Student Loan Management Services Employer Terms & Conditions

Updated October 19, 2023

When an employer ("Employer") elects to provide Student Loan Management Services to its employees, Betterment will provide the Student Loan Management Services subject to the terms and conditions described below.

  1. Definitions​​. The terms set forth below have the following meanings as used in these Terms & Conditions. 

    Spinwheel. Spinwheel Solutions, Inc., a third-party service provider that facilitates the linking of Student Loan(s) to Betterment’s interface and directs Student Loan payments to the appropriate student loan service provider. 
    Student Loan. Any eligible education-related loan used to finance expenses related to an employee’s post-secondary education or higher education, including but not limited to tuition, supplies, books and living expenses.
    Student Loan Advice. Betterment’s non-discretionary financial advice on how Student Loan Management Participants may prioritize repayment of their Student Loans provided as a part of Student Loan Management Services. 
    Student Loan Management Employee. An employee who engages Student Loan Management Services.
    Student Loan Management Services. The Student Loan services provided by Betterment in the Betterment interface described in Section 2 below, including Student Loan Advice and Student Loan Payment services.
    Student Loan Payment. A payment directed towards a linked Student Loan in the Betterment interface.

  2. Student Loan Management Services.

    a. Non-discretionary Advice. Student Loan Management Services include Student Loan Advice, which will be solely based on information Student Loan Management Employees provide via the Betterment interface and the Student Loan(s) linked through Spinwheel. Betterment’s Student Loan Advice relies on information provided or linked by Student Loan Management Employees and Betterment is not liable for any losses resulting from any Student Loan Advice based on inaccurate or incomplete information. Inaccurate or incomplete information includes information that was once accurate but becomes inaccurate or incomplete due to changes in circumstances. 

    b. Repayment Methodology. Betterment’s Student Loan Advice relies upon Spinwheel software that may be subject to change or error. Student Loan Management Employees are under no obligation to accept or follow any repayment recommendations, and Betterment will not have any discretion over Student Loan Management Employee assets or accounts with respect to the implementation of such Student Loan Payment recommendations. 

    c. Repayment Services. Betterment’s Student Loan Management Services include the ability to schedule recurring and one-time Student Loans Payments through the Betterment interface. Recurring Student Loan Payments can be made either as a deduction from Student Loan Management Employees’ payroll during each pay period (a “Payroll Deduction”) or debited from their independent checking account. If Employer elects to offer an Employer Match (as defined in Section 2(d) “Employer Match” below), Student Loan Management Employee’s recurring Student Loan Payments will be made, by default, as a Payroll Deduction and will automatically qualify for the Employer Match. As a condition of offering Student Loan Management Services to its employees, Spinwheel, on behalf of Betterment, will debit Employer's payroll in the amount of Student Loan Management Employees’ Payroll Deductions and authorizes Spinwheel to direct such Payroll Deductions to Student Loan Management Employee Student Loan accounts. Spinwheel is authorized by Employer to take any and all actions necessary to make such debits. If a Payroll Contribution fails for any reason, the funds will be returned to Employer, who is responsible for remitting such funds to the relevant Student Loan Management Employee.

    d. Employer Match. Employer may elect to contribute an amount, up to a certain percentage of Student Loan Management Employees’ annual salary (to be confirmed to Betterment in writing), towards repayment of Student Loan Employees’ Student Loans (the “Employer Match”), provided that the Employer Match for each Student Loan Management Employee shall not exceed the amount of such Student Loan Management Employee’s individual Student Loan Payments made via Payroll Deduction. If Employer elects to offer an Employer Match, Spinwheel, on behalf of Betterment, will deduct Employer Match payments from Employer's account and apply them to Student Loan Management Employee Student Loan Payments made via Payroll Deduction.
  3. Information Sharing. Spinwheel and Betterment will receive information regarding Student Loan Management Employee Student Loan Payments made by Payroll Deduction or debited from a linked independent checking account. If Employer offers an Employer Match, Spinwheel and Betterment will receive information regarding Student Loan Management Employee Student Loan Payments made by Employer Match. The use of Student Loan Management Services is subject to Spinwheel’s User Consent and Privacy Policy (available at https://legal.spinwheel.io/end-user-privacy-policy/). Betterment and its affiliates' use and disclosure of personal information is subject to the Betterment Privacy Policy (available at www.betterment.com/legal/privacy-policy). 
  4. Student Loan Management Services Limitation on Liability. Betterment is not responsible for and cannot guarantee the accuracy of information about linked Student Loans that Betterment receives from Spinwheel. Betterment is also not responsible and cannot guarantee the timeliness of Student Loan Payments made via Spinwheel. Betterment may not be able to foresee or anticipate technical or other difficulties with Spinwheel  that may result in a failure to obtain Student Loan information or transmit Student Loan Payments in connection with Employer and Student Loan Management Employees’ voluntary use of Student Loan Management Services. Betterment will typically not attempt to refresh the data from Student Loans more than once every 72 hours, but may do so less often for a variety of reasons, including connectivity issues and access restrictions imposed by other parties. Except for Betterment’s malfeasance or gross negligence, Betterment assumes no responsibility for the timeliness, accuracy, deletion, non-delivery or failure to make Student Loan Payments, update Student Loan information, or loss of user data or personalization settings. Betterment expressly disclaims any and all losses relating to any outages, delivery delays, delivery methods, corruption of data, processing failures, changed or discontinued or failed services, or termination of services caused by Spinwheel. As noted above, the use of Student Loan Management  Services is subject to Spinwheel’s User Consent and Privacy Policy, which may impose important limitations on the circumstances and degree of Spinwheel’s liability.
  5. Amendments and Termination. These Terms and Conditions shall remain in effect for such time as Employer is providing Student Loan Management Services to its employees. Betterment reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions and to make changes to the Student Loan Management Services at any time in its sole discretion. Betterment may elect to terminate Employer's access to the Student Loan Management Services at any time for any reason upon reasonable notice to Client. Employer understands and agrees that upon such termination, Payroll Deductions and Employer Match will no longer be available to Employer's employees, although Student Loan Management Employees, all of whom establish an independent relationship with Betterment, will retain access to Student Loan Management Advice and may continue to make contributions via checking account. Employer may elect to terminate the Student Loan Management Services at any time, after which Payroll Deductions and Employer Match will no longer be available, although Student Loan Management Employees will retain access to Student Loan Management Advice and may continue to make contributions via checking account.