Bankopedia

Home Page
Login Page
Account Page
Discover Page
Example of Achievement Upon Completion
Homepage (with interactive elements)
News Page

Inspiration

When the hackathon started, we actually were originally thinking of apps that could help companies be more effective in the financial space. However, after brainstorming for a bit we realized that big businesses were the ones with the most resources to invest in these sorts of projects. We were surprised by the lack of resources that people have to learn about personal finance. We wanted to help people become better at dealing with debt repayment and getting on track to a more stable financial situation. With influencers constantly peddling their super-cars or expensive houses, we thought it was important to have an app that can show people the power of saving and healthy spending habits.

What it does

Bankopedia is a one-stop-shop to everything a person would need to manage and improve their financial situation. With helpful feedback about current and past trends in account details including spending and saving, people can make better and more informed decisions about how to use their money. Bankopedia has places to learn more information about critical personal finance tools and read news related to market trends. It can track achievements in a gamified way to encourage better habits, and even connects with your friends to promote healthy competition like many apps already do with fitness. Bankopedia helps set up notifications for paying important bills on time, so you are never left surprised the day after taxes were due or your mortgage payment was supposed to be collected.

How we built it

We built the whole app in Visual Studio Code using built using react-native as the primary language. As is the nature of react-native, we had to use CSS and HTML elements, along with javascript to make functions and conditionals that helped power the app. We combined information we got from real news sources with custom-made interactive modules that help the user make on the fly changes to their accounts. The whole thing was built with a team of four people, and since collaboration was imperative, we used github to constantly make sure everything was up to date.

Challenges we ran into

The first thing we noticed was the large learning curve considering it was all of our first hackathons. We had to learn and adapt to the challenges that faced us, including constant error codes that sent us back to StackOverflow. Eventually, we slowly chipped away at the project, picking up speed as we got more comfortable with the language and with the group collaboration style. Making sure everything was consistent was a big difficulty, since any good app uses design elements that can be traced through every page and menu.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Bankopedia turned out much better than we could have hoped for. Just a day ago the app was nothing more than an idea and in this time we have not only gotten to learn so much about app development, but also each other. Building anything from scratch can be frustrating, and doing it with a group can add to the difficulty. Some of our best moments came when someone was struggling with an error code or malfunctioning code segment, and someone else noticed it was similar to an error they had earlier. That person could then help out the other, and although issues still persisted, we got through so much more development by helping each other out. The biggest and most important aspect of Bankopedia is its design and UI. An app can be as useful as can be, but without a design that incorporates elements of human psychology to make it intuitive and fun, nobody will use it. We put design and user experience at the forefront of our concerns, and the app certainly is better off because of it.

What we learned

On a purely technical side, we learned back and front end development for ios apps using react-native. However, that was only one aspect, and we also learned teamwork skills and communication practices that helped us persevere through challenges. We learned new methods, libraries, and other good coding practices that we can carry forward to other projects in the future. We each brought with us a unique skill set and prior experience, but the most important thing was keeping an open mind to new ideas. Often times we would be confronted with the option to either do something easy or jump head first into something that we knew we would struggle with. Although it was tempting to just use a simpler solution, we found that after trying and failing over and over at a much harder version, we emerged with not only a better product, but a much deeper understanding of the code.

What's next for Bankopedia

We hope to continue development after the hackathon has ended. There is definitely a hole in the market for an all-in-one personal finance app that can educate and inform the average population. The amazing part of this whole experience is that after this weekend we still have access to the wond'ry and its incubation programs. Although we all have different interests and goals, we share passions in business and technology, and Bankopedia combines the two perfectly. Not only is it a great potential business venture, but it also aims to help out people from every background and upbringing. Not everyone has the privilege to have access to information about money and the economy, and so we really want to help bridge that informational gap through a platform that can help change the way people view their relationship with finance.