Obsidian - Frequently Asked Questions

What is digital layaway?

Digital layaway is a new way to save up for big purchases. On the back-end, digital layaway is an FDIC-insured deposit account that is created at our banking partner. Customers can deposit funds into digital layaway, earn rewards, and use the funds to make purchases at a specific merchant.

What is the customer journey for digital layaway?

A customer is made eligible for a digital layaway offer
The customer provides some basic information like their name and address
The customer links a funding source such as an external checking account via Plaid
The customer makes their first deposit to complete the onboarding process
The customer continues to make deposits and earns rewards
When the customer is ready to make a purchase, the customer selects digital layaway as the payment method on the checkout page and completes the purchase
Rewards are automatically redeemed when the purchase is completed

Is digital layaway tied to a specific purchase or SKU?

No, digital layaway is flexible. Customers are essentially saving up funds with a merchant and can use it for any purchase at the merchant in a SKU-agnostic manner.

What are the different types of eligibility for digital layaway offers?

Digital layaway can be targeted or program-wide. Targeted means that only a select number of customers that you determine are eligible for the offer. Program-wide means that every customer is eligible for the offer.

What reward redemption types do you support?

We support cashback and discount redemptions. If you have an existing loyalty program, we also support earning and redeeming rewards in your loyalty currency (miles, points, etc.)

What happens if a customer has leftover funds in digital layaway after they make a purchase?

Any leftover funds in a customer’s digital layaway balance will be automatically transferred to their externally linked deposit account.

Can customers withdraw funds at any time?

Yes - customers can withdraw their funds at any time with no fees or penalties. If they withdraw their funds, they forgo any rewards they’ve earned so far.

What happens if a customer returns a purchase they made with digital layaway?

The customer’s funds are returned back to their digital layaway balance. They can either use the funds to make another purchase or withdraw their funds. If they choose to withdraw their funds and the reward type was cashback, we attempt to claw back their rewards.

Does Obsidian store a customer’s external bank account information?

No - Obsidian only stores a tokenized version of a customer’s external bank account information rather than raw values.