More about the Flagstone Emergency Savings Card

Who is The Flagstone Initiative?

The Flagstone Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping renters improve their financial stability.

Who is offering the match? And why? What’s the catch?

There's no catch. Vines is offering the match because residents with emergency savings, as little as $250, are more financially stable, which is a win for both residents and the property.

What are the criteria for getting a match?

• You get a $50 bonus when you setup automatic transfers to your savings card.
  
• You get a match of $20 from Vines every month that you make an automatic transfer of $20 to your savings card and your balance is $100 or more.

Is there a limit to the match?

Vines will match up to $240/year per residential unit.

Do I have to save $20 per month? Can I save more or less?

Currently, we only support saving $20 per month. If you would like to save more or less, we would love to hear your feedback. Please email us at hello@flagstoneinitiative.org. Thanks!

What if I need to spend money in my savings card? Is there any fee or penalty?

The money is yours to use whenever you need it, for whatever reason. There are no fees, no minimums and no penalties for using your savings card. Ever.

Can I manually transfer money into my savings card?

Currently, we only support automatic transfers. If you would like the option to make manual contributions, we would love to hear your feedback. Please email us at hello@flagstoneinitiative.org. Thanks!

What if I don’t have enough in my bank account for the automatic transfer? Could I be charged an overdraft fee?

Your savings card is designed to keep you in control so you can avoid having to pay overdraft fees. Here are some tips to avoid these fees:

• Turn off any overdraft protection features for the debit card you used to setup the automatic transfer. You may need to contact your bank to do so.
• Every month before initiating your automatic transfer, we will send you an email with the exact date and amount for the transfer. If you expect you won't have sufficient funds on that date, please follow instructions in the email to skip your transfer for that month.
  

Why do I see a temporary authorization for $20 on my card after I sign up for automatic transfers?

When you submit the automatic transfers form, we are going to authorize a $20 temporary charge to ensure that the information provided will work for future transfers. If the temporary authorization fails, the subscription page will show an error. If the temporary authorization goes through, the signup will complete and then we will reverse the authorization. It is possible that you might see a $20 temporary authorization from "The Flagstone Initiative" on your card statement for a few days.

What if there’s a month when I can’t or don’t want to save?

We want to give you complete control over automatic transfers, so we make it very easy to skip an automatic transfer in any month you don't want to save. Each month before your contribution is due, we will send you an email to notify you about the date of the upcoming transfer. The email will also have an option for you to skip the month's transfer.

How can I permanently stop automatic transfers?

We want to give you complete control over automatic transfers, so we make it very easy to stop automatic transfers. Each month before your contribution is due, we will send you an email to notify you about the date of the upcoming transfer. The email will also have an option for you to permanently stop automatic transfers.

How do I know my money is secure with the Emergency Savings Card?

Our Emergency Savings Card is a prepaid Visa debit card. Like any other Visa card, Visa’s Zero Liability Policy guarantees that you won’t be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your account or account information. Visa’s Zero Liability Policy covers U.S.-based issued cards and does not apply to certain commercial card transactions, or any transactions not processed by Visa.

Is my information safe and secure with you? Do you share or resell my data?

The Flagstone Initiative will never sell your personal information. We are a non-profit, and our mission is to help renters improve financial stability. Our business model does not involve making money by selling data. To offer our services, we may need to share information with third-party vendors. We will not access your private information without your consent. For more information, please read our Privacy Policy.

I got an email from PEX about my savings card. Who is PEX and how can I find more information about them?

To issue your Emergency Savings Card, we have partnered with PEX, an industry-leading prepaid card provider, with more than a decade of experience serving over 10,000 customers including Netflix. PEX has issued over 10 million cards for a wide variety of use cases, ranging from expense management for businesses to grant disbursements for non-profits. Learn more about PEX here: https://www.pexcard.com/about

Additional questions?

Drop us a note at hello@flagstoneinitiative.org

Ready to start saving?