Courtesy of Bowie State University
Four Bowie State University business students went to southern California for the Experian’s #IYKYK Pitch Competition and brought back $40,000 for a winning plan for a business venture that would help students pay off their student loan debt within five years of graduation.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Financial Advancement Credit Academy, the second annual competition was designed to drive meaningful change to one of the biggest financial challenges for young adults: student loans.
Taylor Payton, Jazmin Feliz, Lauren Kelly and Calvin Charles defeated teams from North Carolina A&T and Alabama State University during the competition’s final round, held February 28. The competition began with 21 teams from 12 HBCUs. The BSU students, all part of the Center for Financial Advancement (CFA) Scholars program, pitched their app, Lotus Wallet, which is designed to help users develop a financial plan for tackling their debt. It offers both human and AI financial advisors and prediction calculators.
“We just got together and asked what’s something that could be easy to learn,” said Payton, a junior business administration major with a marketing concentration. “We just implemented education and applying it to financial literacy in real-life.”
The students weren’t surprised that they made it to the final round of competition, even though this was the first year Bowie State participated in the Experian challenge. They said that making it this far demonstrates the creativity and intellectual prowess of Bowie State and shows they can compete against the bigger schools that were featured in the competition.
“It’s showing that we have true scholars here at Bowie State. We’re creating true leaders and innovative thinkers here,” said Charles, a master’s in public administration student. “I have student loans already, so this (prize) money is going to be my way of paying down my debt and getting done within my five years,”
“I enjoyed working with my team,” added Payton. “If Experian does decide to pursue this app, it’s going to change a lot of lives.”
The team also hopes the competition shines a spotlight on the work that’s taking place in the CFA program.
“I hope this encourages more people to apply for the Center for Financial Advancement,” said Payton. “It’s an earn-to-learn program. Each scholar gets a stipend. A college student could always use extra money, and we’re also learning about home ownership, the credit industry and career readiness.”