Michelle Tomao
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
What started out as a project to develop a simple native mobile application that parents could use to remind their kids to do their chores and also to transfer allowance money to their hardworking children's debit cards, has resulted in the birth of Pocket Change, a reloadable Visa debit card linked to the user's credit card accounts, debit card accounts, and bank accounts, all monitored and controlled through Pocket Change's smartphone app.
"Pocket Change is a multi-functional e-wallet that will allow you to transfer funds to or from any bank account or card you link to through the software app," says Myles Binford, Founder of Pocket Change, Inc.
In addition to making retail purchases from online vendors, Binford says application users can easily pay out and receive funds from anyone with a debit card or bank account and an email address, Twitter handle or Facebook account. Transferring cash from your Pocket Change app is an ideal way to pay the babysitter when you do not have cash, or to reimburse a friend for your half of the dinner bill.
"Development of this application really started when my daughter came to me and said, 'Dad, I want allowance,'" says Binford. "I reached in my pocket and realized that I don't carry cash anymore. So I decided to figure out a way to use my smartphone to transfer money from my checking account onto a card that she would be able to use at school or at the mall."
Pocket Change provides family accounts where parents have full-privilege debit cards, and each of the children will have their own sub-cards onto which the parents can transfer money.
"We're building software right now that sends a chore reminder to the child's phone," says Binford. "Then, after the child does that chore, they can click 'done' and the parents will get a personal notification that the chore is done. When the parents see the notification they can click 'pay', and it goes into a queue, and the kids get money transferred to their debit cards once a week."
Binford says Pocket Change's security is state-of-the-art. In addition to being able to turn the debit card on or off using the phone app, all online purchases made with Pocket Change are made using a temporary CVV number, assigned at the time of purchase and valid for 20 minutes only.
"It wouldn't matter if a card thief knew your name, your card number, your card's expiration date, and the CCV number you used for a purchase last night," says Binford. "They could not make a purchase with your card this morning, as they would not have a valid three-digit CCV number. And if this patented card security protocol isn't enough to put your mind at ease, your money and your account are 100 percent insured from loss by Visa, MasterCard, and the FDIC."
Pocket Change card has the ability to link to and control an unlimited number of bankcards (including gift cards) and bank accounts, and Binford says, because, it is a true e-wallet, he predicts a good percentage of consumers will opt to use the app after its release as the highly-vaunted "One Card to Rule Them All."
If not used for its amazing convenience, Binford is certain it will be used for its amazing price: Zero. No monthly fees, no fees to load the card, no fees to send and receive money from other users, and no fees when using the card at point-of-purchase when signing the sales receipt (rather than use a PIN).
"With the functionality of an actual account and all the consumer-friendly features that we will be offering, more than Google Wallet, PayPal, and Coin, it's clear that we're not just a really cool gimmick for your pocket," says Binford. "Our Pocket Change card is going to become your new best friend."
