Telos Labs
Partnering to build the technology behind financial resilience
SaverLife is a mission-driven nonprofit that helps people build financial security. As their long-term technology partner, Telos works with them across strategy, product, design, and engineering.
A platform that grows with SaverLife
We've worked with SaverLife to build the platform that runs its savings programs, the systems behind its rewards and assistance, and tools that help members figure out their next financial steps.
A financial-wellness product has to do several jobs at once. Members need an experience that's clear and useful. Program teams need to set up activities, run incentives, and adjust when member needs change. And the technology has to connect all of that to the data and operations underneath.
Our work with SaverLife covers each of those jobs. We rebuilt the platform's architecture, help design and develop the product, build integrations, and keep engineering as SaverLife launches new programs and member experiences.
The scope has grown over the years. We now work with SaverLife's team to build the savings challenges and points system members use to earn cash rewards, the payment systems that send those rewards out, workflows for emergency cash assistance, personalized onboarding based on each member's goals, and the AI-powered Financial Navigator.
SaverLife brings the mission, the program expertise, the research, and its knowledge of members. We help build the product and the software that put those priorities into practice.
How the work has evolved
-
1
Establish a foundation for continued development
The platform migration moved established member data into a new application architecture while preserving the ability to sign in with existing passwords. That work became part of the foundation for later programs and product changes.
-
2
Connect programs with their operations
Savings activities, assistance applications, reward approvals, and payment integrations introduced workflows for both members and staff. Each program needed its own rules and a dependable connection to the surrounding platform.
-
3
Bring engagement closer to the product
A custom points and quest system, challenge rules, and redemption flows gave SaverLife application-level control over its engagement capabilities. Financial-health onboarding and dashboard work connected members with relevant activities.
-
4
Add new forms of financial guidance
The AI navigator introduced contextual conversations. The debt-planning journey added structured tools for understanding debts, exploring payment scenarios, reviewing expenses, and planning a savings buffer.
What we contribute
Product work grounded in member needs
Design and engineering connect SaverLife's understanding of its members with practical experiences: applying for support, joining a challenge, reviewing finances, or finding a useful next action.
Operational software behind the experience
The work includes the systems staff use to administer programs, validate rewards, handle exceptions, and connect decisions with payments and communications.
Continued development across the platform
Our contribution extends from architecture and integrations to member interfaces and AI features. The partnership supports an evolving product whose capabilities build on one another.
Technical guidance and ongoing operations
Beyond new features, we help SaverLife's team weigh technical tradeoffs and plan what comes next. We also maintain the infrastructure, integrations, and dependencies that keep the member experience dependable.
Eight projects within one continuing partnership
Explore the product decisions and engineering behind SaverLife's platform, program operations, member engagement, and financial guidance.
Platform and operations
Platform modernization · Data migration
A new foundation for an established platform
Move member data and preserve sign-in continuity while rebuilding the application for continued development.
Workflow automation · Payments
From approved rewards to managed payouts
Connect eligibility, batch review, payment generation, and payout history in an operational workflow.
Social impact · Program operations
Technology for COVID-19 emergency assistance
Support applications, review decisions, and payment handoffs for SaverLife's COVID-19 assistance program, which distributed more than US$4 million.
Risk operations · Platform engineering
Controls that support program integrity
Connect screening signals, account restrictions, and staff tools across incentive programs.
Member engagement
Member engagement · Product engineering
Savings activities connected by a custom engagement system
Bring challenges, quests, points, and redemption into a system shaped around SaverLife's programs.
Personalization · Product experimentation
A more relevant next step for each member
Connect financial-health onboarding, dashboard experiences, and experiments that measure member actions.
Financial guidance
AI products · Financial well-being
Financial guidance that can use member context
Bring conversational AI, financial information, and relevant resources into the SaverLife experience.
Financial tools · Product design
A guided path from debt information to a plan
Connect a debt tracker, expense snapshot, payoff scenarios, and safety-net planning in one journey.
Are technology challenges holding your team back?
You may need to modernize an established application, connect a manual program workflow, or introduce a new member experience. Tell us how the work happens today and what needs to change.