It’s official: we’re going to put out this new credit card tool and see what comes of it!

The new credit card tool is going to be called “WalletFlo” and should be available in December 2019. I’m hoping to have some visuals to show you next week, so you’ll finally be able to see what it will look like. But in the meantime, I just wanted to share more about some of its key features. 

Keep reading below for more on this new tool! 

What is WalletFlo? 

Smart technology is the way of the future. You’ve probably heard of products like a smart refrigerator that will one day detect when you’re running low on everyday items like milk and eggs and then proceed to order those for you from the grocery store. 

Thinking about these things got me wondering what it would be like to have a wallet that worked in sync with you to save you time and essentially optimize itself.

In other words, what would it be like to have a digital smart wallet?

WalletFlo is a a self-optimizing digital smart wallet that helps you to strategically maximize and manage your credit cards via automation. 

With WalletFlo, you’ll enter in all of your current cards into a colorful timeline (this will be known as your “WalletFlo”). Your WalletFlo will give you an easy way to view the history of all of your cards and to instantly see what rules currently apply to your cards.

It will save you time and mental energy because if you want to get a new credit card, you can simply click on it and then that card will appear on your timeline at the soonest available time you can apply for it.

You’ll be able to avoid rejections and plan out your credit card applications way more efficiently and accurately since WalletFlo will calculate all application rules for you like 5/24, 6/6, 2/90, etc. 

If you’re not currently eligible for a credit card, it will only take a second to activate notifications so you can get auto-reminded of when you’re eligible for certain cards (whether that happens in two months or two years). 

WalletFlo will also provide efficient ways to view and organize your cards. It will only take a click to see a breakdown of your best cards for different spend categories based on your personal point valuations.

There will be a cheat sheet that gives you the best cards to use for all the major categories like: groceries, gas, dining, hotels, phone bill, etc. and it will update in real time as things change like quarterly 5% categories. (This will be very helpful for couples where one member doesn’t stay as clued in on points.) 

You’ll also be able to see what cards might be missing from your portfolio in order to optimize your earnings for various categories or you can see what hotel or airline cards you’re missing. And remember, the tool doesn’t just show you what’s missing — it also instantly shows you what you’re eligible for and when you can get it. 

In addition, WalletFlo will allow you to view and track your annual fees. You’ll be able to quickly see what your “effective” annual fees are based on credits used and also see if points earned on your card have offset the annual fee based on your estimated spend.

I’m also planning on adding features that give automated guidance on decisions for things like upgrades, downgrades, and product changes. 

The above features will hopefully be in the minimum viable product (MVP). The “MVP” is a start-up term used to describe the core product that is initially released to users. Of course, I have plans to iterate continuously with WalletFlo and would love to see it do many more things than what the MVP will do. 

So over the next few weeks, I’ll be dropping in with updates and discussing features that I hope will make it into WalletFlo. And today, I wanted to share the community feature. 

By the way, if you want to be updated on this product and receive news about the launch, enter your email below. 

Community 

It’s great to track your cards and get guidance on the rules but sometimes the best guidance comes from seeing what other people are able to do to maximize their credit card rewards. 

With WalletFlo, you’ll be able to view other timelines so that you can study them and get a better idea of what’s possible for yourself. Think about how much you could learn from scrolling through a dozen or so timelines, especially if they fit a similar profile as you. 

For example, if you’re under 5/24, you could search out other timelines and see what cards other people chose to go with when they were under 5/24. Or you could search for timelines with a certain amount of cards added per year/month/etc., see what other couples did, etc. 

You would also be able to search for timelines containing certain cards. You might even be able to sort the timelines by “aggressive” or “conservative” so that you can follow paths other people did that have the same mindset about application velocity. 

There will also be a feed of timelines you can view. You’ll be able to choose to “follow” timelines that you are interested in. You might even be able to view their future applications and then get notifications if they got approved to help give you more insight into what you can do. 

You’ll also be able to propose future credit card application plans on your own timeline and get feedback from others via comments and direct messages. People do this in forums and blog comments all the time but with WalletFlo, all of your information will already be present and you can check the advice you receive against the application rules feature so that you can feel more confident about following that advice.  

I think it’d also be really cool if users could “upvote” the best or most interesting timelines so others could see who is really crushing it. This would also help people realize which timelines are better to model themselves after.     

Obviously the timelines will be self-reported so there’s potential for trolls and liars. But only paying customers will have access to this feature, so I don’t think many would want to waste their membership.

I also plan on implementing a “report” feature where a user could be required to verify their details in order to continue to share their timelines if something shady is suspected. 

It will be your choice on whether or not you want to share your WalletFlo with the community. I know some will want to remain private and that’s fine, but I would highly recommend sharing it because you will be 100% anonymous and it will be super helpful to everyone. 

I’m also thinking of developing a system where you can earn credits that will allow you to use your personal referral links.

For example, by agreeing to share your timeline, you get to share referral links that will likely be used by another user. Just getting one referral link approval could bring in $50 to 100+ worth of value so this could be a very valuable way to maximize your points, especially if you have multiple referral links. 

Final word 

It’s going to be interesting putting this thing together the next few weeks. I really believe this is going to be an extremely helpful tool for people who want to get the most out of their credit cards and save more time and energy while doing so. 

Also, I really appreciate all those who volunteered to beta test (you’ll be hearing from me in a couple of weeks). Hopefully beta testing will begin in late September and the tool will be live in October.

If you have any questions about the community feature or comments regarding the problems you face with managing your cards, let me in the comments below or email me at [email protected]!

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.