The goals FAQs are grouped according to the following:

• Functionality
• Funding Methods
• User Experience
• Account Questions
• Split Ratio
• Goals Deletion

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Functionality

• What happens to the balance of the account hosting goals after the first goal is setup?
• What is the Core Savings Goal (CSG)?
• Does Personetics manage the goals onboarding, management and tracking experience?
• How do withdrawals from goals work?
• Can a goal have a target date?
• When does the virtual ledger process run/when are goal balances updated after a deposit/withdrawal?
• What happens if more than one goal achieves a milestone at the same time?
• Can an image be associated with a goal?
• What is the virtual ledger process?
• Where is goals data (Goal name, image, etc.) stored?
• Can we send goal nudges as push notifications?
• What happens to the goal balance after it reaches the target amount?
• Is it possible to view the virtual ledger process for goals?

Funding Methods

• What funding methods are available for goals?
• Can goals exist without a funding method?
• Can a customer sign up for goals if they don’t have a savings account?
• Does Personetics recommend the best automated funding method for each customer?
• How does Personetics handle automatic funding methods when an account has little or no historical data? Does a customer need to wait until they have enough data? Will no savings occur until then?

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User Experience

• Do you have a catalog of screens for the user experience?
• How can we customize the user journey?
• How does the design process work for designing the user journey? How do we work with your team on this?
• What goal types can a customer choose from?
• Is there a limit on the number of goals a customer can create?
• How will customers be notified of goal milestones?
• Can customers edit their goals?
• Can customers pause their goals?
• Can a customer delete a goal?
• Can a customer move money between their goals?
• Can customers split dollar amounts from their deposits to goals instead of using the split ratio?
• Can a customer create multiple goals as a part of their onboarding to the goals product?
• What goal parameters can a customer define in an out of the box goals implementation?

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Account Questions

• Do all goals exist on the same account or different accounts?

• Can goals exist outside of a savings account (e.g., on a checking account)?

• Can a user switch the underlying funding account for their goals?

• How do goals work on joint accounts?

• Can 1 goal be connected to 2 or more accounts?

• Can a customer open a new account for their goals?

• When creating a goal manually, how does Personetics bring back the list of accounts a customer can enroll in goals with?

• Can a customer create a goal and then attach their account later?

• Does Personetics recommend which account to use for a goal?

• What happens with joint accounts?

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Split Ratio

• What is the split ratio, and how does it work?
• Can a goal have a 0% split ratio?
• What happens to the split ratio of paused goals?

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Goals Deletion

• What happens when a customer deletes the last goal?

• Can a deleted goal be reactivated?

• What happens to a goal’s split ratio when it is deleted?

• After a customer deletes their last goal, when will they be reinvited to the goals program?

• What happens to the goal balance when a goal is deleted?

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Does Personetics manage the goals onboarding, management and tracking experience?

Personetics can own this experience with our Vanilla widget, which can be customized to the bank’s look and feel. The bank can also design their own experience and integrate it with Personetics’ software and APIs.

Do all goals exist on the same account or different accounts?

The out of the box approach to support and maintain goals is via virtual envelopes within the same target account. Each goal is its own envelope at the account level.

What funding methods are available for goals?

The available funding methods for goals are:

Smart Save (automated microsavings based on when it is safe for a user to save)

Pay Yourself First (conditional recurring transfers that happen in conjunction with regular income, such as a salary)

Round Ups (rounding up debit card purchases)

Can goals exist without a funding method?

Yes, goals can be delivered as a standalone program, without any funding method provided by Personetics.

Can a customer sign up for goals if they don’t have a savings account?

The onboarding flow can be forked for customers without a savings account so that they are taken to a bank owned process to create a savings account before being returned to the onboarding flow.

Can goals exist outside of a savings account (e.g., on a checking account)?

Implementing goals outside of a savings account is not recommended. Due to the variable nature of the balance in checking accounts, goals are best configured on savings accounts. This provides a better user experience, where goal balances are constantly fluctuating with the value of the account, and ensures the virtual ledger process within goals is not overburdened.

