Fastest-Growing Investment App Acorns To Transform Customer Loyalty Programs From Cash Back To Cash Forward

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Dec 21, 2015, 05:37 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Acorns, the fastest-growing investment app with nearly 600,000 accounts created in just over a year, today announced Tom Arrix is expanding his advisory role with the company as Chief Revenue and Partnership Officer. Arrix played a foundational role in helping Fortune 500 marketers build authentic relationships with customers while at Facebook – where he served as vice president, global marketing solutions for North America, from 2006 to 2013. Under his leadership, North America became Facebook's first billion-dollar revenue region.

In his expanded advisory role, Arrix will focus on leading the development and rollout of Acorns' Found Money initiative, its first marketing opportunity for brands. The initiative, which will launch in early 2016, transforms customer loyalty programs – shifting from the traditional "cash back" to the innovative "cash forward" model. For example, when a customer spends $20 at a participating big box retailer that company will invest $1 in her Acorns investment account. The initiative builds on successful pilot programs Acorns has been running this year.

"Acorns was founded on the idea of making it easy for people to regularly invest their own money by automating the process through round-ups on everyday purchases," said Noah Kerner, board director and chief strategy officer for Acorns. "With Found Money, we're taking that one step further – enabling customers to even more quickly grow their accounts simply by transacting with brands they love."

Found Money is a win-win-win proposition. Acorns customers – 70% of whom are 18- to 34-years-old – will be one step closer to financial freedom with each found dollar. Participating brands will cultivate long-term relationships with the desirable and valuable millennial demographic. And Acorns strengthens its leadership as the personal finance brand of choice among this generation of investors.

"Millennials are savvy consumers who are passionate advocates for the brands that truly understand and address their priorities," said Arrix. "Acorns is a great example of that and sees an enormous opportunity for brands around cash-forward loyalty, which can transform the relationships between brands and their consumers."

In addition to his experience working with more than 300 of the top brands in the U.S. during his time at Facebook, when the company grew from 8 million users to over a billion users today, Arrix has held senior sales and marketing positions with Univision Communications and Turner Broadcasting. For the past two years, he has served as co-founder of Lift Partners, an advisory company dedicated to helping early-stage consumer internet and mobile companies build their businesses. Arrix will continue his advisory efforts with Lift Partners.

About Acorns Grow Inc.
Acorns is the fastest growing savings and investment app. It allows people to round up their daily purchases and automatically Invest the Change® into a commission-free diversified portfolio of index funds offered by the world's top asset managers (Vanguard, Blackrock and PIMCO). Founded in Newport Beach, California by father and son team Jeff and Walter Cruttenden, Acorns provides a simple entry-point for anyone to get started using the Acorns app on iPhone or Android. The app and financial engine were built with natural human behavior in mind to help inspire realistic investment strategies that can be held for the long term. Customers accumulate fractional shares and automatically save and invest into a portfolio constructed by world-renowned Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Harry Markowitz. Acorns' smart portfolio algorithms automatically work behind the scenes, helping people build wealth naturally, pennies at a time. From Acorns mighty oaks do grow.

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