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VaPay, short for "Vacation Pay" is an app that rounds up the spare change from debit card purchases and puts it into a savings account.

Supplied photo/Chris Nelson, VaPay, Chris Nelson, VaPay

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An example of the "Roundin' Up" feature on the VaPay app.

Supplied photo/Chris Nelson, VaPay, Chris Nelson/VaPay

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OGDEN — Once upon a time, cash was the common currency and spare change would jingle in our pockets until it could be slipped into a piggy bank and saved for something special.

Nowadays, most transactions end with a swipe of card.

Chris Nelson and his wife were struggling to save money for a family vacation when he came up with the idea for an app that acted as an electronic piggy bank.

“It’s hard to put money aside because things come up.” says Nelson. “Small change adds up just as it would on a dresser or piggy bank, and that’s when it hit me to do that with our checking account.”

Nelson recruited his friend Chris Ratcliff to be his business partner. After extensive research into banking security, they drafted their idea and outsourced an app developer to create it.

VaPay, short for “Vacation Pay,” was launched on the App Store in 2015.

Supplied photo/Chris Nelson, VaPay, Chris Nelson/VaPay

The VaPay app rounds up debit card transactions to the nearest dollar and then transfers the spare change into a separate savings account.Users also have the option to make a one-time transfer or set up recurring payments at their desired rate.

“We bought season passes to Lagoon.” says Nelson’s wife, Andrea. “The idea behind it was for a vacation, but really it could be for anything.”

The Nelson have a blended family, with three children under the age of 10. Chjris Nelson says that outside of his latest app-development endeavors, he is a full-time dad and a full-time employee.

Supplied photo/Chris Nelson, VaPay, Chris Nelson/VaPay

“I basically built this app to work for (our) situation.” says Nelson. “We just wanted to build something that helped families or individuals that were in our same position.”

An updated version of the app was released in August to incorporate over 19,000 U.S. banking institutions. Utah-based banking institutions such as Zions Bank, Goldenwest Credit Union, and America First Credit Union are compatible with the app.

Though many financial institutions offer automated saving plans, Ratcliff believes that keeping the savings separate from everyday banking transactions makes it harder to spend.

“If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind.” says Ratcliff. “If you see your savings account every day, it’s easier to dip into it.”

VaPay is free to download from the App Store and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Android users can download the app from the Google Play store.

More information about how to use VaPay can be found on the website myvapay.com