The cash-envelope system of budgeting is one of the most well-known and widely used budgeting methods - at least it used to be. Your paycheck would come in each month and you'd put cash in envelopes designated for different categories of spending - groceries, utilities, entertainment, etc. This was an effective method to prevent overspending as it allowed you to see how much you had left in each category. Once the cash was gone, you didn't spend anything more in that category.
However, this method isn't as realistic in today's world because most people don't turn their paycheck into cash. They set up a direct deposit into a checking account and use a plastic card to spend the money. With the many budgeting apps on the marketplace today, you'd think there would be a better budgeting system than cash-envelopes. Yet so many of those apps are really good at telling you how you've been spending your money instead of limiting you in how you're spending it at an exact moment.
David Smith, Founder & CEO of Jelli, saw this gap in the marketplace and decided to take an age-old budgeting system that worked for so many and make it relevant to today's tech-savvy world. By implementing JelliAPP, JelliJARS, and JelliCASH, Jelli has been able to revolutionize banking in a way that's convenient and understandable for all age groups.
Founding Story
After finishing business school, Smith went on to work for larger corporations but always had the entrepreneurial itch. After a number of years, he moved on to the fintech space, working with several smaller fintech startups. This allowed him to learn the in's and out's of the products, technology, and customer pain points.
One aspect Smith noticed was missing was the ability for different products and platforms to connect. Paypal and Venmo came along and changed that in a large way, but Smith still saw the need for people to connect and interact in a social way while managing their money.
Banking with Jelli
Jelli has three main features that help differentiate it from other products and services. The first feature is JelliJARS. These allow individuals to be in control of where they spend their money, similar to the cash-envelope system. JelliJARS are digital containers where customers store their money. However, unlike other platforms with a similar concept, Jelli allows users to instantly swipe their card and spend without having to move the money out of the jar. Instead, customers get a notification in their JelliAPP with details of the purchase and a prompt to choose which jar they'd like the money to be pulled from. Paychecks can automatically be split between different jars, making organization very simple for users.
The second feature of Jelli is the ability to connect with others using the JelliJARS. One customer can set up a jar for a specific purchase (for example, a baby shower gift). That jar can then be shared with other friends who may want to contribute to the gift, and they can add however much money they want. This allows everyone to see what the money is for, how much has been raised, who has contributed, etc. It makes group contributions much simpler, which can be extremely useful for roommates, coworkers, families, etc.
Jelli's third main feature is the cash back capabilities. Typically, cash back rewards are associated with credit cards because of interest and fees paid by the users. However, Jelli has partnered with Dosh, a financial services platform that pays cash back rewards. Smith spoke of the partnership, saying, "Coming out of the shoot Dosh partnered with two companies - Venmo and Jelli. It was really exciting to see a press release go out with our two names together, and have them so excited about what we’re doing."
The Difference
"So many budgeting tools are post-transaction. They’re not a way to be proactive. Jelli is a digital envelope system. There are some platforms out there on the marketplace where you move money into envelopes and then when you’re ready to spend money, you have to go in and move the money out of the envelope and put it on your card. Jelli actually does it after the fact - you don’t have to worry about any of that. You just walk in, swipe your card, and the app will say 'you spent this much', and then you pull it from that jar. There’s no typing in numbers, there’s no remembering - it’s small, but it’s huge," Smith explained.
Jelli is a great new way for millennials to bank and budget, but its simplicity and user-friendly platform makes it easy for anyone to start utilizing. By implementing a number of things that are important to individuals today, Jelli has made budgeting and banking simple and sweet.
For more information on Jelli and how you can start using it today, visit www.jelli.us.
