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Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

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Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#31
post #7

Maybe I'm missing something here, but this looks like a business with massive downside risk and very little upside. It's bundling a bunch of bad debt (nobody who manages their money well is going to pay 20% interest if they have better options) and hoping that the aggregate is less risky. I have a feeling we've seen that sort of wishful thinking about debt before. So what am I missing that makes Tally so good at mana…

Yes, not seeing the business model here. They're basically issuing a credit card of their own. Somehow, I suspect this will morph into a "consolidate your bills" scheme, or the low rate is only an introductory rate, or there will be big fees, or they try to sell you on a home equity loan, like LowerMyBills.com.

Good question on introductory rates and fees. Tally does NOT offer introductory or "teaser" rates. Your Tally APR is your Tally APR.

And Tally does NOT charge ANY fees of ANY kind. Here's a cut and paste from our FAQ: "There’s no annual fee, no origination fee, no prepayment fee, no balance transfer fee, no late fee, no overlimit fee, nada. Like you, we hate hidden fees."

Tally makes money by charging interest on the amount you borrow from us. We only make money if we can save you money. But that’s it.

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#32
post #29
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, great question. This is Jason (Tally co-founder). Credit card APRs are massively inflated. Here are two points to consider: A. There is a 500% difference in the likelihood of someone paying back a loan with a 760 FICO score vs someone with a 660 FICO score, but only an 8% difference in APR. B. "the credit card business continues to be the most profitable bank lending business, with returns more than four times h…

Do you guys fear that if big banks start to feel threatened, they will start lobbying to keep the field uneven to their favor? Leaves me wondering how much inroad is possible to make going against such big (and dirty-playing) actors. I mean, obviously if you get to that point you must be doing something right, and shaking the big entrenched businesses can sometimes (most of the times? always?) bring good things, so g…

Big banks are powerful and we don't take that risk lightly. However, regulators like the relatively new CFPB, are generally on the side of consumers. So as long as we always do right by consumers and don't lend irresponsibly, we have a very good chance of being on the right side of history. That said, we'll take any and all luck you can send our way

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#33
post #16

I built the core financial engineering stack at Tally and absolutely love our product! The stuff I worked on was cool (lots of highly non convex optimizations, cool statistical methods, all Scala stack, very FP-oriented, etc.) but mainly the experience we deliver to consumers is incredibly powerful. The biggest challenge was probably getting this very complex, very real-time concept to work on an antiquated financial…

It's remarkably difficult to find your company page with a search engine. I tried "tally financial" and "tally credit card" as my search terms.

Tally is the name of an established and popular accounting package in India - so this may be an uphill battle

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#34

I built the core financial engineering stack at Tally and absolutely love our product! The stuff I worked on was cool (lots of highly non convex optimizations, cool statistical methods, all Scala stack, very FP-oriented, etc.) but mainly the experience we deliver to consumers is incredibly powerful. The biggest challenge was probably getting this very complex, very real-time concept to work on an antiquated financial…

Great, great idea

Scrolling skips on andriod. I'm not even sure of the cause.

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#36
1. How does Tally calculate how to much to pay for a bill? For example, sometimes I have will receive a statement weeks prior to the bill date where I only have to pay a small amount, but I'm actually carrying a larger by the time that the payment due date comes around.

2. Do you do a hard pull of credit?

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#37
post #21
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tally underwrites. from https://www.meettally.com/how you will need to qualify for and get the Tally Credit Line. Depending on your credit history, your APR (which is the same as your interest rate) will be between 7.9% - 19.9% per year. And similar to credit card APRs, it will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. This looks like it could be helpful, but those rates are no better than your local CU offers. A…

Hey, this is Jason (Tally co-founder). Thanks for all the comments. Yes, you are correct, Tally underwrites. Here are some crazy stats. A. For every 10 people who have a credit card, there are 16 late fees assessed every year. With Tally, you don't have to worry about missing payments. B. 4 out of 10 households carry a balance ($15K average) for a total of $700B. 78% of those balances are held by people with good cre…

wow, the 500% stat you quoted below on the difference between 660 and 760 fico is pretty amazing.

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#38
I suspect there would be much less market for the autopay feature here in the UK, where you can ask the bank to direct-debit the minimum amount every month to make sure you have no late fees.

I'm skeptical about the improved rates for debt consolidation, but if you're going to give people subsidised credit with investor's money I'm not going to complain.

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#39

1. How does Tally calculate how to much to pay for a bill? For example, sometimes I have will receive a statement weeks prior to the bill date where I only have to pay a small amount, but I'm actually carrying a larger by the time that the payment due date comes around. 2. Do you do a hard pull of credit?

I'd like to know the answer to this as well. Do you require login credentials from your users or what? I assume there's not some secret API for credit cards ...

Re: Tally raises $15M for app to make credit cards less expensive, easier to manage

#40
post #30
post #27

So I was probably in your target market last year but I'm struggling to understand how this product works. I work in tech but was laid off mid year and simultaneously incurred a bunch of debt. So I carried a balance of around $15k for most of the year (13% APR) until I could build savings up and get back on track. Thankfully I'm debt free now, but if I had had Tally, would it have paid off the balance and then I woul…

Jason here again. Tally is like a self driving car for your credit cards. Here's how it might have played out for you if you had had Tally before, during, and after carrying a balance. 1. Before you carried a balance ($0 Balance) -Tally is free to use and pays all your cards for you every month. This means that instead of keeping track of multiple payments and due dates, you make just one payment to Tally. No more la…

Ah ok. Makes sense. I remember searching for a low interest loan because I knew I would be able to pay it back and thought 13% was ridiculous for such a credit worthy individual (credit score 760). Thanks for taking the time to answer, it is definitely a cool product!
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