Be A Saver Not A Spender… and Win Cash and Prizes

Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Wednesday, January 11 2012

Snapshot: Priya Haji, CEO, SaveUp
Priya Haji is a serial entrepreneur who starts socially conscious technology companies that positively change people’s lives. Her newest venture, SaveUp, rewards people for saving money and paying down their debts, as opposed to rewarding people for spending money, as is the case with most credit card or retail loyalty programs. By making everyday financial transactions more exciting and rewarding, SaveUp fosters more positive financial behaviors and hopes to change America’s culture to one of savers instead of spenders. SaveUp is currently available at 18,000 banks and financial institutions.

A Stanford graduate with an MBA from Berkeley, Haji has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and she been invited to speak to the President’s Council on Financial Capabilities next spring. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is giving birth to her first child this month.

Womenetics: Economists have been talking for years about Americans not being savers, like in some other cultures. How difficult will it be to turn that around?
Priya Haji: Since 2008 there has been a significant increase in the U.S. savings rate (moving from all-time low of less than 1 percent of household income up to 5 percent in 2010), and households are succeeding in reducing debt as well. The reality is the mindset of Americans is already changing; they understand that having insufficient savings and too much debt creates insecurity. At SaveUp, we are reinforcing this change in financial behavior and hope to be a catalyst to help Americans to save even more.

Womenetics: SaveUp hopes to change our culture from spenders to savers, but doesn’t our economy need us to be spending to build economic growth?
Haji: There are different forms of economic growth. We have focused on building a spending-driven culture, which leads to most households having debt and very little savings security. As savings rates go up and personal debt goes down, there is also the opportunity for banks and financial institutions to redirect that new capital to business lending and productivity in other areas like invention and technology. This use of money drives economic growth based on other activities than consumption.

Womenetics: Can one really become a millionaire from participating in SaveUp? How do our readers add a SaveUp account?
Haji: Yes! You can select any account where you are saving money (savings account, 401(k), IRA) or any account where you are reducing your debt (car loan, home loan, student loan, credit card) and you can link that account to SaveUp rewards. The process is free. It takes less than a minute, and then for every dollar you save or dollar of debt you reduce, you earn one SaveUp credit. You can then use your credits to play for all kinds of great rewards, from travel to a new car or our $2 million jackpot.

We want to help you stay motivated to make your financial goals, and if you win a big reward in the process, that would be great. But you are always a winner because you are saving your own money and paying down your debt.

Womenetics: What prompted you to start being a social entrepreneur at age 16?
Haji: My most important role models are my dad and my grandmother. My grandmother was an activist and physician in India and part of Gandhi’s movement. She taught me that standing up for justice and equality was my responsibility. My father gave me the first chance to be a social entrepreneur when I had the opportunity to help him start a free health clinic in Bryan, Texas, where I grew up. Once I had the first experience of building an endeavor which helped people, I knew I wanted to use business and technology to keep doing that; it was fun!

Womenetics: When you were a child, what did you want to be?
Haji: I thought I was going to be a doctor until I realized that if I can build a great company that grows and helps people, I can help even more people than if I help one person at a time.

Womenetics: How did you come up with the idea for SaveUp, World of Good and Free at Last?
Haji: My own creative process to build a company starts with empathy. When I feel the problem or struggle that another person is having, I feel inspired to think of how we could create something to solve the problem in a scalable, innovative way.

My co-founder, Sammy Shreibati, and I thought of SaveUp in response to seeing Americans struggling financially; we wanted to create an innovative way to help people succeed financially and use new technologies like social media and social games. My company, World of Good, was born from my family background. My father is from East Africa, and my mom is from India, so I always wanted to build a way to help women from the developing regions of the world to achieve more financial opportunity. Free at Last was built from my experience in the African-American community in East Palo Alto, seeing families struggling with drug addiction, imprisonment and HIV, and wanting to create a community-driven model for treatment.

(NOTE: World of Good, which makes fair trade and sustainable products available to Americans and artisans in 55 countries, was sold to eBay last year. Free at Last has become a national model for substance abuse treatment and HIV/AIDS intervention for African-Americans and Latinos. Free at Last serves 3,000 people a year in East Palo Alto.)

Womenetics: What other socially responsible companies have you created?
Haji: I believe the best ideas to solve important problems are still out there. So, if you are a person who also has a vision for how to solve a problem with an innovative business, I hope by sharing my story it will inspire you to take a risk and move forward with your vision.

Womenetics: Have you made a lot of money from these companies?
Haji: I have built organizations that have grown and done well, and in the process I have been able to live a stable, financially secure existence and provide the same for the employees and partners. When I start a new endeavor, I always focus first on the customer and building a great experience. If we succeed at this and the social good is baked into the structure of the product, then the business model will work from there.

Womenetics: What are you thinking might be the next company you will start?
Haji: My mind and heart are totally focused on SaveUp. It’s funny, when I am in the midst of building an idea, I can’t think of anything else. And I want to follow this one as far as I can. I think it can be a big business that helps millions of people succeed financially.

Womenetics: When you are not starting new companies, what do you do during your spare time?
Haji: I love to travel and see new parts of the world; it keeps my mind open and learning.

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Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.