Ada
01 / 08 · The pain
Flight home BOARDING · 24B
JFK
KHI
Depart
DEC 22
Class
ECON
Seat
24B
$1,840 too much
80,000 pts = this flight
$300 travel credit unused
4× on dining, forgotten
A founder's story
The value was
already there.
01 As an international student, there were times I wanted to go home — and flights were simply too expensive.
02 Later, I realized the value was already inside my cards — points, travel credits, statement credits, perks.
03 But actually accessing it took too much research, too much remembering, too much guesswork.
04 I kept asking the same question — how do I even know which card to use?
The value is already there.
The friction is in accessing it.
Ada
02 / 08 · The broader problem
This isn't one person's frustration
People want to use credit well.
The system still asks too much of them.
U.S. consumers
90%
say rewards matter when choosing a credit card. The interest is there.
Multi-card users
1in4
actually rotate strategically to maximize rewards at the register.
Where people go when they're stuck
Millions already searching for help.
"which credit card should I use for…" ↑ rising
"best travel credit card 2026" 27M/yr
"r/CreditCards · 3.1M members" active
"points strategy explained" YouTube
Reddit threads. YouTube explainers. The Points Guy. People are spending hobbyist-level effort trying to learn.
The gap isn't interest. It's between "I know there's value here" and "I know how to use this well."
Ada
03 / 08 · Meet Ada
Meet Ada
One virtual card.
Better decisions.
Ada selects the best card behind the scenes — so you don't have to.
01 · PAY
Start with one card.
Ada
●●●● 4812
Physical + virtual. In Apple Wallet. Tap like any other card.
02 · EVALUATE
Ada reads the moment.
merchantdining
rewards4×
capsok
offer$10 back
aprn/a
Real-time: rewards, cashback, caps, active offers, statement credits, APR.
03 · ROUTE
Picks the best underlying card.
Sapphire
Amex Gold
Citi Custom
Ada chose
From your linked cards. No input needed. No remembering the rules.
04 · EXPLAIN
You see the value — and the reason.
Blue Bottle $16.00
Dining · 4× pts
You earned +64 pts · $4 back
Amex Gold: 4× on dining beats 2% cashback on Citi by $2.08.
Every swipe becomes a reason, not a guess.
You don't learn the rules. You don't remember the rules. Ada decides.
Ada
04 / 08 · Built · Trusted · Guided
Ada is real. Ada is careful.
Routing is the hero.
The advising layer makes it useful for everyone else.
Built
A working prototype, not a pitch deck idea.
  • Plaid-integrated MVP — real card connections, live.
  • Routing engine evaluates merchant, category, offers.
  • Real UI — tested with 12 users outside my network.
ada.local / transactions
Blue Bottle · DiningAmex Gold+64 pts
Whole Foods · GroceryCiti Custom5% cash
Delta · TravelSapphire3× pts
Trusted
Bank-grade by default. We don't sell data.
  • Plaid for secure bank and card connections.
  • Encrypted in transit and at rest.
  • Minimum data stored — only what routing needs.
  • No selling purchase data. Full stop.
  • No affiliate kickbacks steering your recommendations.
Ada dies the second a user suspects otherwise. Trust isn't a footnote — it's the product.
Guided
An advising layer for people in the middle.
Should I get a new card for travel?
Ada
Based on your spending — $9,200 on flights this year — a travel card would earn you ~$340 more. Want me to compare three?
Yes, just the best fit.
Uses spending history, goals, and credit profile. Not for experts — for the people who know there's value but don't know where to start.
Ada
05 / 08 · Who it's for
The wedge
Financially curious.
Not financially obsessed.
Young adults starting to use credit more seriously — moving, traveling, buying a car, building a household. They know there's upside in rewards and perks. They don't want to become experts to capture it.
Start with the people who already care — but still find the system difficult.
Ada's core user
22–40
US adults, 1–4 credit cards, actively building credit life
"I know I'm leaving value on the table.
I just don't want another hobby."
Frequent travel Groceries Moving Vacations Buying a car Growing household Smarter credit
Cares aboutRewards, perks, better financial choices — without the upkeep.
AvoidsSpreadsheets, forums, the memory load of optimizing at the register.
Ada
06 / 08 · Landscape & model
Others help you research. Ada decides.
Different on one axis that matters: the decision itself.
Capability
The Points Guy
MaxRewards
CardPointers
Curve
Ada
Education & content
✓
•
•
—
•
Tracking & dashboard
—
✓
✓
•
✓
One-card experience
—
—
—
✓
✓
Real-time decisioning
—
•
•
—
✓
Automatic routing
—
—
—
—
✓
Advisory for non-experts
•
—
—
—
✓
Beginner accessibility
•
—
—
•
✓
Business model
Paid by users.
Not by hidden incentives.
Free trial 1 month Full product, full routing, full advising. No card required.
Ada membership $4.99/mo Everything included. Cancel anytime.
No affiliate kickbacks. No steered recommendations. If you don't trust our picks, we don't have a product.
Ada
07 / 08 · Why me & the ask
Why me
I found this problem
by living it.
For the longest time, I stayed away from this world because it felt intimidating and exhausting to keep up with. When I started talking to other multi-card users outside my network, I realized that was exactly the point — people care about rewards, but actually capturing them asks for more effort than most people can justify.
Because more people should be able to access the value already built into the cards they carry.
The ask
$15,000
To finish the MVP and prove Ada with real users.
  • $7K
    Complete the Plaid-integrated MVP
    Production-ready routing, card linking, and transaction explainers.
  • $4K
    Pilot with strangers, outside my network
    10–20 users. Recruitment, onboarding, incentives.
  • $2K
    Refine the advising layer
    Based on how users actually ask for help and make decisions.
  • $2K
    Measurement & compliance
    Engagement, repeat usage, willingness to pay. Privacy + ToS.
Success at end of grant: a working product, tested on strangers, with a defensible read on engagement, repeat usage, trust, and willingness to pay.
Ada
08 / 08 · Imagine
In five years, if Ada exists
The value already built in
becomes value actually used.
Where smarter credit decisions aren't reserved for people with the most time, research, and confidence. Where one quiet payment layer helps millions travel more easily, save more intelligently, and navigate money with less stress.
Travel without a spreadsheet.
Ada finds the redemption you'd have planned for — if you'd had the time to plan.
Everyday spend, quietly smarter.
Groceries, coffee, gas — the right card, every time, without thinking about it.
Less financial anxiety.
No more guessing at the register. No more "am I using this right?" — ever.
Perks, actually used.
Credits, lounge passes, statement benefits. Taken automatically, before they expire.
Ada · Spring 2026
zaynab@ada.app
Tweaks
Ada Pitch · v3