Meemo, a growing platform designed to be “a layer on top of your financial life” uses an automatic AI-powered search and offers personalized insights, modern peer-to-peer sharing, and rewards based on transaction and purchasing history. As we enter the first socially-distanced holiday season, with its new digital gift card portal, Meemo urges users to give with intention.
During a difficult year where consumers need to shop safely and give remotely, the company hopes this new experience will encourage people to share with their friends, family, and colleagues in a literal out-of-the-box and seamless way.
With many corporations cancelling their holiday parties, they are turning to personalized gift experiences to convey the same notes of gratitude to their employees. Using the new meemo.ai functionality, users can purchase a ‘meemo’ for the brand or experience they want to gift this holiday season and send it to their friends via text, e-mail, Whatsapp, Snapchat message, and others. The program works the same way for corporations looking to treat their employees while they are remote and businesses looking to reward loyal customers.
“This holiday season, gift cards will be more popular than ever before due to their safety and ease of use,” says Wisam Dakka, co-founder of Meemo. “With the new functionality on our website, Meemo.ai, we have made both giving and receiving virtual gift cards seamless for all parties.”
With the general acceleration towards digitization and portability, and seeing the ease of use and choice that gift cards allow, consumers are gravitating towards gift cards this holiday season. Gift cards are the most popular gift on holiday lists, with 59% of the US population including them on their wishlists. Additionally, Data from a recent InMarket’s survey showed unique purchases of gift cards rose 363% this fall versus a year ago. It also showed customers were spending about 17% more on gift cards in 2020.
“The data is clear: gift cards are booming for the holidays, and the net effect could be a boost for Q1 as they’re used in the new year,” says Todd Dipaola, CEO of InMarket. “Gift cards are no longer a last-minute gift — they add optionality in uncertain times, showing the power of choice.”
Meemo’s new platform makes gift-giving seamless and enables users to safely send gift cards to bundled or individual businesses on the Meemo.ai website without creating a Meemo account. Recipients then receive bundled funds as “earmarked cash” to use at eligible shops in whatever way they please. Meemo has also created socially conscious-bundle options that go towards causes like sustainable/eco-friendly brands and black-owned shops.
Meemo was created to take the stress out of finances and inherently empower its users to have positive experiences with their money and community. Launched in 2019 by two ex-Snap product developers Wisam Dakka and André Madeira. Armed with $10m in seed capital, the pair set out to tackle what they view as the number one cause of stress and anxiety in America, financial management. With Meemo, they aim to empower users to build a positive and fun relationship with their finances.
“Our insight is that an individual’s relationship with money is a delicate and an emotional one. Most financial apps are not adopted by the masses because they are strict, lack empathy, and are unconsciously perceived as judgmental, which is why they are often downloaded and then ignored,” says André Madeira, co-founder of Meemo.
Meemo’s user-friendly interface is designed to deconstruct the social stigmas around money, enabling people to bond over their purchasing preferences and encouraging the discovery of brands and shops. By making personal finance social and automatic, Meemo encourages users to learn from their friends, share and suggest real-life experiences, and become more financially aware.
The company name is taken from the Portuguese word “mimo,” meaning an affectionate treat, and as such Meemo shares effortless rewards with users for the ways they are already spending. Based on your purchase history, the app automatically sends users a meemo, a novel electronic gift card that reimburses the recipients when they spend at specific merchants. Users can also delight their friends by sending peer-to-peer meemos, sharing their favorite experiences, brands, or even cash using Meemo cash.
