Category: Money Management

Money Management

ASA Vault Adds Five More FinTech Tools to Its "App Store"

by Kyle BurbankSep 3, 2024

The "App Store as a Service" platform ASA has added five more FinTech tools to its roster. About the additions and ASA Vault: ASA has announced that it has added five FinTech applications to its ASA Vault app. These include PortfolioPilot, Guac, One Goal Finance, Credit Rent Boost, and Column Tax. With ASA Vault, users can sign up for and access these services without providing their name, email address, or...

Money Management

Southwest Airlines Unveils Accelerated A-List Status Promotion

by Kyle BurbankAug 28, 2024

Southwest is bringing back a popular promotion to help passengers achieve coveted A-List status — including a new option. About the promotion: For a limited time, Southwest Rapid Rewards members can work their way up to A-List and A-List Preferred status more quickly via a few different options. First, Rapid Rewards customers who book qualifying flights and travel between now and November 30th can earn double tier qualifying points. What's...

Money Management

Recreational Vehicle Financing FinTech Octane Raises $50 Million

by Kyle BurbankAug 8, 2024

A FinTech that helps consumers get financing for a variety of major recreational purchases has raised a fresh round of funds. About the round: This week, Octane announced that it raised $50 million in new equity capital. The Series E was led by Valar Ventures with participation from Upper90. Notably, both firms are existing investors. To date, the company has now raised a total of $242 million, including a $52...

Money Management

The Spotify Car Thing and Super Planned Obsolescence

by Kyle BurbankJul 9, 2024

Have you noticed that the nature of consumption has been shifting? These days, questions such as "What is a product?" and "What does it mean to own something?" need to be asked as the answers are evolving. In the case of the first question, recent standalone AI offerings have revealed a growing trend of businesses basically treating paid customers like beta testers. Meanwhile, as far as the ownership question goes,...

Money Management

FinTech Fallout: Lessons From the Synapse/Evolve Bank Dispute

by Kyle BurbankMay 21, 2024

Over the past several years that I've been covering FinTech, I've seen my fair share of apps shut down. Yet, I've never seen anything quite like the situation that's playing out right now. As of this writing, several neobanking customers are unable to access their funds due to a dispute between Synapse and Evolve Bank. So, what is going on between these two and how does it impact some FinTech...

Money Management

How I Found My Tax "Sweet Spot" This Year

by Kyle BurbankApr 16, 2024

Well, I waited until the last minute, but I got my taxes done and paid before the deadline. At this point, while I wouldn't say I'm good at preparing my returns, I do at least have enough experience to troubleshoot mistakes. On top of that, I also have a decent idea of how the various factors of my somewhat complicated tax situation come together and affect my total bill. Despite...

Money Management

2024 Pay with GasBuddy Review: Yes, You Can Legitimately Save Money Every Time You Fill

by Kyle BurbankApr 12, 2024

Put simply, the value proposition of Pay with GasBuddy is that you can use a special card that's accepted at most gas stations in order to save a few cents off of every gallon of gas you buy. That sounds good — almost too good, if you think like me.

Money Management

How to Activate a Virtual Card Number on Apple Cash

by Kyle BurbankApr 9, 2024

In 2017, Apple expanded its FinTech aspirations by introducing a peer-to-peer payment account called Apple Cash. With this account, users could easily send and receive payments via iMessage. What's more, while customers could elect to transfer received funds to a linked bank account, they could also be spent directly using Apple Pay. The only problem was that, for merchants that didn't accept Apple Pay, there wasn't a way to use...