Today we’d like to introduce you to Kiley Summers
Hi Kiley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My wife and I found ourselves in over $100K of consumer debt post college graduation. Debt was nothing new, as growing up in single parent homes, it was engraved in us that “you would always owe someone”. Determined to break these generational curses, we set a plan to get out of debt. Because trying to save money with $100K in debt felt like a lose-lose situation. We hired a financial advisor and listed out their loans. If there was any feeling of guilt or shame, being transparent together made the exercise invaluable and deepened our personal relationship beyond numbers on paper. The debts were prioritized from least to greatest and we set a date to become debt free. We set a realistic budget and began their journey. Seven years later and we were debt free! In sharing our testimony, we realized others were suffering from the same issues. God sent the vision to create a tool to help people pay off debt in parallel with their spending habits and SpenDebt (financial technology company) was born. SpenDebt was birthed after we became debt free! Our mission is to turn generational curses into generational blessing. Becoming debt free not only increases your bank account but opens doors and provides you the ability to make a greater impact in your family and on the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Launching SpenDebt has certainly not been a smooth road! We were fortunate to have leveraged the Houston Area Urban League – Small Business Development University to learn the fundamentals of launching our startup. There we met other founders and companies and begin to develop our network. One of the first opportunities we ran into was getting a bank or a processing company to partner with us. We talked to over 20+ plus banks and processing companies and they all said no to supporting our technology due to the risk associated. However, we didn’t stop there. Eventually, we were able to meet with Capital One and they took time to understand our business ultimately saying yes to assist in being our partner. Additionally, like many other companies, we have had our fair share of seeking capital and/or technical talent. Creating the first beta product took nearly 2 years due to the lack of capital and access to other resources and human capital to develop the application. In the beginning we were able to successfully launch SpenDebt after earning the funding needed based on the pitch competitions and early investments. In Houston alone, we were able to receive over $43,000 in funding from a few places. We received an investment from the McNair Group via the former Houston Technology Center, won the City of Houston Liftoff Business Plan Competition, placed in the HCC Business Plan Competition, and others outside of Houston. As we are appreciative of this funding, we were still in need of more capital to build out our financial technology company. After taking advantage of most, if not all, of Houston resources that were available to us at the time, we put our things in storage and moved to St. Louis, MO after winning a $50,000 equity free Arch Grant. Part of the requirement to receive that grant was relocating for 1 year. During the course of that year we were able to receive an additional $100,000 in funding and support from Capital Innovators Accelerator. To this day, however, it was a huge sacrifice and challenge for my family.
As you know, we’re big fans of SpenDebt. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
SpenDebt is a financial technology company helping save one million families from financial fatalities every time they swipe their debit card or have a banking transaction. SpenDebt’s application delivers micropayments (ex. $1.00) allowing consumers the ability to spend-and-payoff debt at the same time; automatically! As users spend, the specified amount is added as a transaction and then directly applied toward a debt or bill (ex. credit cards, electric bill, etc.). SpenDebt provides an opportunity for those looking to accelerate debt payoff by complimenting their current monthly payment or help those commit to paying towards their consumer debt all from their everyday transactions improving their financial health. Thus far, SpenDebt as help many people pay off credit card debt, student loans, auto loan, furniture debt, dental bills, etc., averaging nearly ~$80 per month (approximately $1,000 a year) paying toward these debts. SpenDebt provides a dashboard for you to monitor your progress 24/7 and to make changes that meet your financial need. If you are looking for a financial technology tool to assist, SpenDebt would love to assist in supporting your financial journey. How it works Let’s assume an user has downloaded SpenDebt’s app and created their profile. The first step is to link the bank account to pay from (ex: Bank of America – checking account), then input the debt account to pay to (ex: GM Financial – auto loan), and define the micropayment (ex: $0.50); which will be added to every transaction. After that, you are ready to start paying off debt. Here’s an example of a transaction: a user is buying a cup of coffee for $5.00. At the point of sale, the user will pay $5.00 for the cup of coffee automatically the $0.50 micropayment will be added as a secondary transaction. The $5.00 will go to the merchant and $0.50 will go toward GM Financial auto loan. Over the course of the month we aggregate all the transactions and send a one-time payment on behalf of the customer every month. Please download the SpenDebt app on Apple iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. In addition, you can visit spendebt.com for more information and sign up.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
SpenDebt is free to download and is available in the Apple iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. In addition, you can visit spendebt.com for more information and sign up. Try it for 30 days free now!
Pricing:
- 30 days free trial
- $3.99 per month
Contact Info:
- Email: info@spendebt.com
- Website: https://spendebt.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its_spendebt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spendebt
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/spendebt
Image Credits
Jerren Willis
