Charlie launches a mobile app that 'gamifies' getting out of debt

To do so, Charlie presents users with a full picture of their current debt and how long it will take them to pay it off.

Users then connect their bank account to Charlie for personalized assistance in reducing their bills.

Using similar psychological tricks as found in gaming — rules, progress bars and reward mechanisms — the app helps nudge its users towards saving.

Georgiev stresses that many Americans often know their debt down to the penny — whether that’s how much they have left on student loans, how much left on their car, how much credit card debt they have, and so on.

The app then encourages users to learn how they can reduce the time it would take them to get out of debt by paying more than the minimums.

Charlie helps users create autosave rules which, when applied, auto-transfer money from the user’s connected bank account to Charlie’s digital wallet (an account held at partner bank, Evolve).

Later this year, Charlie plans to offer debt refinancing services to users.

Further down the road, Charlie aims to move more into neobank territory by issuing a debit card to users that works with users’ Charlie account.

To differentiate from the growing number of neobanks, Charlie will continue to focus on paying down debt and savings.

Plus, Charlie mainly helps people save money, but those funds are actually stored with a partner bank, not in Charlie itself