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Family Pooling

Family pooling lets a group of members share a single point balance. Members "contribute" their personal points into the shared pool and any active member of the family can "redeem from the pool" — so a household, a sports team, or a small business can earn together.

When to use it​

  • Loyalty programs targeted at households (groceries, energy, telecom) where multiple family members shop independently but rewards make sense at the household level.
  • Group sales programs (sports clubs, schools) where individual sellers fundraise into a shared pot.
  • Any program where redeeming for a higher-value reward needs combined effort from several members.

How it works​

A family is owned by one member (the owner). Other members are added with a role (e.g. parent / partner / child / member). The family has a setting Is shared balance — when on, the owner's individual loyalty balance acts as the pool:

  • Contribute transfers points from the contributor's personal balance to the owner.
  • Redeem from pool spends the owner's balance, recording the caller as the one who triggered the spend.

When Is shared balance is off, the family is just a grouping for reporting — points stay on each member's individual balance and contributions/redemptions are not allowed.

The family also has a max members cap. Adding past the cap is blocked.

Step-by-step​

Create a family​

  1. Go to Loyalty → Families and click Create family.
  2. Pick the owner (a member of the loyalty program).
  3. Set max members (e.g. 5 for households, 30 for sports teams).
  4. Turn Is shared balance on if you want a single shared pool.
  5. Save.

Add members​

  1. On the family detail page, click Add member.
  2. Pick the member and a role (parent / partner / child / member).
  3. Save. The new member starts as Active.

If you previously removed a member, adding them back reactivates the existing row (it doesn't create a duplicate).

Contribute and redeem​

  • A member contributes by calling the Contribute action with a point amount. Their personal balance decreases; the owner's balance (the pool) increases.
  • Any active member can redeem from the pool by initiating a redemption — the owner's balance pays for it, but the caller's identity is recorded.

Limits and gotchas​

  • The owner can't be removed. To "leave" a family, the owner has to dissolve it and start a new one with a new owner.
  • Max members is enforced. Once the family is full, adding throws a friendly error. Bump the cap or remove an inactive member first.
  • Contribution/redemption require IsSharedBalance = true. Otherwise both actions throw.
  • Pool balance is the owner's balance. If the owner has activity outside the family (other earns, redemptions, expirations) it directly affects the pool.
  • Soft remove only. Removing a member sets them inactive but their historical contributions stay on the owner's balance.
  • Permission: Pages.Loyalty.FamilyPooling.