Frida Leibowitz 🇮🇱’s Post

Catch me at the next Fridays in Fintech 🎉. I'll be venting to Jake Pimental about everything that's wrong with credit card rewards and sharing how we're building the new era of rewards for the 99%.

My great grandma walked three straight days from Auschwitz back to her family’s home. She, along with her two sisters and father, were some of the handful Jewish survivors left of their entire home town. They learned that their home, one of the nicest in the village, had been overtaken by high ranking Nazi officers. Their textile factories, pickle factories and multiple properties were completely destroyed and/or looted. My grandmother quickly realized she had nothing left in Europe, and left for Israel where she and the rest of my grandparents fought for a country of their own. What happens when a family’s wealth gets wiped out in a holocaust? Most Americans are familiar with the rags-to-riches stories that many Jews experienced when they arrived to the U.S. But that wasn’t the case for many others, especially those who ended up in Israel and had to dedicate their best years to building the country from scratch. They didn’t magically strike gold. Since my great, great grandfather - no generation in my lineage was able to achieve financial security, let alone wealth. I am working to change that. On this year’s Yom HaShoa (Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel), I want to honor my great grandparents who survived the Holocaust, as well as commemorate all 6 million Jews whose lights were tragically dimmed.

I've spent a lot of time over the last year diving into the credit union world and trying to understand its challenges and how it fits into the financial lives of my fellow Zillennials. As we built our amazing partnerships with credit unions like MSU Federal Credit Union, Lafayette Federal Credit Union and Community Financial Credit Union I realized how differently these institutions think about serving members and learned that they really put their money where their mouth is when it comes to prioritizing financial health. I was inspired to write this article after seeing all the progress we've made at Debbie; we've been educating young consumers about the value of credit unions and why they are the craft beer of financial services- beats the watered down, mass produced stuff any day! Shout out to Michael Mattone @ Navigant Credit Union who originally made this analogy that inspired me to think about credit unions differently.

It only took 17 years - but I can finally say I am a proud American 🇺🇸. 17 years ago my mom made the incredibly brave decision to bring her 5 kids to the U.S. - we started out living in a cramped hotel room in Brooklyn, with no paperwork and no idea how things would work out. I can truly say that the American Dream is still real - I count my lucky stars because I have the incredible opportunity to live it. At the same time, through my work at Debbie and through witnessing the experiences of my loved ones, I get daily reminders that not everyone is getting a fair shot at the American Dream. Even those of us who eventually make it there often have to struggle tremendously through the process and make unimaginable sacrifices. Every American, by birth or by choice, should have a shot at a prosperous life regardless of the hand they're dealt at birth. I hope my small part in building Debbie will help offer more people a shot at secure financial future - anyone else who wants to get on this boat is welcome :) #financialfreedom #americandream #socialimpact

Easy access to commoditized financial products is now a standard, not a competitive advantage. We can get instant access to almost any financial product. Every 3rd fintech is building the ability to easily embed these financial products into any platform. As a consumer, I am now asking: So what? If I am banking with you, how are you helping me : 1. Get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle 2. Spend my money wisely on my present and future instead of paying for my past 3. Build generational wealth for myself and my family 4. Achieve financial security and reach my financial dreams Here’s my humble take: Promoting financial wellness and inclusion isn’t going to remain some cute nice-to-have feature. If you’re not incorporating it into the very fabric of your services, you’re going to go out of style real soon. This approach defines the core of what we’re building at Debbie - we’ve partnered with forward thinking financial institutions to build the first rewards platform that pays you to pay off your debt and build positive habits (rather than incentivizing you to spend on more things you don’t need). Any thoughts/ additional opinions are welcome! #fintech #financialfreedom #financialinclusion #banking #creditunions #consumerbanking

Had the honor to commiserate with Greg Palmer about why getting fitness advice from ultra fit people is often not helpful, just as getting debt loss advice from folks who haven’t experienced financial struggle is often not helpful. That’s why we built Debbie for borrowers, by borrowers and took a human- centric approach to the problem. Thanks for having me on the podcast!