Commingling funds generally is a scary endeavor for individuals who have determined to share their lives with one another. With folks marrying later in life, this usually means transferring in with somebody earlier than any nuptials happen — in the event that they ever do.

This was the dilemma Michelle Winterfield skilled when she moved in along with her accomplice a number of years previous to getting married. They’d all the same old conversations: opening a joint account and having joint bank cards.

“It’s laborious to construct a life as an single couple,” Winterfield informed TechCrunch. “And with {couples} getting married in a while in life, there’s an unwillingness to mix funds, however they nonetheless wish to get the advantages of doing so.”

When Winterfield, who was a non-public fairness investor on Wall Road, couldn’t discover an app that centered on what she referred to as “the fashionable couple,” she and co-founder Daniel Couvreur, a former funding banker, got down to construct one two years in the past.

Their result’s Tandem, a fintech app that addresses the primary monetary milestones for {couples} and grows with the connection through planning, saving and spending options. The subscription-based app launched in August 2023.

“We have been each bored with utilizing Venmo to share lease, groceries, and loads of different bills with our important others, and we noticed no attraction in a joint debit card/account – who needs to surrender bank card factors/money again and cope with the ache of opening a joint account + combining funds?” Couvreur wrote in a LinkedIn publish two years in the past.

Tandem workforce, from left, Michelle Winterfield, Matthew Dennis, Daniel Couvreur and Emily Brent. Picture Credit: Tandem

The way it works

Customers get arrange on Tandem in minutes. One individual logs in and invitations their accomplice. Each join their bank card and/or debit card. Tandem pulls in transactions, nonetheless, every accomplice solely sees what the opposite needs them to see, Winterfield mentioned.

{Couples} can arrange automated cash transfers right into a shared expense pot and designate it to sure bills, for instance, lease or Netflix. Greater than 25,000 {couples} at the moment use Tandem, which has managed $60 million in bills to this point.

“It provides you the expertise of a joint account with out really having to have one,” Winterfield mentioned. “All the pieces you do wish to share is in a single area, so it eliminates the back-and-forth. You too can settle up any balances each time you might be prepared.”

Buyers are additionally eager on the concept, lately pumping $3.7 million into Tandem. Corazon Capital led the spherical and was joined by a gaggle of particular person buyers and executives from corporations together with OkCupid, Match Group and Tinder.

“I’ve hardly ever seen shoppers love a product a lot, underscoring the necessity for modern options for the fashionable couple,” mentioned Sam Yagan, co-founder and managing director of Corazon Capital, through e-mail. “As a relationship skilled, I’ve lengthy believed within the want for a product to assist {couples} navigate the distinctive challenges of managing their funds. Tandem stands out as a platform of reliability, belief and modernity and helps new and present relationships thrive financially and emotionally.”

Relationship objectives

Tandem will not be alone in going after this drawback. We’ve beforehand reported on corporations tailoring monetary companies to {couples}, like A lot, Honeydue, Zeta, Ivella and Ensemble, which is for divorced individuals who co-parent.

Lots of Tandem’s rivals give attention to offering a debit card to share bills, which Winterfield mentioned generally is a massive step for people who find themselves simply beginning their monetary lives.

“We actually needed to construct this with the patron in thoughts versus providing banking merchandise,” she mentioned. “We additionally needed to create a way more automated expertise that basically solves this ache level first for our core demographic.”

Tandem crowdsources its potential options from its person base, and a majority of customers impressed the following set of options referred to as “Objectives,” going reside this week. The Objectives characteristic is predicated on beginning a plan for shared purchases that each members of the couple will work on.

For instance, you set a objective collectively — shopping for new furnishings — and select how a lot every will contribute to that objective every month. Then every individual can pull in web sites or apps to seize numerous merchandise so as to add to your objectives so everyone seems to be on the identical web page and nobody individual looks like they’re doing it alone.

The brand new capital will go into launching this new characteristic, advertising and rising the workforce. As well as, an Android app is coming quickly.

Initially, Tandem launched with a “select your individual value” mannequin. With the brand new characteristic now right here, the platform will go reside with a $10 per couple, per 30 days annual pricing or $12 per couple, per 30 days paying month-to-month.

“We wish to construct one thing that integrates very seamlessly, allows you to share the whole lot in a really automated approach with out really having to take that subsequent step and join a joint card collectively,” Winterfield mentioned. “Tandem lets you preserve that independence whereas additionally constructing a life collectively.”