Waspit Interactive Social Banking is a first-of-its-kind banking application. It combines social interactions, traditional banking and the latest technology. Because of this, Waspit likes to call the platform “Banking 2.0.”

Designed for students and people from ages 18 to 25 with iOS and Android phones, Waspit is an opportunity to connect with friends, and an opportunity to save money, spend money, receive money and know what to expect when going to a new restaurant, store and other venues.

The application can also be connected with certain social networks, such as Foursquare, which allow friends to write reviews on the places they visit.

On Sept. 14, Waspit revealed the banking platform at Finovate Fall in New York. Finovate is a convention that provides companies the ability to present new technologies and inventions relating to financial and banking technology. The presentations are short demonstrations that do not allow slides.

Nik Andresen, Waspit’s vice president of communications, said: “It was a huge honor for our company to be able to present, and we received great feedback.

“Waspit is a prepaid debit account that you can load money on to from any traditional account.”

The current student demographic constantly thinks about the amount of money in their bank account and relies heavily on technology to check those accounts. Waspit took advantage of that.

Creating an account with Waspit is rather easy. The application is completely free to all who use it and has no sign-up fees. The user can choose who to follow, how involved they’d like to be, and which service options to use.

Waspit can accommodate split-the-bill payments, instant payments, peer-to-peer payments and ACH or Bill Pay payments. It’s accepted in stores and online. Waspit will work with most ATM withdrawals as well as transfers from one bank account to another and bill payments.

Waspit is a noncredit card company, and as such, students cannot acquire debt from using its banking platform.

There are also a number of ways to earn “Buzz Points,” Waspit’s currency. Writing reviews for merchants and friends to see, posting pictures or making transactions are all examples of how you can earn the points and build your Buzz Score.

Also available is the Waspit Shop. This allows users to either automatically or manually receive coupons. The coupons are linked to the user’s location.

Kasey Kaplan, chief marketing officer for Waspit, said at the Finovate unveiling: “While this information is completely anonymous to the outside world, Waspit’s algorithm, as time goes on, gets to know where a user spends their money, on what and at what time on any particular day.”

Waspit’s official vision statement states: “It seems none of the big banks or banking alternatives are taking students seriously, and many banks have essentially overlooked this demographic and their needs.”

On Oct. 11, Waspit officially launched the application in New York. There was a large turnout of people in Waspit’s target market and plenty of great feedback.

Waspit currently has connections with 22 colleges and expect to be present on 60 colleges by the end of the year. Sixty-five brand ambassadors are being paid as well on the current 22 colleges to help make the application known and sign up potential users.

Richard Steggall, Waspit’s CEO, stated at the Finovate unveiling: “Interactive social banking is well and truly where we are all heading. Students and the younger demographic, as is often the way, will ignite this trend and ultimately be the catalyst to a mainstream change to Banking 2.0.”