Looking at the daily Google hot trends today, I noticed a social money service called Upromise.
Upromise is marketed as a way to save money for your kids’ education. It is a subsidiary of SLM Corporation (“Sallie Mae”), the U.S. largest student loans company.
You essentially save by spending. You get “1-25% back from eligible purchases from 600 online retailers”, “8% back from participating restaurants”, “1-3% on select items at grocery/drugstore”, “10% EXTRA on select items at participating grocery/drugstore and at Upromise dining restaurants; and 1% everywhere you shop when using the Citi Upromise World MasterCard”.
For online transactions, you have to start shopping at participating shops from the Upromise.com Web site (so that they can track your purchases) and for offline transactions, you have to register your existing Credit/Debit card or grocery/drugstore store loyalty card to your UPromise account, and Upromise uses this information to track your purchases and match them up with cash rewards from participating merchants. The privacy notice mentions that some programs might require additional information like Frequent Flyers mile numbers or telephone number.
Other members can be linked to the account, which makes the contributions from family and friends possible.
For restaurant cash rewards, Upomise use Restaurant Cashback.
Comments
The service is essentially a compromise on privacy for value. I find the promise on rewards very high (“up to 25% on select items”) and would be curious to hear from people who have used the service.
I personally find the idea of “saving by spending” a bit ironic. I would imagine that people would save much more by not going to the restaurant in the first place or not buying that brand product and instead buying the white label product. But I can see that in some cases, the system works: for instance, cash-rich retired grand parents who, for good reasons, might want to enjoy brand products or nice restaurants, while helping their kids and grand-kids out.
In short, I’m really curious to hear from real participants with real success stories of having saved a significant portion of a student loan via this program.
I see more opportunity in smart savings programs built into Web services like Wesabe or Mint.com. For instance, assuming you’ve been to a restaurant several times you would see a message that would help visualize how much this money could represent by the time your kid gets in college, if you hadn’t been to this restaurant, or at the very least, if you had chosen a cheaper alternative nearby.
I started a real social savings company you and your readers should be interested in. It's like a registry for college savings. Parents or grandparents go to the site, attach their 529, create a public profile and email friends and family a link where they can contribute directly into the child's 529. Our website, http://www.freshmanfund.com, lets people with any 529 plan, including uPromise 529 plans, ask their friends to give birthday and holiday gifts directly into their 529 plan. It's a great way to tap into the $454 billion spent each year on holiday gifts, not to mention birthday, graduation and other gifts that would otherwise depreciate over time. It's also environmentally friendly gifting. Instead of another piece of plastic and cardboard, people can now easily give money directly towards a child's future college education. Many of our members are the grandparents who opened the 529 for their grandchild in addition to the many grandparents that take advantage of the simple 529 gifting solution.
People often ask us how we differ from uPromise. Upromise is a credit card with rebates that go into college savings and they only work with the 6 or so Upromise plans. We are an open gift registry that works with all 529 plans, including Upromise plans. The reason I started Freshman Fund is because sending money into 529 plans is difficult if not impossible. If you wanted to give my kid a college savings gift you would need to send me the cash which I would deposit, then I would have to fill out a coupon, write a check, stuff it in an envelope and mail it. Or I could take your cash and buy some crack. Freshman Fund streamlines the process, it's transparent, gifter can use credit cards, it's online and instant. We are using the internet to bring efficiencies to the 529 market.
I thought your readers might be interested in what we are doing. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about it. I'd be happy to send you more information or give you an interview if you were interested.
Upromise is a great program and I recommend it to everyone I know. I've been using it since 2001 and have “saved” over $4,000. I agree with you that spending to save is an oxymoron but the concept isn't about encouraging you to spend more, it's about leveraging the spending you already do. Sure I could save more if I didn't go out to dinner or take a vacation but I prefer not to live like a hermit and enjoy life in addition to trying to save for my kids' college education. I might not have as much as I would have but the time it takes to get to college will be more enjoyable for all of us. With Upromise, I choose to spend my money with their partners vs. just shopping with anyone. I am going to shop online anyway, why not do it through Upromise and earn something? I'm going to go out to eat anyway so why not pick one of their restaurants every once in a while? There are lots of ways to participate that make sense and one, e-Rewards, where you get money for taking surveys and don't have to spend anything. I've already earned almost $150 just from e-Rewards in less than a year. If you're reading this and aren't already a member, you should definitely check out Upromise.
As for FreshmanFund (the comment below), the concept is great but it is only part of the solution. There's no reason why someone shouldn't do both!
I started a real social savings company you and your readers should be interested in. It's like a registry for college savings. Parents or grandparents go to the site, attach their 529, create a public profile and email friends and family a link where they can contribute directly into the child's 529. Our website, http://www.freshmanfund.com, lets people with any 529 plan, including uPromise 529 plans, ask their friends to give birthday and holiday gifts directly into their 529 plan. It's a great way to tap into the $454 billion spent each year on holiday gifts, not to mention birthday, graduation and other gifts that would otherwise depreciate over time. It's also environmentally friendly gifting. Instead of another piece of plastic and cardboard, people can now easily give money directly towards a child's future college education. Many of our members are the grandparents who opened the 529 for their grandchild in addition to the many grandparents that take advantage of the simple 529 gifting solution.
People often ask us how we differ from uPromise. Upromise is a credit card with rebates that go into college savings and they only work with the 6 or so Upromise plans. We are an open gift registry that works with all 529 plans, including Upromise plans. The reason I started Freshman Fund is because sending money into 529 plans is difficult if not impossible. If you wanted to give my kid a college savings gift you would need to send me the cash which I would deposit, then I would have to fill out a coupon, write a check, stuff it in an envelope and mail it. Or I could take your cash and buy some crack. Freshman Fund streamlines the process, it's transparent, gifter can use credit cards, it's online and instant. We are using the internet to bring efficiencies to the 529 market.
I thought your readers might be interested in what we are doing. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about it. I'd be happy to send you more information or give you an interview if you were interested.
Upromise is a great program and I recommend it to everyone I know. I've been using it since 2001 and have “saved” over $4,000. I agree with you that spending to save is an oxymoron but the concept isn't about encouraging you to spend more, it's about leveraging the spending you already do. Sure I could save more if I didn't go out to dinner or take a vacation but I prefer not to live like a hermit and enjoy life in addition to trying to save for my kids' college education. I might not have as much as I would have but the time it takes to get to college will be more enjoyable for all of us. With Upromise, I choose to spend my money with their partners vs. just shopping with anyone. I am going to shop online anyway, why not do it through Upromise and earn something? I'm going to go out to eat anyway so why not pick one of their restaurants every once in a while? There are lots of ways to participate that make sense and one, e-Rewards, where you get money for taking surveys and don't have to spend anything. I've already earned almost $150 just from e-Rewards in less than a year. If you're reading this and aren't already a member, you should definitely check out Upromise.
As for FreshmanFund (the comment below), the concept is great but it is only part of the solution. There's no reason why someone shouldn't do both!
Hi sir,i am Jon Milton and i have read your nice comment.
……..
Jon.
<a href=” http://savingsreserves.com“ rel=”dofollow”>Savingst
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
it is very like artical
you should definitely check out Upromise.
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juliaap01
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Hi all,
I’ve heard of “Upromise: social savings for college education” from this blog and I want to thank you for sharing it with us.
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Shawn
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