p/tellus
a comprehensive real estate platform
Blake Manzo
Tellus Boost — Earn 3% on your cash & boost your rate daily.
Featured
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Start earning 3% APY on your money today! Discover daily rewards and complete challenges to supercharge your interest rate. Refer friends for interest rate rewards!
Learn more at: tellusapp.com/cash
Replies
Yaniv E
Is it FDIC insured?
Caroline Mameesh
@nycortex Hi Yaniv! Great question, we actually get that one a lot! We're proud to say that we chose not to offer a FDIC account like every other competitor on the market because this allows us to offer much higher rates. FDIC insurance is backed by the government and protects up to $250k in case a bank defaults. As a result, the government has put in limitations on what those funds can be used for. The government does not want banks to make too much money on what is essentially free money to them despite the government taking on all the risk. Instead of insuring our funds through FDIC, we secure them with real estate mortgages, allowing us to pay you a much higher rate than the banks. If you're looking for a place to park your money with a government guarantee and willing to lose purchasing power to inflation, then a standard FDIC account at a bank would be best for you. However, if you're looking for a much higher rate to beat inflation that happens to be secured by a stable alternative asset class (real estate mortgages in this case), then we are the right product for you!
Vinson Hall
cool concept, my friend works here and I just wanted to congratulate the team on a successful launch! Looking forward to taking a deep dive and using the product.
Caroline Mameesh
@vinson_hall Thanks for stopping by, Vinson, we appreciate the support!
Blake Manzo
Hi Product Hunt! My name is Blake and I helped build this platform. The Tellus Boost Account harnesses the power of real estate to give you higher returns on your money. With a 3% APY intro rate for the first 100 days, a 2% minimum APY return rate after that, and the chance to boost your returns daily, we’ve created a secure place to help you make more money. We created Tellus because we realized the power of real estate was reserved for the few, not the many. We built the Tellus Boost Account, yielding 2% APY, to break down those barriers! We also believe real estate is going mobile, and so we wanted to make Tellus a mobile-first dashboard you can take with you. That’s how the Tellus app was born. You already know that our minimum rate of return is 2% APY (paid out daily!), but how do you boost returns even further? There are two ways: a free daily boost and a daily quiz question. With these boosts, you can increase your returns as high as 6% APY. If you love Tellus, tell your friends! When you refer a friend who joins Tellus, you’ll be rewarded with a unique boost for spreading the word. We believe in creating a sense of community and helping people earn the returns they deserve. I'm excited to see the Tellus Boost Account help people take control of their finances. Especially during times like these, it’s more important than ever to stick your money where it can really shine. The entire Tellus team is committed to making this platform the best it can be. We would love to hear what you and your friends think!
Shane Geldbach
Congrats Team Tellus! So proud of our team!
Caroline Mameesh
@shanegeldbach We appreciate your support, Shane!
Kyle McCormick
?makers If plad is not working for PNC, is ther any way around (cannot wire and would rather not pay a fee)?
Caroline Mameesh
@kyle_mccormick1 Hi Kyle! We have a wonderful in-app support team available to help you with any questions like these. If you're curious, download the app and reach out to them - they will walk you through this!
Joanne Poon
Congrats on the launch! Another W on the belt for an awesome team!
Caroline Mameesh
@joanne_poon Thank you for the support, Joanne 😊
Smith
I had a number of high yield savings accounts around the 2% level, but all of them have dropped their rates to well below. Will the rate at Tellus ever fall below 2%?
Blake Manzo
@zhangyao nope, we give 2% as a minimum and you can earn as much as 6% through the usage of daily Boosts. Unlike other accounts, the rates don't depend on the fed rates because we secure our rates with real estate loans!
Ilya Tomrachev
just here to support you guys! your support team has been awesome and so helpful and I appreciate all the help they've given me!
Caroline Mameesh
@ilya_tom We're so glad to hear that! We also love working with our User Success team. They work so hard every single day to help our users get the best experience possible and to push us to make the best product!
Colin
What is the average interest rate we can expect to earn through the boost features?
Caroline Mameesh
@colin_zhou We give new users an intro rate of 3.00% APY for the first 100 days, and 2.00% APY minimum after that. Through the usage of Boosts, you can get up to 6.00% APY!
Markus Saitmacher
How are these yields generated? Do you use crypto lending protocols?
Blake Manzo
@markus_saitmacher1 Hi Markus! We do not use crypto lending protocols. Our returns are generated through real estate debt. Similar to a bank, we lend out funds secured by real estate mortgages and keep a portion of the interest as revenue. What's different is that we don't have the same operating overhead as a large bank (we don't have physical branches throughout the country and do not need to employ an army of people just to operate). As a result, when we lend out funds, we are able to pay out more of the interest directly to our users!