Can a user switch the underlying funding account for their goals?

Switching funding from one funding account to another means opting out from the program with the existing account and then opting in with a new one.

What is the virtual ledger process?

This is the logic determining how to split the deposits/withdrawals between goals. The virtual ledger process uses a “split ratio” to determine how much of each deposit/withdrawal from the account is allocated to the account’s goals.

When does the virtual ledger process run/when are goal balances updated after a deposit/withdrawal?

The process runs when a customer logs into the bank app and a getInsights call is made. Goal balances will not update prior to this. So, if a customer has a deposit hit the account that hosts their goals on a Monday, and the customer does not log in until Wednesday, the virtual process to update their goal balances based on this deposit will run when the user logs in on Wednesday and the getInsights call is made.

What is the split ratio, and how does it work?

The split ratio (or goal distribution) determines how much of a deposit/withdrawal is to be allocated to/from the specific goal. Each goal can have a different ratio. The sum of the split ratios of the goals on an account, including the Core Savings Goal, should total to 100%.

Can a goal have a 0% split ratio?

Yes. A goal with a 0% split ratio will receive 0% of any deposits made to the account and will only be withdrawn from if all other goal balances have been depleted.

Can customers split dollar amounts from their deposits to goals instead of using the split ratio?

This is not a supported configuration of the goals product because of the variable nature of deposit amounts. Customers can move money between their goals post deposit if they want to allocate a greater or lesser amount of a given deposit to a goal or goals.

What is the Core Savings Goal (CSG)?

The CSG is a default envelope that is created along with the very first goal the user sets. The CSG holds the full account balance at the time of first goal creation. The CSG has its own split ratio and takes part in the withdrawal and deposit policies. A user can move money between the core savings and the different goals they set.

What happens to the balance of the account hosting goals after the first goal is setup?

The existing balance of the account hosting goals becomes the Core Savings Goal balance. The split ratio defined for any goals created during onboarding is only forward looking and will not apply the split to the existing balance. Customers can move money from the Core Savings Goal to the goals they create to achieve this effect should they wish to do so.

What goal parameters can a customer define in an out of the box goals implementation?

The customer can define the goal type, name, target amount and split ratio.

What goal types can a customer choose from?

The bank can define the list of goal types the customer can choose from and can also decide to provide a custom goal type.

Can an image be associated with a goal?

Yes. Goal images and icons can be defined by the bank based on the goal type.

Can customers edit their goals?

Yes. Customers can edit their goal type, name, target amount and split ratio.

Can customers pause their goals?

Yes, customers can pause their goals. The bank can decide whether to allow pausing and how long a goal can be paused for. Pausing a goal does not impact its balance. A paused goal will still appear in tracking and milestone insights. Customer can resume paused goals. If the bank imposes a maximum pause duration, the goal will automatically resume after this period elapses.

What happens to the split ratio of paused goals?

The goal split ratio will stay as is. Effectively, the ratio set for this goal will be allocated between the other active and non-paused goals hosted at the same target account, unless the customer actively changes the distribution.

Can a customer delete a goal?

Yes. A deleted goal will no longer appear in the tracker and milestone insights/stories.

What happens to the goal balance when a goal is deleted?

The balance of a deleted goal is returned to the Core Savings Goal.

What happens when a customer deletes the last goal?

The balance of their last goal is returned to the account balance. The customer is unenrolled from goals and will no longer receive tracking or milestone insights.

Can a deleted goal be reactivated?

No. Deleted goals cannot be reactivated.

Can a customer move money between their goals?

Yes. The customer can move money virtually between goals that are hosted on the same target account. In so doing, the goals balances will be updated and virtual transactions between the goals will be created.

What happens to the goal balance after it reaches the target amount?

The balance of the goal will remain with that goal until the user withdraws from it. The goal will continue to receive its portion of deposits and withdrawals according to the split ratio, unless the user updates the split ratio to 0% for that goal.

Is it possible to view the virtual ledger process for goals?

