PerkPal

Inspiration

The idea for PerkPal hit me when I was hungry at an airport, and counting on my credit card's lounge access. I was turned away – the bank had quietly cancelled the benefit, and I never got a notification. It was a stark reminder of how easily promised perks can vanish, leaving us in the dark. PerkPal is my answer to that: a way for everyone to stay informed and truly maximize their credit card rewards.

Moreover, recent study conducted in India shows that 70% of credit card users fail to optimize their credit card rewards, leading to significant wasted value. 60% of users depend on social media influencers for credit card knowledge, increasing the risk of misinformation.

What PerkPal does

PerkPal is an intelligent credit card rewards optimization platform. It leverages Perplexity's Sonar APIs real-time web intelligence to cut through complex card terms and combat misinformation from outdated online sources or creators, ensuring users always understand and maximize their rewards.

• Detailed Card Understanding & Spending Insights: Analyze benefits, points, and optimal usage strategies for all your cards, enhanced by insights from your uploaded statements to track actual spending and reward earning patterns.
• Dynamic Offer Monitoring: Track live promotions, transfer bonuses, and merchant-specific deals relevant to your portfolio.
• Travel & Lifestyle Perk Optimization: Easily view available airport lounges for your cards, explore points transfer partners (airlines & hotels) with up-to-date transfer ratios, and discover any active transfer bonuses to maximize your travel value.
• Personalized Usage Assistant: Receive AI-driven advice on the best card to use for any purchase or online platform.
• Strategic Portfolio Management: Compare cards side-by-side and discover new ones to enhance your rewards.
• Informed New Card Discovery: Get tailored recommendations for new credit cards that best fit your spending habits and reward goals, based on Perplexity Sonar's comprehensive market analysis.
• Effortless Rewards Maximization: Simplify the complex world of points and perks, turning confusing options into clear, actionable steps for getting the most value with minimal effort.

How we built it

• Perplexity Sonar API: Provides real-time web intelligence and AI-driven analysis for up-to-date card information and insights.
• Next.js: A full-stack React framework used for building our responsive user interface and robust backend APIs.
• Shadcn/ui: Delivers beautifully designed, accessible UI components for a polished and modern user experience.
• Supabase: Our scalable PostgreSQL database for storing user data, and for temporary caching to enhance performance.
• Clerk: Handles secure and seamless user authentication and management.
• Vercel: Hosting and Cron Jobs

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of creating a platform that truly empowers users by delivering real-time, reliable information in the often-confusing world of credit card rewards. Leveraging the power of Perplexity Sonar API, we've successfully translated complex program data into AI-driven insights and clear, actionable recommendations, making sophisticated optimization strategies accessible to everyone We've taken a complex domain and simplified it into an intuitive experience, building an intelligent recommendation engine that doesn't just list features but actively guides users. This foundation allows PerkPal to proactively assist users in maximizing their benefits and saving money, ensuring they always get the most value from their cards with confidence and ease.

What we learned

Building PerkPal really showed us how incredibly complex and fast-changing the credit card rewards world is. It highlighted how much users need a trustworthy guide through all the confusing and often outdated information out there. We learned that using smart AI, like Perplexity Sonar, is essential to cut through that noise and deliver accurate, real-time insights. More than anything, this journey taught us that giving users clear, actionable, and trustworthy information is the key to helping them effortlessly get the most from their financial benefits.

What's next for Perkpal

• Gmail Support for statement fetching, instead of users uploading each time for each card.
• Mobile Support make the app a PWA
• Fix Images from sources
• Fix notifications & reminders
• Public forum discussing cards
• Add support for hotel & airline programs points tracking & optimization

Test Credentials

Mail: [email protected] Pass: PerkPalTesting@

Built With

• nextjs
• perplexity
• supabase
• tailwind
• vercel