Fin Friend

Eleven labs and capital one incorporation. With email summary feature.
Categorical breakdown of spending.
Timeline of spending and smart spending goals section.
Personalized chat assistant utilized open AI Api integration here.

💡 Inspiration

As young people, we realized how few of us actually understand where our money goes or how to manage it wisely. Financial literacy is often overlooked in schools, and most budgeting apps focus on raw numbers instead of teaching real financial habits. Many of our friends admitted they wanted to save or invest but didn’t know where to start, and the overwhelming nature of finance often leads to avoidance instead of action. We wanted to change that by creating a tool that makes learning about money feel natural and empowering. FinFriend was inspired by the idea that finance should feel like a conversation with a friend, not a spreadsheet full of stress. Our mission is to make people more confident about managing their money, help them set clear goals, and make smarter decisions for their future through approachable AI-driven storytelling.

⚙️ What It Does

FinFriend is an AI-powered financial companion that turns your spending data into a personalized story you can read, hear, and learn from. It connects to the Capital One Nessie API to pull mock transaction data, then uses Google’s Gemini API to interpret patterns, detect trends, and generate friendly summaries written in plain, motivational language. Finally, we use ElevenLabs voice synthesis to bring those insights to life, creating an interactive experience that feels like a real financial coach talking to you. On the dashboard, users can view total spending, category summaries, and weekly transaction trends through live visualizations built with Chart.js. They can also set smart spending goals that automatically track progress, and chat directly with FinFriend to ask financial literacy questions like “How can I start saving more?” or “What’s a healthy monthly budget?” It’s a learning tool, accountability partner, and AI coach all in one.

🧠 How We Built It

We built FinFriend using Next.js for a fast, modern frontend paired with TailwindCSS for clean, responsive styling inspired by the Capital One dashboard. Our backend is powered by Node.js and Express, which handles communication between Gemini, ElevenLabs, and the Capital One Nessie API. The workflow begins by fetching mock transaction data from Nessie, analyzing spending behavior using Gemini, and generating a personalized story that reflects each user’s financial activity. That story is then converted into lifelike speech using ElevenLabs, allowing users to listen to their financial summary in a natural, friendly voice. We designed interactive visualizations with Chart.js to display total spending, category breakdowns, and weekly spending timelines. To make the experience engaging, we added smart goal tracking, progress indicators, and an AI chat section that educates users about financial terms and strategies. The result is a seamless integration of data, language, and voice — a fully interactive learning platform that makes financial literacy approachable.

🚧 Challenges We Ran Into

One of our main challenges was integrating multiple APIs while keeping performance smooth and the design intuitive. Since we were using Gemini, ElevenLabs, and the Capital One Nessie API together, it was tricky to ensure that each system communicated properly without delays or timeouts. We also had to carefully manage how we generated and played voice summaries so users could hear their stories immediately. Another challenge was striking the right tone for AI responses — we wanted FinFriend to sound supportive and friendly, not robotic or overly formal. Designing the dashboard to feel both familiar and modern required iteration, since we modeled it after the Capital One interface while maintaining our own branding and educational focus. Through collaboration, testing, and persistence, we overcame these technical and creative challenges to deliver a polished experience we’re proud of.

🏆 Accomplishments That We’re Proud Of

We’re proud that FinFriend evolved from a simple idea into a fully functioning web app that integrates real APIs, personalized insights, and AI-generated storytelling. Our biggest accomplishment is successfully combining three advanced technologies — Gemini, ElevenLabs, and the Capital One Nessie API — into one cohesive product that feels natural to use. We’re also proud of the polished user interface, which captures the feel of a professional finance dashboard while remaining simple and inviting for beginners. Seeing the app generate and narrate a custom financial summary for the first time was an exciting milestone because it proved that our vision of turning numbers into stories could work. Most importantly, FinFriend is more than just a hackathon project — it’s a meaningful tool that can help people develop better financial awareness and habits.

📚 What We Learned

This project taught us how to merge creativity with technical problem-solving. On the technical side, we learned to integrate multiple APIs efficiently and handle asynchronous processes between Gemini and ElevenLabs to create seamless narration. We gained deeper experience in frontend design using Next.js and TailwindCSS, ensuring our product looked as clean as it felt. Beyond the code, we learned to think from a user’s perspective — simplifying financial concepts without losing accuracy, and making data feel more human through storytelling. We discovered how powerful AI can be as a teaching tool when used with empathy and purpose. FinFriend reminded us that technology doesn’t just automate — it can educate, motivate, and connect with people.

🚀 What’s Next for FinFriend

Our next step is to connect FinFriend to real banking APIs so users can securely sync their actual financial data and receive more personalized insights. We plan to expand the chat assistant’s intelligence so it can answer deeper financial questions and teach short lessons powered by Gemini, helping users learn key concepts like credit scores, saving rates, and investing basics. We also want to gamify the experience by introducing a “Financial Growth Score” and daily challenges that reward consistent progress. In the future, we envision FinFriend becoming a companion that not only tracks your spending but also celebrates your wins, educates you on real financial topics, and keeps you motivated to achieve long-term goals. Our goal is to help people of all ages feel confident, informed, and empowered when it comes to their finances.