Yes, the virtual ledger for goals can be seen in the R_GOAL_TRX_HISTORY table

What happens to a goal’s split ratio when it is deleted?

If a goal is deleted, the split ratio allocated to that goal will then go towards the ratio allocated to the Core Savings goal. For example, if a user has two goals each with a split ratio of 25% and the Core Savings Goal has a ratio of 50%, then when one of the goals is deleted, the user will have one goal with a split ratio of 25% and the Core Savings Goal will have a ratio of 75%.

How will customers be notified of goal milestones?

A goal milestone will trigger an insight notifying the user of the milestone that was reached. If a goal has a target amount, the milestone will trigger at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the target amount. If a goal does not have a target amount, the customer will receive a milestone insight when the balance reaches $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000. Each milestone insight will have a story that the customer can click into to see more about their goal progress and update their goal settings.

What happens if more than one goal achieves a milestone at the same time?

There is a special milestone (use case 5) that will trigger and tell the customer that multiple goals have achieved a milestone.

How do withdrawals from goals work?

Withdrawals are first taken from the Core Savings Goal. If the Core Savings Goal balance is exceeded by the amount of the withdrawal, the remaining amount of the withdrawal will be taken from the customer’s goals according to the split ratio defined. If a customer has a withdrawal that exceeds the Core Savings Goal balance by $100 and has two goals, Goal A (Split ratio: 75%) and Goal B (Split ratio: 25%), the remaining $100 would be taken 75% from Goal A and 25% from Goal B. Should either goal’s balance be depleted before the full amount of the withdrawal is taken, the remaining amount would come from the other goal.

After a customer deletes their last goal, when will they be reinvited to the goals program?

After 60 days, the customer will receive a re-invitation insight. The appearance policy of this insight can be changed.

Can a goal have a target date?

Yes. The target date will be reflected as part of the goal tracking and management experience.

Can a customer create multiple goals as a part of their onboarding to the goals product?

Yes. The customer can create multiple goals as a part of this process.

Is there a limit on the number of goals a customer can create?

The out of the box product does not impose a limitation. However, the bank could impose some such limitations. Since the split ratio must total 100% for all the goals on an account, no more than 100 goals could have a split ratio allocation at any given time, but this would still not prevent a customer from creating more goals.

How do goals work on joint accounts?

There are two options for goals hosted on joint accounts.

1. Goals can be shared by joint account holders. Here, signers will be able to see, edit and delete each other’s goals and share an overlapping Core Savings Goal
2. Goals cannot be shared by joint account holders. Each signer can create their own, private goals on the account and has their own Core Savings Goal.

For further details on these options, please refer to the What Happens with Joint Accounts document.

When creating a goal manually, how does Personetics bring back the list of accounts a customer can enroll in goals with?

Personetics and the bank will design an integration solution where Personetics will be able fetch the accounts list. Cached data or stored data from other Personetics processes can be utilized as well.

Can a customer open a new account for their goals?

Yes, opening a new account can be a part of the enrollment flow. This can be a mandatory part of the process for customers without a savings account, or an optional part of the process for customers with a savings account.

However, the ability of the user to enroll with that new account right away depends on the bank’s account opening process. For some banks, this process is instantaneous, and the customer can open the account and resume enrolling. For other banks, this is not feasible, and the customer will have to return sometime later to use their new account.

Can a customer create a goal and then attach their account later?

Yes. The goal will remain inactive until an open account is attached to it.

Does Personetics recommend which account to use for a goal?

No, if a customer has more than one savings account, Personetics does not currently recommend which account a customer should set their goal on.

Can 1 goal be connected to 2 or more accounts?

No, a goal can only be connected to one account. However, joint accounts can share the same goals as an optional product configuration.

Where is goals data (Goal name, image, etc.) stored?

Goal data can be hosted in the Personetics Cloud ChatDB, or in an on prem database instance of the bank.

Can we send goal nudges as push notifications?

Yes, this is an optional component of the implementation that the bank will be responsible for.

How does the design process work for designing the user journey? How do we work with your team on this?

