SocialCard

"(deviceless) Venmo for homeless". A cashless way to donate to a person in need, without the receiving end needing to have a device, bank account or credit card.

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Inspiration

I was shopping and the cashier asked me if I want to pay my groceries with the accumulated reward points I had - I didn't knew that these points have a value at all. After I paid with my points and left the shop, a person in need asked me for some pocket change. I had none - because I only pay with my phone these days - thats when I asked myself, why i couldn't I donate my points to him ... I wouldn't miss them - and it really could help him. It developed from there and became a passion project.

What it does

SocialCard is a quick and easy way to donate to someone in need without cash. SocialCard is a QR-Code based system, that does not require the receiving end to have a device, bank account or credit card. They just need the code. A donor can scan this code and transfer funds.

The code on the SocialCard then works like a debit card (without the ability to withdraw cash or buy alcohol; think: food stamps). Integration with EBT in the US would be a preferred way to enable easy access. In another possible way SocialCard becomes like an intermediate, that is communicating between credit card company and shop. When the SocialCard is used at checkout it then creates the transfer of funds from the connected credit cards.

In Europe membership cards a widely used in stores and paying with points is possible. These use barcode systems at check-out. So integrating their systems and hardware to be used with SocialCard is easy and low-tech.

At a second step we will integrate loyalty programs from shops directly. So you can donate the cash-value of loyalty points you accumulating while shopping.

It's then also possible to become a patron and automatically transfer a recurring donation.

How we built it

The prototype is build with a low-code platform called "Noodl.net"; attached is a parse server with a database. Graphics are from freepix and modified. Designwork happened in Affinity Designer and Figma, but most of the design happened on the fly in the graphical interface from noodl.

Challenges we ran into

The question of how the transfer is managed is still a pretty undefined space. Integrating with existing hard and software is key. If SocialCard becomes a bank for the unbankable in the end ist still an option, but too big for the scope of a hackathon to be decided. a second big challange was translation from german to english and make the system potentially multi-language. and to adapt the whole idea to the local market in LA. A huge future challenge will be attaching the reward systems from potential partners.

Accomplishments that I am proud of

pushing the development of the app besides the intense meeting-schedule during LA TechWeek. completing the translation, the initial donation, the onboarding and further account creation. And also building the prototype on my own as a film director and non-programmer.

What I learned

Defining the scope of the project is way harder than initially thought. Multitasking is not a very productive thing. I would have loved to find a team and work with them on this project, but between all the meetings there was no time to schedule time to meet potential partners. The overlaps were just too big. I learned, that it is very hard trying to get eveything under "one hat" as we say in Austria showed to be impossible. And I also learned that I am too old for nights on end without sleep :-)

What's next for SocialCard

Its hard to pack this into a small textfield - there is so much to do!

  • Finding co-founders and together decide wich kind of company this need to be. Non-Profit, fin-tech, Pro Profit ... ?
  • Getting in contact with local governments for collaboration and initial funding.
  • Meeting potential business partners like McDonalds, Starbucks, CVS, WholeFoods, MasterCard, Paypal and other Rewards-Providers.
  • Figuring out the transfer of funds, and finding banking partners.
  • In the US-Market getting in contact with the EBT-Systems providers.
  • Researching how valuable one rewards-customer is.
  • Hire SocialWorkers and Testimonials and bring this thing to market.

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