Plinqit FAQs
Find the answers to our partner’s most frequently asked questions.
User Experience
Is there a limit to how many Plinqit accounts a user can have?
Each Plinqit account requires a valid email address. A user can set up to five separate goals within their 1 Plinqit account.
Can a user link more than one account to fund their Plinqit account?
No, only one checking or savings account can be linked to a Plinqit account at a time.
Can a user change their funding account?
Yes, users can change their funding account. We require that all funds be transferred back to the account they originated withdraws from before the new account can be added. If the account has been closed due to fraud, the Plinqit Support Team will work with the bank to confirm ownership of the account before manually changing the funding account information.
Does Plinqit send statements?
Plinqit does not send statements. Plinqit users have access to their full transaction history in the app at all times.
Does Plinqit support rounding up for savings?
We do have roundup capabilities and are happy to explore turning this feature on for your FI. After several trial runs, we have found that users being in charge of their savings amount and frequency works well and causes less surprises when money is unexpectedly moved. That said, it is built into the platform so we can activate the functionality if desired.
If Plinqit is not visible to employees, where do users go for technical support or with questions?
Our User Support Team is available Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET via phone, secure message within the app or via email at support@plinqit.com. FI employees are encouraged to contact the support team if needed.
Does the user have to contact Plinqit to close their Plinqit account?
No, a user can close thier account via the app. Users are encouraged to pause any active goals and request a withdrawal of all funds prior to canceling their Plinqit account. Users are not required to contact Plinqit to cancel. They can do so via the app.
Does Plinqit proactively reach out to users to provide support?
Yes. We have systems in place to alert our team of issues, such as transaction issues due to an account closure or insufficient funds. Our support team will reach out to the user via secure message first, followed by a phone call if no response is received.
Build Skills™
What exactly is the educational experience that you embed into your platform and how does it work?
Plinqit’s patented intelligent content module pays users for engaging with content and educational resources from your FI, creating exceptional user engagement with engagement rates over 50%. This type of engagement leads to more natural cross-sell opportunities, expanding share of wallet.
What content topics are included in Build Skills™?
Plinqit users earn money while learning new financial skills, including advice on saving money, credit, budgeting, adulting, debt management and buying a home. Plinqit has hundreds of Build Skills lessons available, with new lessons added weekly.
Plinqit users have completed over 1,600 hours in financial education courses, demonstrating strong interest and growing literacy.
Additionally, Plinqit’s blog, The Plinq, provides valuable content and additional learning resources. https://theplinq.plinqit.com
Rewards & Penalties
What other rewards, besides friend referrals, do our members receive?
Plinqit users earn monetary rewards by engaging with the financial education module within the app. Users also set their own completion reward and penalty fee. The completion reward is what they will receive when they reach their savings goal. The penalty fee, which they set, is the fee that they pay for withdrawing from the account before reaching their goal. We call this ‘Breaking the Bank’ or ‘Breaking the Safe’. The penalty fee is paid to the FI.
FIs can also run promotions for new, or existing, members at their discretion. If the FI chooses to do so, Plinqit provides the FI codes and tracking information to measure promotion success. Such promotions could include financial incentives for setting a goal, completing a goal, making an additional deposit, etc.
What is refer a friend or friend referrals?
Plinqit users can “invite friends” to begin saving with Plinqit. Users earn $5.00 each time a friend they invite enrolls, for each of the first five friends that start using Plinqit. Users can send invites to friends within the app and track the status of their invite.
How do you ‘refer a friend’ when credit unions have eligibility requirements to become a CU member?
The relationship is with Plinqit, so “friends” are referred to Plinqit as a user. The credit union can determine if they qualify for membership and pursue cross sell opportunities, if they wish.
What percentage of people refer new users?
11% of users refer friends and they refer an average of 2 friends.
For the penalties assessed, is there a split between Plinqit and the FI?
Any penalties are kept by the FI. Plinqit does not share or receive the penalty.
Have you seen where users are trying to “game” the system, such as they had an account with the money in there already and they were basically just transferring money from one account to another in order to get the rewards?
We have not, and we do monitor account activity. Plinqit’s minimum goal is three months and a user only gets their rewards if they complete their goal. The likelihood of “gaming the system” is low based on account monitoring and the minimum goal time frame.
Have FIs had to set reward limits with their users to help prevent gaming the system or for other reasons?
