US Treasury's Developer Challenge

The MyMoneyAppUp Challenge, launched by the U.S. Treasury Department in partnership with the D2D Fund and Center for Financial Services Innovation, is a contest intended to motivate American entrepreneurs, software developers, the public, and students to propose the best ideas and designs for next-generation mobile tools to help Americans control and shape their financial futures. The Challenge calls for mobile app ideas (IdeaBank) and designs (App Design), with cash prizes awarded to the best submissions. Competitors are encouraged to propose mobile apps that incorporate data to empower consumers, as part of Treasury’s initiative to promote Smart Disclosure.

The Department of Treasury

Mobile technologies have the potential to transform how consumers access financial products and how they make decisions about their finances. Use of mobile devices is growing rapidly, including among traditionally underserved consumers. In addition, the expansion of access to data about financial products is creating new opportunities for innovators to create data-driven tools and services that empower financial consumers. These advances in technology make possible a new class of apps that allow consumers to search for and access financial products on demand, manage their finances, and set and stick to financial goals. In order to foster innovations that capitalize on this opportunity, the Treasury Department, in partnership with the

The Federal Reserve is working to reduce the jobless rate of 7.6 percent after four years of economic growth. According to Bloomberg, “The economy will grow 1.9 percent in 2013 and 2.7 percent in 2014, the economy has not grown more than 3 percent over the course of 12 months since the four quarters ending in June 2006.“ The U.S. stock indexes had ended their worst week since April. The U.S. Treasury Bonds rise to its highest level weekly last year in a decade with high yield currencies. The current U.S. Bond surge is due to a stronger economy.

Consumers should recognize the importance of maturity in high yield treasury bonds. There are yields for two, five and ten-year terms. The highs, lows and long-term averages are based on “constant maturity” methods employed by the U.S. Treasury. The bonds can be combined with coupon payments and maturities that match investors income criteria. High yield treasury bonds are investments with guaranteed returns. The yield to maturity is significant to determining actual yield received by the investor. The income that is earned from these type of bonds are a risk-free yield, exempt from state and local taxes. Long-term bonds are a safer option compared to stocks. An effective strategy is to leverage both stocks and treasury bonds in an investment portfolio to minimize risk and reward.

The contest challenged Americans to submit their most innovative ideas and designs to one or both parts of the Challenge, the IdeaBank, which captured 140-character ideas and the App Design Challenge, which allowed submitters to upload more detailed explanations for an app, articulating a plan for the feasibility of building the app and its potential for market sustainability. All eligible ideas and designs were featured publicly on the Challenge website, and submitters of the winning ideas and designs were awarded cash prizes.

The U.S. economy is meeting expectations as economic conditions are getting stronger. Investors that are dependent on income to allocate toward their expenses should be investing in the high yield treasury bonds. High yield treasury bonds are important for diversification in investor portfolios, reducing volatility and increasing predictability of returns. Investing in high yield treasury bonds should be a long-term investment strategy.

Developers can visit https://mymoneyappup.challengepost.com to apply and learn more about the challenge.