit card.
Understanding that saving is the first step on the path to financial wellness, Plinqit provides users with a free, simple and easy-to-use way to save and plan for future financial needs. Unlike any other savings platform on the market, Plinqit’s patented Build Skills™ feature allows users to not only interact with content that improves their financial literacy, but they are paid to do so. As a result, more consumers are using Plinqit and successfully hitting savings goals, while increasing their knowledge of finances.
“In a complex and ever-changing world, personal financial education is a key building block to helping individuals become successful,” said Plinqit founder and CEO Kathleen Craig. “It supports individuals’ well-being and promotes long-term financial wellness. But our industry needs to do better. With Plinqit, our customers have the opportunity to grow their savings and their knowledge of personal finances, helping to break the cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck. We are proud of our platform’s success and are committed to promoting positive financial health today and in the future.”
Plinqit continues to see substantially higher user engagement (55 percent on average) compared to other finance apps that have an average engagement rate of only 35 percent, demonstrating a strong interest in financial literacy. Even after users successfully reach their initial savings goal, many of Plinqit’s users set a new savings goal and continue to engage with the platform. Given the consistent and strong demand for its platform, Plinqit will expand to help more financial institutions across the U.S. empower their local communities by improving financial literacy.
Plinqit is a brandable, mobile-first platform that is elegant and highly powerful at the same time. Unlike any other savings platform on the market, its patented Build Skills pays users for engaging with content, creating higher user engagement for financial institutions. For more information, visit info.plinqit.com.