24
de Desembre
de
2015 - 07:19
Act.
25
de Desembre
de
2015 - 19:37
A relaxing cup of café con leche in Plaza Mayor costs around two euros and renting a film on Wuaki.tv, less than four euros. That is the equivalent of one or two uses of Sincomis, the app that finds banks that do not charge the user commission for withdrawing cash.
The app, created by four Catalans, already includes some 90% of the cashpoint machine network in the whole of Spain. Using geolocation, the user inputs their position and their bank, and the tool guides him or her to the nearest branch.
Sincomis's idea was born inresponse to the announcement by CaixaBank that it would charge commission. "It came out of the frustration of knowing that we would be charged to take money out," says one of the founders, David Pascual, who explains that it was BBVA and Banc Santander's signing to the measure that led them to create the app. "We wanted to help users to avoid abusive commission charges and to find cashpoint machines that would not have an impact on their pocket," he adds.
Waiting for news
The issue surrounding banks charging commission to take money out is, until further warning, for the moment solved. In October, the Council of Ministers passed a Royal decree regulating the double charge for withdrawing money – on the one hand what the cashpoint machine owner charges, and on the other, the institution that issued the cash card- so that the user now only has to pay a maximum of two euros to get their cash from a different bank.
However, the first version of the Sincomis app, which came out in September, continues to show which bank branch that will not charge commission is nearest. "We are now waiting for new regulations in January, when each bank will have decided how much it will charge," says Pascual, given that any changes will alter the services offered by the start-up.
The team is forward-thinking and is already working on possible options: "If there is no unification, we will continue finding the banks that charge less; if there are changes, such as a set commission of between 1.5 and 2 euros, we will have to talk about how the app can be useful."
Low-cost entrepreneurship
The business is not even a year old, but it already has an average of 1,000 users a month and includes 46,000 cashpoint machines of the 48,000 in Spain. In large part that is due to its technological base. "The biggest challenge was finding the bank branches and listing them; the technology is merely an algorithm," says the co-founder.
It took only four weeks to create the app and a minimal investment to put it on iTunes. "And time," adds Pascual, who points out that the four founders of the project have stable jobs and that the "200 to 300 hours spent" came out of their free time.
It cost little to set up the business, although that is no excuse for not considering its money-making potential. Pascual insists that it is one of the most viable objectives in the short term given the number of users they have. One option they mention to begin making money is working with affiliates: "By using Sincomis, the user can see what he or she has saved so far. Depending on how much they have built up, we propose offers or services from local start-ups like Waynabox. We could look into integrating the purchase or contracting of these and widen the scope of cooperation." It is an open door that requires a lot more communication and marketing work, two areas that the co-founder admits they have to strengthen.
In its first month, the app allowed its users to make combined savings of almost 10,000 euros. Pascual says that a user will take money out of a cashpoint machine between four and six times a month, which makes a saving of around 10 euros.
The app, created by four Catalans, already includes some 90% of the cashpoint machine network in the whole of Spain. Using geolocation, the user inputs their position and their bank, and the tool guides him or her to the nearest branch.
Sincomis's idea was born inresponse to the announcement by CaixaBank that it would charge commission. "It came out of the frustration of knowing that we would be charged to take money out," says one of the founders, David Pascual, who explains that it was BBVA and Banc Santander's signing to the measure that led them to create the app. "We wanted to help users to avoid abusive commission charges and to find cashpoint machines that would not have an impact on their pocket," he adds.
Waiting for news
The issue surrounding banks charging commission to take money out is, until further warning, for the moment solved. In October, the Council of Ministers passed a Royal decree regulating the double charge for withdrawing money – on the one hand what the cashpoint machine owner charges, and on the other, the institution that issued the cash card- so that the user now only has to pay a maximum of two euros to get their cash from a different bank.
However, the first version of the Sincomis app, which came out in September, continues to show which bank branch that will not charge commission is nearest. "We are now waiting for new regulations in January, when each bank will have decided how much it will charge," says Pascual, given that any changes will alter the services offered by the start-up.
The team is forward-thinking and is already working on possible options: "If there is no unification, we will continue finding the banks that charge less; if there are changes, such as a set commission of between 1.5 and 2 euros, we will have to talk about how the app can be useful."
Low-cost entrepreneurship
The business is not even a year old, but it already has an average of 1,000 users a month and includes 46,000 cashpoint machines of the 48,000 in Spain. In large part that is due to its technological base. "The biggest challenge was finding the bank branches and listing them; the technology is merely an algorithm," says the co-founder.
It took only four weeks to create the app and a minimal investment to put it on iTunes. "And time," adds Pascual, who points out that the four founders of the project have stable jobs and that the "200 to 300 hours spent" came out of their free time.
It cost little to set up the business, although that is no excuse for not considering its money-making potential. Pascual insists that it is one of the most viable objectives in the short term given the number of users they have. One option they mention to begin making money is working with affiliates: "By using Sincomis, the user can see what he or she has saved so far. Depending on how much they have built up, we propose offers or services from local start-ups like Waynabox. We could look into integrating the purchase or contracting of these and widen the scope of cooperation." It is an open door that requires a lot more communication and marketing work, two areas that the co-founder admits they have to strengthen.
In its first month, the app allowed its users to make combined savings of almost 10,000 euros. Pascual says that a user will take money out of a cashpoint machine between four and six times a month, which makes a saving of around 10 euros.