Before the relaunch tomorrow, closing the loop on what the comments in this thread actually turned into:
@thesnappingdog asked what I'd build around next, and I said surfacing perk usage more clearly. That became the center of the whole app: a ring on your home screen showing what your cards have paid back and what's still sitting there. Across 500+ wallets now, the average is about $2,600 a year uncaptured. Watching people react to their own number taught me more than any roadmap.
@hansel_pahmer asked for smarter receipt and claims handling. That became a better Claims Prep: helps you prepare a claim and store the documentation before something goes wrong. The automatic purchase detection part of your idea stays on the list, and honestly it may stay there a while, because doing it properly would mean connecting your bank, and no bank linking is a rule I'm not breaking.
@busmark_w_nika asked if it's US-only. The database went deeper instead of just wider: we now know which cards real wallets actually hold and added those first, the benefit data now comes from issuer benefit guides with much more accuracy, and new countries keep landing, Colombia most recently.
@tehreem_fatima5 Norte works from the issuer side, not the user side. We've built and maintain a proprietary database of verified card benefits: terms, credits, coverage limits, claim requirements.. based on what is publicly available.
When you add your card, Norte maps your wallet against that database. No sync needed because we're not reading your transactions, we're reading what the card issuer already published. You just tell us what you've used.
How does Norte handle benefits that change mid-year or issuer-specific promos that aren't in your database yet?
@erengilmel24699 This is when things get tricky, especially when it comes with promos.
I have a system of alerts to know when a credit card benefit changes. Threads in Reddit or Google alerts help with that.
Each time I heard about a benefit check I update the database so it shows immediately to users. The database also have notes fields that might show on the UI or just surface if you chat with the assistant, If the update is big enough, I also notify to the users affected so they are up to date.
Currently Norte does not go as granular as capturing specific niche promotions that are hard to give a $ value or cant properly be added to what users get back annually from their cards. Something new is that you actually can log your spending per category per card and Norte calculates what you earn back from each card so you get sense of if the card is paying for itself or you need to adjust your wallet.
Congrats for launch qq. does the assistant handle country-specific variations? like an amex gold issued in the US has completely different perks than one issued in Europe or India.
@priya_kushwaha1 Great question. Norte covers US, UK, and European card variants separately because you're right, an Amex Gold issued in the US and one issued in the UK are effectively different products. India is not fully covered yet, we did added a couple of cards based on users requests, but I know the market there is much more complex than that. It's on the roadmap as we expand the database.
On the assistant: It reads whats on your wallet, which connect to the database that distinguish cards per country too, so the assistant should give you accurate information about your card if you added the right one to your wallet.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
I think that some stories (quotes) from your users on landing page would be a great refreshment, nice idea :)
@busmark_w_nika Thanks Nika!, and you're right.
Honestly, the best feedback so far has been a premium user saying Norte helps him sleep better. I need to get that on the lp soon. What I recently did was adding App Store reviews, but I should lift this up on my to-do list after the launch. Appreciate the nudge!
Norte doesn’t require a bank login or card numbers ?
@giorgi_daraselia Not at all. I am building a database with all the available data about credit card benefits so the user doesn't need to link any private information. And if a card is not available on the database, you can always request for it.
This is exactly how you pitch a finance tool. no fake hype, just clear utility and clear respect for user privacy huge congrats for shipping 🙌 @norteapp
@vikramp7470 That means a lot, Vikram.
Finance tools have a bad habit of leading with hype and burying the actual utility. Love to see when the respect for privacy comes through. It's the only way we'd want to build this.