Personetics will propose a user journey based on the bank’s decisions with regards to the goals experience. The bank can then design the screens, or Personetics can provide the agreed upon journey with the bank’s look and feel.

The design team at the bank and Personetics will agree on the design of the experience after some amount of collaboration and iteration.

How can we customize the user journey?

The bank can customize the look and feel of the experience (e.g., color scheme and formatting), the text on each screen, and the order in which certain elements of the experience are presented.

Do you have a catalog of screens for the user experience?

Yes, please ask your Personetics contact person for that.

Does Personetics recommend the best automated funding method for each customer?

Automated funding methods are an optional component of the goals experience in which a customer can enroll with a funding method that automatically funds their goals from a linked funding account. These methods are: Pay Yourself First, Smart Save and Round Ups. For more information on each method, see the relevant FAQ document for that program.

For each potential funding account, Personetics calculates the eligibility and makes an estimation of how much a customer can save each month through the Round Ups or Smart Save program (Because the Pay Yourself First experience requires the customer to set a requested amount to save each pay period, Personetics does not make any estimation). When selecting a funding method, Personetics will display the estimated savings amount for each method if the customer were to enroll with the funding account with the highest estimate. When selecting which account to enroll in the funding method, Personetics will display the estimated savings amount for each account; the accounts will be presented with the highest estimate first, and so on.

Please note that the estimated savings amount generally requires 4 months of historical data in the account.

How does Personetics handle automatic funding methods when an account has little or no historical data? Does a customer need to wait until they have enough data? Will no savings occur until then?

Automated funding methods are an optional component of the goals experience in which a customer can enroll with a funding method that automatically funds their goals from a linked funding account. These methods are: Pay Yourself First, Smart Save and Round Ups. For more information on each method, see the relevant FAQ document for that program.

Some automatic funding methods can be enrolled in with little or no user data. The required amount of data (4 months) can be tweaked at the bank’s request.

Customers do not need to wait to have enough data to enroll. The bank can allow customers to enroll if they are in the Not Enough Data segment.

Customers can see automatic savings happen prior to having enough data. However, Personetics' default behavior is to move money more conservatively for these customers.

What happens with joint accounts?

In this option, the joint signers share the goals they create and the Core Savings Goal. Each signer will see their goals and the goals of the other signers. The aggregate distribution ratio of these shared goals, and the Core Savings Goal, will total 100%. Each signer can create the goals they want, and they can edit and delete each other's goals and their distribution percentages. When a deposit is made, the amount is split according to the distribution percentages of the goals.
Under this option, all signers will see the same tracking and milestone insights with all the goals the signers created.

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In this option, the joint signers do not share goals they create, and each signer has their own Core Savings Goal. While joint signers can all create goals on the account, each signer’s goals exist in their own virtual universe. Each signer only sees and edits the goals they create. The balance of the account will appear in each signer’s set of goals without splitting; meaning that if the account has a $1,000 balance, each user will see the $1,000 split across the goals they created. When a deposit is made to the savings account, each signer sees the whole amount of the deposit split across their goals based on their distribution ratios.
Joint signers will only see tracking and milestone insights related to their own goals.

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In the case of an individual funding account and joint target account, only the customer who owns both accounts will be able to pull the required information for the money movement program tracker insight and the money movement program management page. So, only in the case of a joint funding account and joint target account, will all signers have the same experience (i.e., will be able to track the program and manage it)
The above behavior relates to the program tracker and management only. For Goals tracking and management, the ownership of the funding account, and the constraint of it to be owned by all signers, is not mandatory. So, regardless of the funding account being individually owned or jointly owned, all signers on the target account will be able to track and manage goals. The program controls will be exposed only to the owners of the funding account.
Personetics can enforce that the goal tracking and management experience only be allowed for the customer who enrolled to the program and set the goal(s). Then, program tracking, goal tracking, program management and goals management will be applicable ONLY for the customer who enrolled in the program. Essentially, Joint accounts will be treated just the same as individual accounts.