ALICE Saves

Connecticut’s United Ways have joined together to promote financial stability for working families statewide by launching ALICE Saves, a new initiative designed to help families develop a lifelong habit of saving and other positive financial behaviors.

Savings is a core component of financial health. A savings habit – and the stability it brings – is as important as income. Savings address financial instability by providing a way for families to save for short term emergencies and long-term assets, like a college education or a home.

If you create a savings account, you can:

Avoid crisis – Families with just $250 of savings are less likely to be evicted or miss a housing or utility payment.
Prepare for emergencies – 40% of Americans could not cover a $400 expense with the cash they had on hand.
Be a role model – Children’s money habits are formed by the age of 7.

When you join ALICE Saves you have access to the SaverLife and TrustPlus programs.

SaverLife encourages savings through the use of incentives, offering rewards and a chance for prizes to those who put aside funds each month for six months. It serves its members through a secure online savings platform. To participate in SaverLife, members link an existing bank account to the SaverLife platform. Today, SaverLife helps more than 400 individuals in Connecticut and many more across the country.

Through TrustPlus, savers have ongoing support for developing a financial plan with concrete steps for meeting their goals. All services are completely confidential. TrustPlus is a respected program with over 25 years of experience developed by the financial services company Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners. TrustPlus’ financial coaching services reach 9,000 clients every year and has more than 60 partners nationwide.

How to Sign Up

1. To sign up, visit saverlife.org/odyssey.

2. Follow the instructions and enter your full name, email address and create a password.

3. On the next page you will be asked to enter your phone number. A verification code will be sent via text and you will be asked to enter the code you receive.

4. After you select Sign Up at the top of the page you will see a list of financial coaches to schedule a call.

5. After you schedule a call, you will complete a questionnaire so your coach can understand your goals during your call.

Further Information

Data Privacy/Security

To participate, members link an existing bank account to the SaverLife platform.

SaverLife only has access to view the transaction amounts displayed in savers’ accounts.

SaverLife does not have access to funds. It does not collect or store a saver’s name or account number or any other information that might identify the saver.

The SaverLife program is verified and monitored by third-party experts at the financial technology company Plaid Inc. It follows the Open Web Application Security Project guidelines and industry best practices for web application security.

FAQ

Who has access to a user’s account?

SaverLife and Plaid Inc. have view-only access—and only to the transaction amounts in savers’ bank accounts. Savers may unlink their bank accounts at any time.

What does SaverLife do with user data?

SaverLife verifies deposit data for the purpose of rewarding savers. It first reviews data from a detailed questionnaire that savers fill out before joining SaverLife.

After the first six months

Savers need not leave SaverLife after they complete their initial six-month enrollment period. They will still have a chance to earn weekly rewards for saving if they keep their bank account linked.