There are natural limits built in. With the shortest goal being three months, users are limited in what they can do per year. Additionally, a three month goal does not offer the same maximum reward as a 12 month goal, thereby limiting the reward and ability to game the system.
$2,500 is the minimum to keep in the reward/penalty account - what is the maximum you have clients allocating and how often do they adjust it? Why would they adjust it?
Typically our FI customers are keeping a maximum of $2,500. However, FIs under $1B allocate approximately $1,500 as the penalties do offset much of the reward payout.
To help illustrate the reward/penalty allocation, we can share examples of ledger audits to demonstrate how the rewards and penalties are paid out.
Note that some FIs have increased their sign-up bonuses for new users for various reasons, including deposit acquisition initiatives, market expansion strategies or product promotion.
FI Benefits/ROI
What is the monetization/revenue mechanism for our FI?
Your FI benefits financially in a few ways:
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- Lower operating costs than managing multiple small-dollar on-core club or traditional savings accounts
- Targeted cross-sell opportunities for additional products and services through analytical
- insights and dashboard metrics, deepening relationships and expanding share of wallet
- Drive new relationships and deposit acquisition
- Build brand awareness and loyalty
- Demonstrate commitment to financial literacy
What do you mean by cross-selling products and services – do you cross-sell our FI’s products and services or Plinqit third-party partners?
Your FI has the ability to cross-sell inside the app, or via email, with product promotion messages each time a user completes a piece of financial education content. Plinqit also provides you with quarterly turnkey marketing campaigns to promote product awareness and adoption. Plinqit does not cross-sell third-party products or services.
Do you have any case studies you could share?
Absolutely, see how Plinqit has helped financial institutions connect with their customers by visiting https://info.plinqit.com/case-studies/.
“In just two years, Plinqit has proven to be the savings tool of choice among consumers.”
Roger Sundermeir, SVP & Chief Brand Officer, FAB&T
“Our customers love Plinqit, and they continue to keep saving and engaging because of the app’s rewards and a great user experience.”
Adom Greenland, COO, ChoiceOne Bank
“With a seamless implementation and a platform that can help our members take steps on the path toward financial wellness, Plinqit is an ideal partner for our credit union.”
Koren Greubel, VP of Marketing, West Community Credit Union
Account Set Up & Vi.Ledger
Do deposits in a Plinqit account sit on our FI books, or is it effectively flowing out of our FI until the time of redemption (or when users “break the safe”) when it gets transferred back into one of the customer’s FI account? The question is around capital outflow.
Plinqit provides a virtual account management system (Vi.Ledger), which serves as a master on-core account so you don’t have to maintain a multitude of small-dollar on-core accounts. We have a dashboard to manage the virtual account. Money is seeded in the account during implementation of the program and is managed real-time.
Does my FI have to open a Plinqit account per user on our core?
No, there will be one FBO account on the FI core of which Plinqit is the ledger. All Plinqit accounts roll into the FBO account.
How does my FI know what is in the FBO account?
Plinqit provides an audit of the account every month for the first three months after implementation, and every quarter thereafter.
Do we have any way to automatically move their money to an FI account upon completion of their goal?
The Plinqit platform does all of the money movement, to and from the associated account. The Plinqit platform guides a user to set the frequency and amount of transfers and then automates the movement of the money via ACH from their primary checking account to the FBO account held at the FI.
Does Vi.Ledger have individual user ID and account information encrypted?
Yes, this information is encrypted. We are SOC2 Type II certified.
Implementation
What is the general implementation timeframe?
On average it takes approximately four weeks to complete implementation, including the completion of the FI-branded microsite. Depending on your internal resources, implementation can be completed sooner. To set expectations for what to expect, we estimate a four week timeframe. Each FI is assigned a Client Success Manager at implementation, and throughout the partnership.
Does Plinqit provide employee training during implementation, prior to launch?
Yes, Plinqit does provide onsite employee and team training prior to launch.
Dashboard
Is there a way to automate the transmission of data from the dashboard to automate the data download process?
Yes, our platform is API driven so if you have another system or preference on how to receive the data, we can send it that way. This will be determined during implementation and reporting set up at that time.
Product Roadmap
What does Plinqit have on the product roadmap?
At Plinqit we are committed to continuing to innovate and providing our users the financial literacy resources they need to become more financially savvy. Our roadmap for the futures includes:
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- Crypto education in Build Skills
- Smart balance alert/nudges
- Needs vs Wants
- SMS/Text