A grandmother takes AI into her own hands

It was the third graduation announcement of the season and Marisa Treviño found herself in a familiar quandary. “I like to send money to let people choose what they want for themselves. The problem was I didn’t know how to do that safely,” said Treviño, a North Texas-area mother, grandmother and journalist-turned-tech entrepreneur.

Treviño was right to be concerned. Check fraud is rising even as fewer people write checks — checks made up just 3% of U.S. payments by 2024, according to the Federal Reserve. Yet in 2025, Americans lost more money to check fraud than to debit card or gift card scams, according to federal data reported by USA Today. Because people now tend to write checks for bigger, one-time payments, thieves know a check in the mail is worth stealing. Much of the fraud comes from “check washing.” Authorities say that’s when chemicals are used to erase a check’s payee and amount so thieves can rewrite it to themselves. As a result, the FBI and U.S. Postal Service are now urging people to avoid mailing checks if possible and choose electronic payments instead.

Treviño knew there was a risk in mailing checks, if not for the mail tampering, but for the eye rolls and snickers from young recipients who look at receiving checks as ‘prehistoric.’ 

“I just kept thinking there was a better way to send money, and I knew AI could help,” she recalled. “After a few days of working with different LLMs, I came up with PurseLink.” 

PurseLink, a non-subscription service, enables senders to not only gift money electronically but personalize the experience. 

A small transaction fee, depending on the gift amount, enables funds to be delivered via a card insert that can be printed and tucked inside a physical card or sent through email. Recipients simply scan their unique link to choose from a list of preferred cash transfer apps chosen by the sender. Once the recipient chooses how they want their gift sent, a notification is sent to the sender who transfers the money directly. This peer-to-peer approach ensures PurseLink never actually touches the funds. For those seeking even greater security, an optional claim code can be applied. The best part is recipients collect their gift without ever having to download a new app. 

“Since building it, I’ve used it several times and, if I say so myself, really love it. It lifts that small nagging worry of wondering if your check actually made it to the person,” said Treviño. “It used to be I wouldn’t hear if someone got my card or not, forcing me to make that awkward call of asking if the card arrived. Now, PurseLink opens that communication, if they want the gift,” laughed Treviño. “Usually, they do.”