Treasury Dept Handing Out Cash Prizes for Apps

The feds want to encourage the development of apps to help with financial management and literacy, but don't they realize the free market will provide the products people desire?

Want to pay off students loans more quickly and focus on saving for retirement? There's an app for that, and it's backed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Nicole Kendrot last week won the department's app design challenge—and a $10,000 prize—for herCentz app. It encourages people to pay their student loans in a more timely fashion by allowing users to link information about all of their loans in one place, create a payoff plan to sync with their budget, and learn about managing their loans.