We’ve all been there—you stayed up too late studying (or procrastinating) and you barely had time to put your hair in a ponytail before rushing to make it to class. You feel yourself nodding off as your professor lectures on, counting the minutes until you can make a coffee run. But then you remember you left your card in your room, and you spent all your cash on drink specials last night. You also know you’ll die without some form of perfectly brewed caffine pulsing through your veins, but what’s a collegiette™ to do?
That’s easy! We are lucky to live in the age of technology, where we have the world at our fingertips with apps that do just about everything. But as one recent Stanford University grad Lucas Duplan discovered, there is one thing that our smartphones couldn’t do—make payment so easy you wouldn’t have to constantly carry your cash or cards. And so, the yet-to-be-released app building major buzz, Clinkle, was born.
Clinkle is essentially a virtual wallet, easily stored in your phone. All you have to do is link it to your bank account, and you have an automatic form of mobile payment with you at all times. You can complete transactions and withdrawals from your account, as well across carriers. For example, your best friend owes you for dinner the other night—all she’d have to do is access the app and directly send what she owes to you. It’s as easy as sending a text (something I’m sure we’re all very skilled at)!
Naturally, there are always questions regarding privacy. But Ana Braskamp, Communications Manager at Clinkle, assures that the app is incredibly safe for users. “We’ve hired the right kinds of professionals and built a trusted network of partners to ensure that we have the right kind of protection in place for our members. User privacy and data protection is our number one priority,” says Braskamp. They’ve received over $25 million dollars in funding from trusted companies, so you can be sure Clinkle safe to use!
Since partnering with some of the world’s top investors, the company is quickly preparing for the roll out f the application. But what’s life without a little competition? Clinkle will be exclusively released at college campuses across the nation, depending on how fast the waitlist fills up with students interested in using the product. The company’s goal for Auburn is 5,100—once this number is reached, members of the Clinkle team will head here to the Plains to introduce this potential lifesaver to our campus. The online rumor mill is saying Alabama is ahead of us in filling in spaces on their waitlist, and we all know they don’t need to feel anymore special than they already do. Head over to the official Clinkle website and enter your Auburn email address to learn more, explore the app, and reserve your spot on the waitlist!