Recently we had an opportunity to speak with Vivek Bansal, the Founder & Partner at Maxivu LLC about Maxivu

Please share with us the backstory of what motivated you to create this app.

After drinks at a pub with a bunch of friends, when it was time to pay for the check, we started debating which card to use to get maximum cashback. One guy recommended - "check in the app". "Which app?", I enquired. "There must be one", he replied. It turned out there was no such app which could give the answer without getting my personal information which I didn't want to share.

We did more research and realized that almost $2.5 Bn in credit card rewards are left on the table annually. Right there we decide to take up this challenge and put the cash back into consumer's wallet.

Yes! Maxivu was formed over drinks :)

What features do you hope to roll out to your app in the future?

Very soon we plan to add more features to make user experience better

1) Enable online merchant search to maximize rewards while shopping online

2) See best card for each category (e.g. "gas" or "restaurants" or "grocery store" or airlines) rather than searching for a specific merchant

3) Simply show rewards highlight for each of user cards so that user don't have to go to credit card website to see key rewards on the card

and many more

What has been the most rewarding aspect of the creation of this app?

Amazing user feedback and a strong adoption rate.

What is the coolest or most innovative feature of your app?

1) No personal data /credit card information required, hence it is totally safe. In fact, one of our users enquired how can he register. We responded, "you don't need to, that's the beauty of this app". We put customer privacy on the top of our priority list.

2) Single click tells you the right credit card (and percentage rewards) for nearby businesses.

What surprised you most in your journey to create this app?

There is no easy way you can map a physical/online merchant to business category on which credit card issues give rewards.

Which other mobile apps or technology have inspired you?

Mint

Do you have any recommendations or advice for others wanting to create a mobile app?

1) Take a well-researched decision before starting. Study the industry and need for use case for the problem that you plan to solve

2) Have a focused and collaborative team. Don't get bogged down by problems that come along the way.

3) Right contacts at the right time are key to success.

How did you decide which platforms to release your app on and do you plan on releasing your app to other platforms?

We conducted detailed research on the target audience of this app. We also analyzed the mobile devices/platform used by those people. That helped us frame the detailed road map which included an Android and an iOS version of the app.

How is your app different than the rest of the market? Which unique need does it fill?

There is no other app in the market that tells user about credit card which will maximize savings. Some apps try to solve the problem partially but force you to share personal financial information which many people are uncomfortable with. Maxivu fills in the gap without asking for any personal information, and helps people maximize their cash back on every purchase from a coffee to a wedding gown.

You can view Maxivu here