Financial commitments give you the opportunity to put some of your own money into the game’s “pot” at the start of the game. At the end, winners get back all their money plus a little extra! The profit comes from players who made financial commitments but didn’t win because they didn’t complete all the game activities, as validated by WayBetter and its Referees. Their money is split equally among the winners. WayBetter doesn’t keep any of the pot!
Why should I make a financial commitment?
We recommend that you make financial commitments because we know they work! Nobel-prize winning research has shown that people are very motivated to avoid losing money. Our financial commitments are a form of what scientists call “contingency management,” a very effective behavior change technique that rewards people with money or other prizes when they reach a goal and has been applied successfully to many different types of health-related goals. Indeed, our own data shows that players who put a little money on the line are 5X more likely to succeed. Over a million people have already made financial commitments with WayBetter. Our company has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to continue building on our unique behavior change system.
Does WayBetter keep any of the money from financial commitments?
Nope! We collect financial commitments at the start of the game and distribute 100% of the pot evenly among all the winners at the end. In our WayBetter app, there is no “house cut”.
You can make your financial commitment using PayPal, a credit card, or your WayBetter Points (earnings from past games).
Can I make a financial commitment after the game starts?
Once a game is closed to new players, the opportunity to make a financial commitment closes. This is usually within a day or two of the game’s start date. If you make a financial commitment, you’ll need to pay for it at the beginning of a game, not the end.
What’s the difference between a financial commitment and the membership fee?
Your membership fees get you a personalized plan, the right to join up to 10 games a week with expert coaches, plus our proprietary Motivation Boosters.
Note that we don’t keep any of the money that players put up as financial commitments. We just hold that money and distribute it at the end to the winners. In fact, we cover all the transaction costs (this is included as part of your membership dues), and provide WayBetter Referees to maintain integrity and provide customer service seven days a week.
When you make a financial commitment, your money goes into the pot, not into WayBetter’s pocket. The pot consists of all the pooled financial commitments for that game. When you win, the pot is distributed evenly among all the winners who made financial commitments. If you didn’t put money into the pot at the outset, you won’t earn any money at the end of the game.
When I make a financial commitment and win a game, how do I get my money back?
When you win a game, you’ll get all your money back plus a little extra because the money from the players who didn’t win is split evenly among all the winners (if everyone wins your game, which happens from time to time, you’ll just get back your financial commitment).
Note that it may take a few days for our Referees to finalize the results in our game. This gives players a fair chance to finish up and our Refs time to calculate your earnings. No adjustments can be made to the game results after a game has been finalized.
Once your game is finalized, you’ll see your earnings in your account in the form of WayBetter Points. Each point is worth $1 USD.
You can find this section by tapping on your name in the lower right corner of the app. Select points & payouts to see your earnings. You can request a payout or save your points and use them in your next game.
If you’d like to cash out your points, you can request a payout from the points & earnings. We transfer your money via PayPal. We do not credit your winnings back to a credit card.
Paypal's extensive security measures allow us to provide our valued players with a secure, fair, and efficient payout process. For extra security, we ask players to confirm their PayPal account details to ensure the requested payout reaches the intended recipient.
Our goal is to issue payouts within a week of your initial request - we want to help you celebrate your success as soon as possible! However, failure to provide confirmation upon request can delay the payout process.
If you don’t have a PayPal account, please email support@waybetter.com to discuss alternatives to PayPal. Please note such alternatives may result in payout delays and additional fees.
What happens if all of the players who made financial commitments win?
We love to see all our players win! If all of the players who made financial commitments win, which does happen occasionally, you’ll get back exactly what you committed. You won’t make any extra profit if this happens, but that’s ok because making money isn’t the main reason to play in our games. WayBetter is about improving your health and happiness, and helping you stick to your commitments. A game that everyone wins is something to celebrate!