Bits of Stock™
FAQ
What is Bits of Stock™
What are Stock Rewards?
Stock rewards are earned when users make purchases with their ALLIANCE Debit Card. A percentage (e.g. 0.5% with the free plan or 1% with the premium plan) of each purchase is rewarded as fractional shares of their selected stock, which users can accumulate & redeem once they reach the set threshold of $5.00.
What are Fractional Shares?
A portion of a share of equity stock that is less than one full share. For example, you can own 0.2 shares of Apple stock instead of a whole share.
Why invest in Fractional Shares?
Fractional shares allow users to invest in high-value stocks without needing large sums of money, making it easy for everyone to participate in investing. This is an ideal way to reward users with small amounts per transaction, helping build their investments over time.
Can I own more than Fractional Shares?
Yes! As you earn fractional shares through eligible purchases, your redeemed shares will add up to your currently selected stock. This allows you to surpass one share. This means you can own whole shares of stock overtime.
How does Bits of Stock™ promote Financial Literacy?
ALLIANCE Credit Union facilitates Bits of Stock™ by empowering users to learn about investing through firsthand experience. By rewarding users with fractional shares, they can gain exposure to the market, build wealth gradually, and develop a better understanding of investing fundamentals all through their everyday purchases.
Can Bits of Stock™ help with long-term financial goals?
Yes. By continuously earning fractional shares with everyday ALLIANCE debit card purchases, users can gradually grow their wealth and work toward long-term financial goals.
Stocks Available
Can members access stocks other than the curated 10 on the free plan?
Members can deposit funds manually from their account into their portfolio. These funds can be used to purchase any of the 1000s of stock options available in Bits of Stock™. This method of purchasing stock does not count towards your rewards and is shown and tracked separately.
Are all stocks available through Bits of Stock™?
Bits of Stock™ offers fractional shares in a variety of NYSE and NASDAQ traded stocks and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), with many popular options available. Free plan users will have the opportunity to invest in 10 curated stock options. Premium plan users will have access to the full stock offering from Bits of Stock™. For a full list, members can check their portfolio or reach out to help@bitsofstock.com.
What happens when a member switches stocks with Stock Rewards?
Each stock builds rewards independently. Once a stock reaches the $5.00 threshold, the rewards in that stock are ready to redeem. While rewards don’t combine across different stocks, this structure allows members to grow rewards in multiple stocks at the same time and choose when and where to redeem them.
How do members select a stock?
At the start of the platform, members will be prompted to select a rewarding stock from the 10 curated stock options (on the free plan) in the “Rewards” module. After the initial pick, members will be able to change their selection anytime by picking a different stock from the list. The stock that is active at the time Bits of Stock™ recognizes the debit card transaction, will be the stock in which rewards are collected.
Will ALLIANCE employees help members decide which stocks to choose?
No. ALLIANCE Credit Union employees will not provide financial advice nor suggest or encourage specific investment options. We encourage our members to research and utilize the Bits of Stock™ platform to build their own financial education and experiences.
Round-Ups
Do Round-Ups expire?
No. Round-ups do not expire and are different from Bits of Stock™ rewards.
What are Round-Ups?
Round-Ups work by rounding purchases up to the nearest dollar and investing the spare change. For example, if a user spends $4.50 on a coffee, $0.50 is rounded up and set aside. The rounded up funds typically deposit in 2-3 business days and will be reflected in the member’s Bits of Stock™ account once available.
Bits of Stock will confirm the bank account has sufficient funds prior to initiating the transaction to pull the Round-Up dollars. However, that transaction can take 2-3 business days to actually pull the funds from your account. Transactions completed during the 2-3 business days before the round-up dollars are pulled, can still cause your account to go negative because the Round-Up dollars have not yet left your account. When this happens, if there are insufficient funds, it will still pull from your account.
When is the money transferred from the Credit Union account?
Members can choose to have their Round-Ups pulled daily or weekly — this setting determines how often the accumulated spare change is withdrawn from your checking account.
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Daily: Round-Ups are pulled from your checking account each day.
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Weekly: Round-Ups are pulled as a single lump sum once a week.
After the Round-Up withdrawal is initiated (based on your chosen schedule), the funds are transferred to your Bits of Stock™ portfolio within 2–3 business days. Once the transfer is complete, your spare change is invested into your selected stock.
Bits of Stock will confirm the bank account has sufficient funds prior to initiating the transaction to pull the Round-Up dollars. However, that transaction can take 2-3 business days to actually pull the funds from your account. Transactions completed during the 2-3 business days before the round-up dollars are pulled, can still cause your account to go negative because the Round-Up dollars have not yet left your account. When this happens, if there are insufficient funds, it will still pull from your account.
