5 Game-Changing Financial IT Startups

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FlexScore - Customized responsible investing advice. FlexScore is trying to "gamify" financial planning through scoring, peer ranking and customized goals.

"FlexScore is an entirely new financial product that empowers people to take more control over their personal finances. It's financial advice for the rest of us," said co-founder and CEO Jason Gordo in his presentation.

In an interview Gordo and co-founder Jeff Burrow explain their 1,000 point financial scoring system is based on industry standards and have been deemed reliable and effective by the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) board of standards. By combining all industry standards ratios for all different user characteristics (ex: housing/income) into an algorithm, FlexScore generates a personal financial score, delivered to the user along with customized action steps to take in their personal life to improve their score over time.

"They get their score and their to-do list based on what you say, and what we know about you," says Gordo. "We have a whole learning component that goes along with tool, it's robust, and includes custom content for the user based on their score and needs." This is combined with peer ranking using age/location/occupation and goals so you can see how you stack up to others on the same path.

Burrow adds that based on industry knowledge, experience and thousands of conversations, "we know all stratospheres of Earth have the same conversations, from the wealthy guy to his receptionist. They want to know; How I am I doing with my money and what do I need to improve?"

In addition to the consumers who want to use FlexScore, financial institutions from community banks to large banks can leverage the service on their website as a way to build a closer connection to its users. Financial advisers working with the public looking for a better way to serve their clients and can license the technology and launch it on their own website.

Get ahead: FlexScore is currently in beta after launching in August (the banking and advisory business will launch in Q1 2014). Because the team is carefully tending to each of their early applicants and monitoring feedback along the way, they already have thousands on the wait-list to learn their score. But fear not, the good people of FlexScore have graciously provided WS&T with a link to jump ahead of the queue. Go ahead, you know you want to know.

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