There is a total of $807 billion in credit card debt in America. The average American family has $6,270 in credit card debt, and families with the lowest quartile of net worth (median net worth $310) hold an average of $4,830 in credit card debt.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented loss of 22.1 million jobs between January and April 2020, Americans have struggled to tackle consumer debt. To help working Americans manage their debt in such unusual times, founders Jason Saltzman, Bryan Okeke, and Ram Berrouet joined together to develop the Relief App.
Relief App is an app that eliminates credit card debt. The app uses AI and collective bargaining to reduce balances and help users become debt-free faster. The app's personalized, technology-driven approach automatically analyzes a user's finances and negotiates directly with creditors to cut down the user's principal balance in half or more on behalf of the user – for free.
"Over twenty years ago, I built my first business, which was a company that helped people get out of credit card debt. I loved helping people and families get out of toxic debt, but the industry needed a change, and at the time, I did not have access to the technology, capital, or network to disrupt the industry," says Jason Saltzman. A few years later, he shut the business down but Jason went on to start several businesses, including a co-working incubator, Alley. After a national partnership with Verizon, he decided to transition from CEO to Chairman. Shortly after, the pandemic began, and Jason found himself being contacted by close friends and family to help them manage their debt. "After helping about fifteen people manually, I started to wonder why there wasn't an app that did all this? After all, there is an app for everything, why isn't there an app that helps people that are in deep financial trouble," he asked. He took his idea to the two most brilliant developers he knew, and they built the schematic plans that would go on to become Relief App.
"We spent almost one year learning everything we could about the industry. We studied debt collection, debt settlement, debt buying, credit issuing, and other vertices within the industry. The more we learned, the more we felt empowered to build proper solutions that made sense," says Saltzman. So they poured their hearts and souls into building the schematics of an easy-to-use system that could get people out of debt for free.
After just three weeks of fundraising, Relief App raised an oversubscribed seed round led by Collaborative Fund. They raised so much capital that they had to decline investment offers to ensure room for strategic partners. The Relief App has garnered much attention, like being voted the number one app on Product Hunt and features in major publications. While they plan to wait to hard launch the app in app stores, they have decided to onboard those needing help to a rapidly growing waitlist for their pre-launch.
Relief App is a product that serves underserved communities. If you look at the data, toxic debt is most prominent in areas of underserved communities. 42% of borrowers in predominantly non-White areas have a debt in collections, according to the National Consumer Law Center. The Relief app uses these statistics to benefit individual users through the power of collective bargaining when dealing with creditors. This means that the more people that sign up within these communities, the better the outcomes will be for each user. Historically speaking, wealthy people have been negotiating debt for years. In contrast, underserved people have lacked access to negotiate their debt. Relief App was built to take that luxury that has only been accessible by a certain few to the masses.
The founders of Relief App imagine a world where everyone will have access to great banking. "When it comes to banking in America, you shouldn't ever have to be treated as a second-rate citizen, just because you come from an underserved community," says Saltzman. No matter what your background or what mistakes you have made in the past, the founders of Relief App are more than sure that in 5 years, Relief App will have a suite of products and services that allow 99% of the country to have access to great banking. "We're starting with the problem of toxic debt because it is the biggest systemic problem crippling the American dream for millions around the nation."
Their advice to other founders and aspiring entrepreneurs?
• Think less about making money, and think more about the value you create for customers
• As a startup, you have the unique opportunity to create culture from the ground up, so take that responsibility seriously
• Have an agile mindset to embrace failure as an opportunity for growth
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August 07, 2021 at 03:09AM
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The Relief App Is Here To Help Us Eliminate Credit Card Debt - Forbes
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