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SDG 1- RiseUp Your Cash Flow

It’s no secret that in Israel, many of the population are living in overdraft. According to Dun & Bradstreet, 50 percent of Israelis have what is considered good financial management skills, but many others are going down a road that will lead to their bank account being permanently overdrawn. Many Israelis choose to take out a loan to cover the negative balance until the next paycheck, but as the overdraft interest is usually higher than the loan interest, creating a never-ending cycle of debt.

Taking note of this national dilemma, in 2017 Tamara Harel-Cohen, Yuval Samet, Iftach Bar and Hanan Rubin co-founded RiseUp, a Profit-with-Purpose startup which uses cutting-edge technology, to help middle and lower income Israeli families get out of debt and reach financial health. The ultimate goal of RiseUp: eradicate poverty with technology.

RiseUp is a financial service available through WhatsApp. The service is not expensive, to encourage as many people as possible to take advantage of them. It features a personalized cashflow report, without the need for Excel charts or handwritten records. The report merges all expenses within a time frame (a week or a month), including permanent ones such as mortgage or rent, direct debits, purchases that have been split into several payments, plus credit card expenditures, in real time. The remainder is calculated based on the weekly or monthly budget defined by the user.

The cashflow report is delivered directly to the user’s WhatsApp account, rather than requiring users to download another app. The report provides the user with the information needed to make informed financial decisions, allowing the user to spend within his or her budget. RiseUp also offers personalized consultation on any financial matter, large or small – can I really afford to buy that shirt this month? – at the touch of a button.

In order to gain an accurate profile of their clients and subsequently provide them with the best possible service, RiseUp requests access to their bank and credit card information. This allows the service to build cashflow reports in real time for its clients based on all accessible data: Checking accounts, direct debits, credit cards, scheduled payments, etc. Of course all information is protected with the highest level of security.

RiseUp has taken their show to the road, visiting more than 80 schools so far in order to spread their message of financial responsibility, using the RiseUp service to make wiser financial choices. They have met with dozens of teachers and academic leaders, teaching them the lesson that “cashflow is king”. The 45-minute seminar has so far been met with great aplomb. One administrator remarked, “You have given us a fresh new perspective on a potentially painful topic.” Another said, “It is clear how much you have invested in this idea and that your hearts are in the right place.”

By 2030, the UN would like to “reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions,” as outlined in target 1.2 of the sustainable development goals within the goal of No Poverty. RiseUp is living up to this target.

Their motto: “We believe that with every moment in life, growth is attainable.” They explain that life is made up of a series of decisions, large and small, many of them financially related. We grow from these decisions, and RiseUp is there to offer assistance at every step of the way.