Prism Money

Prism Money, founded in 2011 by Tyler Griffin and Steve Gordon, developed a mobile application designed to simplify bill management for consumers. The co-founders, who met at Northwestern University, conceptualized the company to address the personal inconvenience of tracking and paying multiple bills. Griffin's background in mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan and Gordon's experience at Microsoft's Hotmail provided a complementary skill set for the venture.

The company operated as a financial technology firm, providing a free mobile app that served as a centralized hub for bill management. It targeted individuals, particularly those in their 20s and 30s, who juggle numerous monthly payments. The Prism app automatically tracked bill due dates, amounts, and payment histories by connecting to over 11,000 billers, including utilities, credit card companies, and lenders. Users could view all their bills and account balances in one interface and receive reminders to avoid late fees. A key feature was the ability to pay bills directly within the app, often on the same day, using various payment methods.

Prism Money's business model did not rely on selling user data. Instead, revenue was generated through several streams: receiving small transaction fees from some billers for processing payments, and charging users a convenience fee for utilizing payment options not offered directly by the biller, such as paying a utility bill with a credit card. The company went through several funding rounds, including a seed round in 2013, and was acquired by Handle Financial in 2016 before being acquired again by BillGO in October 2018. The acquisition by BillGO was intended to integrate Prism's large biller network into BillGO's real-time payment platform. However, after careful consideration, the Prism mobile application was officially shut down on February 20, 2024.

Keywords: bill management, personal finance app, bill payment, expense tracker, mobile payments, due date reminders, FinTech, account aggregation, BillGO, Tyler Griffin, Steve Gordon, financial management tool, pay bills, track expenses, budget planner, money organizer, late fee avoidance, payment history, debt management, centralized billing