Card Marge
Turn Visa/MC Gift Cards Into Real Money
Gift Cards Can Be Annoying
Maybe it’s just me and I am an ungrateful bastard, but when I open a birthday card with a prepaid visa card in it my first thought is “Gee, thanks for going to Walgreens…”
The truth is, at least to me, is that these cards be a PAIN to use. I know, a lot of that is by design, but there has to be an easier way, right? These things are money, right? Well, if so, how can I simply convert these cards to money I can actually use anywhere, for anything? Well, enter Marge.
The concept is deceptively simple. Build an interface to take the balance off of one of these cards and instantly transfer it to your debit card. You know, make it actual money…
I say deceptively simple because even though the technology exists to do this, it is cumbersome to collect the requisite personal and financial info from the user, not to mention to Trust Olympics you have to win to convince people to disclose this to a random site on the internet with a weird name.
So, this one will just stay a fun little web app prototype. Fun to play with the various pieces that would make this work, but at the end of the day, simple ideas can be totally untenable once you actually wade into them.