Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Jones.
Hi Jennifer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Rekha & I met while working in the fintech industry in Austin, Texas and immediately felt we’ve known each other all our lives. We come from very different backgrounds, growing up in different parts of the world.
We are similar in our love of technology to solve problems. Rekha was a senior technology executive with expertise in product development, design and operations and I specialized in tech industry’s corporate giving, people culture and social impact.
Being very social, we found that money can make or break relationships, at home, school or work. Everyone’s social circles are changing quickly nowadays because we meet & connect with people for work, interests, kids activities or for charitable causes. There was a gap in current banking technology that doesn’t help new groups financially interact easily
We didn’t want money to be a sore topic so we help people to interact like they socially do with happiness and trust.…….whether it’s for a group trip, a reunion or kid’s school and sports activities or money given to a charity….
With SoshWallet, you can make group payments easily with unlimited accounts, keeping funds & access separate. Pay person to person or pay for collections, donations & expenses all in one app.
You can create multiple accounts and give access to those who need to see the transaction details. Everything is pre organized with easy to use social feeds, templates and you can see who owe’s what, send reminders, who paid already, so you don’t need to tally everything in spreadsheets.
By bringing transparency into how people interact financially, we solve “the people” part of the equation. We are the first blockchain based payments app built by women which we are incredibly proud of.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely had its ups and downs.
We began our journey in February 2020. That alone is a rough start. The design & dev team was in and out of the office via lockdowns, etc.
Second, we realized that starting a payments app is expensive – existing backend players wanted millions in deposits for processing and 50-100K for monthly fees alone, bank fees for ACH were too high. We were rejected by several including Stripe, then a smaller player that we signed up with, dropped key features after a year, forcing us to start again and find someone else but we kept going all the while bootstrapping the effort with personal funds.
It took us much longer than expected to launch, but we were live by November 2021.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
There are two of us and we do everything together. We are friends first.
Rekha – Founder – I am a Mom first and that is most important to me. I am proud that working at IBM has given me the opportunity to live & work all over the world. It’s allowed me to work alongside people with different cultures. Most don’t get that opportunity. I am passionate about my work and a hard worker.
Jenn – I’ve had what one would call a “snake” career… I started off in banking, have been a special education teacher, worked for a nonprofit and then technology (software, semiconductor, hardware). I moved into a human resource role while at Dell but also served in marketing around social impact. While at Dell, I created Dell’s first solar-powered classroom in partnership with a nonprofit in Nigeria and then built in South Africa and Colombia. While at Dell, I created 13 classrooms which was a highlight of my career and what I am most proud of. I am known for the charity work that I do and for engaging everyone into something. I’ve been told that it’s hard to say no to me. Not sure how I do this, but truly not my intention.
App we built: SoshWallet, a blockchain based payments app which gives unlimited accounts for you and your groups to pay for expenses, collections and donations all in one app. Every account is organized to see who owes what, where the money is being spent, along with it’s own social feed, and you can give accounting access to anyone who needs to see the transaction details. Your account is FDIC insured upto 250K. It’s perfect for the social financial organizer, treasurers or anyone who is managing payments in their group
Available on: Both Apple App Store and the Google Play Store
Pricing:
- No fees for personal use
- 1.5% for businesses & charities, no per transaction fees
- 1.5% to receive collection payouts
- 1.5% to receive donation payouts
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Jenn – I was a child of divorce parents at three years old. I had a stepfather come into my life when I was five and he had 4 boys. To narrow down one memory is really hard but I can narrow down a philosophy that he instilled in me which was “who said girls can’t…….” fill in the blank with whatever is what he would say. Wherever I was competing with “boys only” types of things like sailing regattas, swimming, BMX bikes……he had that saying painted on everything. He inspired me to say “I can do anything!” That has stuck with me today.
Rekha – my favorite childhood memories are the holidays spent with my family & cousins. We have a very large extended close knit family on both my Mom & Dad’s side. Every holiday or get together was filled with kids, friends, aunts, uncles, grandparents having lots of fun, food & activities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.soshwallet.com/about
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soshwallet/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/soshwallet
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoshWallet
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC70ZpFvUmz1VjXv7gwzPaQw
- Other: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sosh | https://apps.apple.com/us/app/soshwallet/id1561615923
