Debitize

Debitize was a financial technology company founded in 2014 by Liran Amrany and Jeff Hu, operating primarily from New York. Amrany, the CEO, conceived the idea after observing friends switch to debit cards to avoid debt, thereby missing out on credit card rewards and credit-building opportunities. His background includes nine years as an Executive Director at JPMorgan and a Master's in Financial Engineering from UC Berkeley, experiences that informed his mission to simplify personal finance for those struggling with financial products.

The company's core offering was a free application that synchronized a user's credit card with their checking account, designed to blend the discipline of a debit card with the benefits of a credit card. For every purchase made with a linked credit card, the service would automatically withdraw the equivalent amount from the user's checking account and hold it in a separate, FDIC-insured Debitize account. At the end of the billing cycle, the platform would use these accumulated funds to automatically pay off the credit card balance. This model targeted consumers, particularly millennials, who were wary of accumulating debt but wanted to earn credit card rewards and build a positive credit history.

A key feature was the "Credit Optimizer," which aimed to improve users' credit scores by managing credit utilization. This function would make automatic payments to keep the credit balance low, specifically targeting a 1% utilization rate before the bank reported to credit agencies, which could significantly boost a user's score. The platform also included safety measures, such as allowing users to set a minimum balance for their checking account to prevent overdrafts. The company gained traction, participating in the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator in 2017 and acquiring a competitor, Debx, in September 2018. However, after failing to secure a sustainable business model, Debitize was acquired by Trim in April 2019 and subsequently shut down its operations, with the app and website being disabled by May 2019.

Keywords: Debitize, Liran Amrany, financial technology, personal finance app, credit card management, debit card simulation, automatic payments, credit score improvement, credit utilization, debt avoidance, credit card rewards, bill payment, FinTech, Trim acquisition, Debx, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, money management tool, spending habits, financial discipline