Which account is used?
The account linked to the member’s Bits of Stock™ rewards program is used for Round-Ups. In the case the member has multiple accounts, they can select which accounts participate in Round-Ups. There’s no need to link an account manually, making it quick & easy to get started with Round-Ups.
Can a joint owner also take part in the rewards?
No. A joint account owner must open their own checking account in order to make purchases that qualify for rewards. They will have to have their own Bits of Stock™ account in order to begin earning rewards.
What happens if an account has insufficient funds?
Round-Ups act just like a debit transaction. Before processing Round-Up transfer, Bits of Stock™ checks the bank account balance to ensure there are enough funds. If there are not enough funds, the transfer won’t go through, and the associated Round-Ups will be canceled. The user’s Round-Ups will resume at the next interval (daily or weekly), and they’ll receive a notification of transfer fails.
Bits of Stock will confirm the bank account has sufficient funds prior to initiating the transaction to pull the Round-Up dollars. However, that transaction can take 2-3 business days to actually pull the funds from your account. Transactions completed during the 2-3 business days before the round-up dollars are pulled, can still cause your account to go negative because the Round-Up dollars have not yet left your account. When this happens, if there are insufficient funds, it will still pull from your account.
Can members set a limit on Round-Ups?
While users can’t set a cap on Round-Ups, they can pause the feature at any time, for as long as desired.
What happens with transactions recognized over the weekend?
Weekend transactions are added the member’s Round-Up balance for the next business day and processed as usual.
Can members turn off the Round-Ups feature?
Users can pause Round-Ups anytime from the settings in the Bits of Stock™ platform. Choose to pause for 3 days, 1 week, or indefinitely. They can unpause whenever they’re ready to get back to it, giving them the flexibility to manage their savings and investments.
Can members customize their Round-Ups?
Yes, they can personalize the Round-Ups program by choosing a frequency (daily or weekly) and adding a multiplier of 1x, 2x, 3x or 5x to boost their investments.
How do members track their Round-Ups?
The Rewards & Round-Ups tab on the Bits of Stock™ platform makes it easy to track their Round-Ups. Users will find a detailed overview of their purchases and the Round-Up amounts in an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.
Is there a fee for using the Round-Up feature?
No, there are no additional fees for using the Round-Ups program with Bits of Stock™.
Do Round-Ups apply to all transactions?
Yes, Round-Ups apply to all spending transactions made with the ALLIANCE debit card linked to the member’s Bits of Stock™ account. However, certain types of transactions, such as ATM withdrawals or direct transfers, are excluded.
Are Round-Ups applied to the $5.00 monthly threshold?
No, Round-Ups are separate from the earned stock rewards. Round-Ups will be transferred directly to the chosen default stock. The transfer time is dependent upon the member’s chosen frequency: either daily or weekly. Daily Round-Ups will be transferred at 11:59pm ET. Weekly Round-Ups will be transferred Monday mornings when the market opens.
What are Multipliers?
Round-Ups can be multiplied to help you earn more as you spend. Multiply by 1, 2, 3, or 5 times the original Round-Up amount by making your selection in Round-Ups.
Bits of Stock will confirm the bank account has sufficient funds prior to initiating the transaction to pull the Round-Up dollars. However, that transaction can take 2-3 business days to actually pull the funds from your account. Transactions completed during the 2-3 business days before the round-up dollars are pulled, can still cause your account to go negative because the Round-Up dollars have not yet left your account. When this happens, if there are insufficient funds, it will still pull from your account.
Redemption
What does it mean to "Redeem"?
Redeeming your stock rewards means you are moving your earned dollars into your brokerage account to then be available to buy, sell, or hold stocks.
How can members redeem stock rewards?
Members can accumulate rewards in previously selected stock by making purchases with their debit card, and the connected checking account. Once members reach the $5 threshold, they have 90 days to redeem their rewards. A redemption button for the selected stock will become available in their Rewards module. Clicking on it will initiate the redemption, with the redeemed stocks becoming visible in your Bits of Stock™ portfolio in just minutes. Once redeemed, you can buy, sell, or trade.
Are redemptions considered trades?
No, a redemption in Bits of Stock™ is not considered a trade.
How long does it take for shares to become available in your brokerage account after redemption?
Shares can take up to 2 business days to be settled and become available to buy, sell, or trade.
Can members withdrawal without redeeming them for stock?
Yes, but ALLIANCE encourages members to use the platform to grow your investments by redeeming their stock rewards for stock rather than cash.
Will rewards expire?
