Level Money, Millennials And The Digitization Of Money

Helping Millennials manage their money more effectively is the central purpose of Level Money, a mobile app created by Jake Fuentes and Frank Yeary. Fuentes spoke with PYMNTS.com earlier this year, and now the company is preparing for The Innovation Project 2014 next month.

Fuentes spoke with Market Platform Dynamics CEO Karen Webster, stating that the company’s goal was not to restrict spending, but to give users – namely Millennials – a better idea of how much they can spend without impairing their financial stability.

During the interview, Fuentes spoke about the app’s inception (Jump To: 1:30)during a night out with friends. He realized that there wasn’t an effective method for checking a consumer’s available spending money.

“What I resolved to do at that point was, you know let’s look at system that has to be easier. It has to be easier than creating complicated budgets and spreadsheets and other things to manage money. And there has to be a way to pull out my phone and know exactly where I’m at today and without having to do a lot of work at that,” Fuentes explained.

He went on to suggest that money is no longer a “physical object” in an increasingly digitized world(Jump To: 4:15).

“What we’ve lost is the ability to just open our wallets and see how much money we have left,” he said.

Since it’s inception, Level Money has seen signs of success, especially in terms of user adoption. Fuentes said that the company has seen more than 500,000 downloads, and it has managed more than $500 million in transactions.

Looking ahead to The Innovation Project 2014, Fuentes commented on the collaborative atmosphere of the gathering (Jump To: 5:45).

“We’re actually really excited about this. In a world where we have to learn from all the companies that have come before us, and in this industry this particular, there’s a lot of knowledge out there that has yet to be tapped. We’re really excited to tap some of the best minds in the industry.”

To hear more from Fuentes about Level Money and the goal of helping Millennials manage their funds more effectively, listen to the full podcast below.