Jeffery Widjaja
Are you guys SEC authorised &/or regulated? Available only in the US?
Caroline Mameesh
@jeffery_widjaja Hi Jeffery! Tellus is not a registered investment advisor and is not acting as a broker dealer under any federal or state securities laws. In the future, Tellus may offer certain securities for sale. When we do, all securities sales (whether done on a registered or unregistered basis) will be done in compliance with the corresponding regulatory requirements. As for availability, unfortunately at this time Boost is only open to users in the US. Please stay in touch as we may open this up in the future!
Mr. T
@jeffery_widjaja Hi Jeffery! Just curious, what country are you in? As we think about expansion we'd love to see where interest is coming from.
Jeffery Widjaja
@myster_t Right ok, I see. I'm in the UK, but you might need to be regulatory compliant with the FCA here (SEC equivalent) for this!
Caroline Mameesh
Hi everyone! I'm Caroline from the Marketing & Content teams here at Tellus. I'm so excited to be part of this launch, having seen Tellus Boost come to fruition. I graduated from Cornell University back in May during tumultuous times, and I am so incredibly grateful to have found a team, and a family, here at Tellus. Working at Tellus and in the startup environment has fueled my passion for innovation and for believing in people, and I hope to carry this with me when I (one day) enter the world of venture capital. I believe strongly in the innovation and people here at Tellus in particular; we all work hard each day to make our dreams of breaking down barriers in the real estate industry a reality. I'll be one of the people popping in to answer questions and respond to comments throughout the day. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our launch!
Jash Sayani
The tagline should be "All of the risk, none of the reward". Real Estate is highly risky and yields 8% to 12% on average. This allows Tellus to get Free money from other people, make a 12% return (and pay 2% of people who lend money), while pocketing most returns. If they lose money, its not their money anyway. CFPB should pay attention to this.
Antanas Bernatonis
Can Europeans use the app?
Caroline Mameesh
@antanas_bernatonis Hi Antanas, thanks for your question. Right now, this product is only available in the US. Please do keep in touch as we may open this up in the future!
Ebenezer Eshun
I'm not in USA but interested and want to signup to your program, can I do that with PayPal or any other provider alternative?
Caroline Mameesh
@eeshun303 Hi Ebenezer, thank you for your support and interest in our product! Unfortunately at this time, Boost is only open to users in the US. Please stay in touch as we may open this up in the future!
Edwin Cheung
Can anyone sign up for this? Are there any restrictions?
Caroline Mameesh
@edwincheung_ Anyone located in the US over the age of 18 can sign up!
Kiana Moattari
How does this work?
Caroline Mameesh
@kiana_moattari Hi Kiana, great question! Like banks, we lend out funds secured by real estate mortgages and keep a portion of the interest as revenue. What's different is that we don't have the same operating overhead as a large bank (we don't have physical branches throughout the country and do not need to employ an army of people just to operate). As a result, when we lend out funds, we are able to pay out more of the interest directly to our users.
Vicky Nguyen
What gave you guys the idea to build this?
Mr. T
@vnguyen25 Hi Vicky! We are a company of individuals passionate about the real estate industry. When we took a look at different ways individuals have been traditionally able to gain exposure to this asset class, we noticed a big gap in investment opportunities for the average investor. The system isn't fair - you either had to be wealthy to buy property directly or connected with big institutions to gain access to lucrative, secured, high-yield loans. We built our boost account to challenge this status quo. The average saver leaves their money with the bank and makes no interest, only to have the bank turn around and lend out that money for much higher rates. We are taking the bank's business model and stripping out all the excessive operating overheads. We don't need branches throughout the country and do not need an army of individuals staffing these locations. Instead, as a fintech company, we choose to operate lean and are able to pass these higher rates directly to our users.
Daniel Lavarte
How is this different from other high yield savings accounts?
Caroline Mameesh
@daniel_lavarte Hi Daniel, glad you asked! Our product is actually quite different from what our competitors offer. If you're looking for a place to park your money with a government guarantee but are okay losing purchasing power to inflation, then a standard FDIC account at a bank would be best for you. However, if you're looking to take on a much higher rate secured by an alternative asset class (real estate mortgages in this case), then we are the right product for you!
TikTok Cooking
Was confused. Followed tutorial. Got a 6% boost. Next thing you know I’m in an rsvp and can’t get the money back into the 6%. The tutorial as great as it is locked the money now for 45 days into a 4.25% property. Confused how that happened but ok my fault. Just wish the tutorial was clearer.
Caroline Mameesh
@tiktok_cooking Hi there, thanks for sharing your feedback. We're always looking to improve the product and offer the best experience possible to our users, and so we will take this into account moving forward. If you experience any issues in the future, please feel free to contact our in-app support chat, and they will be happy to assist!