Yes! Members build up their rewards to the $5 threshold. Once the $5 goal is met, members can redeem immediately or continue to earn for another 90 days. However, if the rewards are not redeemed by day 91, the earned amount will expire. Please note, no alert will be provided for expiring rewards.
Is there a cap on rewards?
Yes, members can earn up to $10 in rewards in the free plan each month. Premium users can earn up to $20. Once this cap is reached, additional rewards will not be earned until the following calendar month. This may be different from the statement cycle.
Help
How do members select a stock?
At the start of the platform, members will be prompted to select a rewarding stock from the 10 curated stock options (on the free plan) in the “Rewards” module. After the initial pick, members will be able to change their selection anytime by picking a different stock from the list. The stock that is active at the time Bits of Stock™ recognizes the debit card transaction, will be the stock in which rewards are collected.
Will ALLIANCE employees help members decide which stocks to choose?
No. ALLIANCE Credit Union employees will not provide financial advice nor suggest or encourage specific investment options. We encourage our members to research and utilize the Bits of Stock™ platform to build their own financial education and experiences.
How can members get help with the platform if they have issues?
Visit the Knowledge Center on the Bits of Stock™ website: http://bitsofstock.com/app-support for FAQs, tutorials, and guides. For further assistance, the member can contact support via help@bitsofstock.com.
Technical
Are there additional fees involved in using Bits of Stock™?
ALLIANCE Checking promotes Bits of Stock™ as a reward platform offering the investment app at no charge to our members. However, members can upgrade to the premium Bits of Stock™ experience for $5.99/mo. That fee is paid directly to Bits of Stock™.
Is the $5.99 fee charged to the member's ALLIANCE debit card? When is the fee charged?
The $5.99 premium plan fee is Bits of Stocks™ responsibility and will be charged to whatever payment method the member has setup within their brokerage account. The premium account fee is charged on a monthly basis and is dependent upon time of subscription activation. The initial subscription total my be prorated dependent on when a member signs up.
Can a member downgrade from Premium back to the Free Plan?
Absolutely, downgrading is easy. You’ll have Premium account capabilities through the remainder of the month. Your subscription will revert back to the Free Plan on the 1st of the following month.
Is there a minimum amount required to start investing with Bits of Stock™?
No minimum investment amount is required to start. Users can begin investing through the rewards without needing additional funds, making it accessible for everyone. Bits of Stock™ also offers zero-commission trading starting with amounts as low as $0.01.
How do members get started?
To start receiving stock rewards, members will access the Bits of Stock™ platform through their ALLIANCE Online Banking. Members will walk through the initial steps to set up a brokerage account (required to use Bits of Stock™). They will then need to select a stock through the Rewards & Round-Ups tab. After which, for any purchases made with your ALLIANCE debit card, you will earn stock rewards within that stock. To invest their next purchase in a different stock, they will need to access the platform and change their stock selection prior to making that purchase.
How do market hours affect trading in the platform?
Orders are processed during stock market hours (9:30AM – 4:00PM ET | Monday – Friday). Bits of Stock™ does not support off-market trading at this time. Redemptions initiated outside of these hours will be processed once the market reopens.
What happens if members close their Rewards account?
Both the stock rewards program and Round-Ups will stop. For a smooth transition, please be sure to sell any shares you hold and withdraw any remaining funds from the account before closing.
Can members withdrawal or deposit funds in Bits of Stock™?
Funds can be deposited into a brokerage account or withdrawn from it using the ‘Transfer’ function in the Bits of Stock™ portfolio. By default, this function is set to deposit funds into the brokerage account, but changing the accoutns will switch the function to withdrawal.
If an ALLIANCE Checking account has two debit cards attached to it, will both cards contribute to the stock rewards?
All debit cards attached to the ALLIANCE Checking account will earn stock rewards through debit card purchases.
What transactions do not qualify for Bits of Stock™ rewards?
ATM and ITM transactions and withdrawals do not qualify as debit card purchases and do not qualify for Bits of Stock™ rewards.
Can members trade as much as they want?
Members subscribed to the FREE Bits of Stock™ plan can only make 5 trades per month. Premium subscribers are allowed unlimited trades each month.
Why is there more than one trade shown on my trade document?
Bits of Stock™ condenses daily account activity into one document making it easier and more efficient to track your trades.
Taxes
Will members be required to pay taxes on their stock rewards?
Yes, please click this link to learn more about Bits of Stock™ taxes: https://www.bitsofstock.com/knowledge-center/faq#understanding-stock-taxes-and-reporting
Will Bits of Stock™ issue the necessary tax receipts to show earnings for Tax Season?
Please click this link to learn more about Bits of Stock™ taxes & documentation: https://www.bitsofstock.com/knowledge-center/faq#understanding-stock-taxes-and-reporting