Investment start-up app Acorns has announced that it will launch its rewards program, ‘Found Money’, in Australia later this year.

The program, currently available to US-based Acorns customers, invests money directly into users’ Acorns investment accounts when they make purchases with Found Money partners.  Acorns users receive cash deposits of either a set-dollar amount or a percentage of the transaction value.

As well as providing Acorns users with a simple way to build their investments, Found Money offers Australian businesses the opportunity to tap into Acorns’ rapidly growing customer base by building Found Money reward or loyalty programs.

Since launching in February this year, the micro-investing platform has garnered over 100,000 Australian users, with more than 15,000 people actively using the platform daily and 64,000 monthly active users.

George Lucas, managing director of Acorns Australia, said the program opens more opportunity for users to automatically invest funds, and gives brands the chance to play a part in helping Australians invest in their future.

“The Found Money program will be the first of its kind in Australia, and the success of the program in the US gives us great confidence that it will quickly be embraced by our Australian users.

“The program sets a new standard for customer reward programs by helping Acorns users invest in their future through their purchasing behaviour.  Our partner brands will also benefit from a continuous presence in users’ Acorns accounts, and from being able to reward consumers for making purchases instead of having to rely on discounting.”

The Found Money program complements Acorns’ core mechanic, which monitors purchases on its users’ credit and debit cards and invests the difference into predetermined portfolios. These micro-investments of ‘spare change’ – round-ups on everyday purchases – are designed to seamlessly integrate into user’s lifestyles, amassing over long-term use.