The Complete Guide to Pooling Money with Pool

Are you the one who always has a plan? The one who is always answering everyone’s questions. The go-to person for getting things done? Being the person in charge, you end up doing a lot of things - scheduling, bookings, wrangling your group to make decisions, collecting payments, buying the decorations, you name it.

More than likely, you’re also the one doing any treasury and money handling. There’s a lot to take on as the leader, and that’s why we set out to make the most awkward of the to-dos a bit easier: pooling money.

In this post, we’ll cover:

• Reasons to pool with Pool
• How to set up your Pool
• Inviting members to your Pool
• How to set a member’s permissions
• How-to guide for your Pool members
• Funding your Pool
• Setting up your Pool
• How-to guide to send to your Pool for contributors
• Spending from your Pool

8 Reasons You’ll Love Pooling Money With Pool

1. Pool money collaboratively

Create a Pool and invite members to join. Once they've signed up and joined, members can contribute funds directly from their linked bank accounts. Pool makes it easy to collect, manage, and spend money together.

2. A dedicated place for pooled money

No more fronting the bill, mixing your personal money, managing spreadsheets, or tracking down who hasn’t paid you yet. Instead, you have a dedicated place to pool money.

3. You keep 100% of the contributions

Keep all contributions collected. Pool debit cards are absolutely free for both parties. So many financial services are fees on fees on fees, but at Pool, we believe in having minimal and optional fees.

4. Flexible member permissions settings for your Pool

Perhaps you have someone to share the responsibilities of money management with you? Are there some people in the pool that you would like to be able to contribute, but not be able to spend? How about maximum daily spending limits per individual in your Pool? Pool's powerful money collection and membership tools let you run your Pool, your way.

5. Make as many Pools as you’d like

Are you managing more than one group’s money? Or maybe you’d like multiple Pools - one for date night, one for a friend’s vacation, one for a group gift, and one to budget for an upcoming expense. Add them all! We’ve got you covered.

For example, you might create one Pool for a monthly book club, another for a family vacation fund, and a third for a group gift. An approved member can use the Pool debit card to make purchases while everyone stays informed about contributions and spending.

6. Statements for your Pool

Each Pool comes with monthly statements to track your expenses, including a downloadable transaction report for each pool.

7. Your Pool is social, yet private

Your Pool is your own - choose to invite a select few or cast a wider net. It’s your choice. Within each Pool, members can view transactions at any time to maintain transparency. Every Pool provides a shared view of contributions, spending activity, and balances, making it easy for members to stay informed and accountable.

8. Pool is Secure

We’ve successfully managed 125K+ Pools and have your back. All payment and personal information is protected.

Start Pooling

Now that you know a bit more about how Pool can help you manage your group’s money, let’s cover how to start pooling.

Setting up your account

Setting up your account should only take a few minutes. Here, we verify your identity to protect your account.

1. Create a Pool account at poolmoney.com
2. Follow the prompts to verify your account.
3. Start pooling & gain access to your virtual Pool debit card instantly — and order your physical card at any time

How to set up your Pool

1. Tap on the New button at the top of the Pools section on the home screen
2. Give your Pool a name and avatar
3. Tap Start Pool, and you’ve started your first pool!

Inviting members to your Pool

In many cases, you might want to invite people to join your Pool as members. For instance, perhaps your members not only need to contribute, but also need access to the funds in the pool.

Maybe you would like to co-manage your Pool with someone, or you would like people to see the activity in the Pool. Maybe you would like your members to be able to deposit money automatically from their bank accounts.

How to invite a member to join your Pool:

1. Go to the Pool you’d like to invite a member to
2. Tap on the invite button
3. Fill in the invitee’s email address
4. They will receive an email to sign up for Pool and join your Pool
5. Set member permissions for each member — let them spend, administrate, or view only

If the person you invited is already a Pool member, they will get an email to join your Pool in seconds.

Setting up members’ permissions for your Pool

As the admin of the pool, you can set permissions for other members of the Pool on an individual or group basis. Permissions include anything from adding another admin to the Pool, transferring money out, spending with the debit card, viewing transactions, and determining whether the individual is allowed to invite others to the Pool, as well as daily spending limits.

How to adjust member permissions

1. Go to the Pool you want to manage members for
2. Tap on the Pool Settings button
3. Tap on the member you’d like to change permissions for
4. Change the permission settings you want

Funding your Pool

There are multiple ways to fund a Pool. You can add money yourself, invite members to join and contribute, set up direct deposit, or schedule recurring deposits. You and other permitted members can add money to your Pool by linking their bank account or setting up direct deposit. Now you can even schedule automatic deposits to a Pool with Recurring Deposit, making it all the easier to top up a Pool.

Spending from Your Pool

Direct Deposit

Each Pool comes with the option of direct deposit. Each Pool has a designated account and routing number so you can make direct deposits into your Pool or make payments from your pool.

You can find your Pool’s routing and account numbers by going to the Pool of your choice and tapping the Pool Settings button.

Debit Cards

Every Pool comes with a free, ready-to-use debit card. Activate your virtual debit card instantly, and lock your card at any time. You can also order a physical debit card to use in person and pair it with any Pool of your choice. This is a great option for envelope budgeters.

Sending Money to Your Bank Account

You can send money back to any of your linked bank accounts. This process typically takes 3-5 business days.

Already know what you’re planning to use Pools for? Well, we've learned that Pool works for a variety of use cases. Here are some of the top ones: community savings, splitting rent, class reunions, vacations, nanny expenses, membership dues, weddings, group gifts, classrooms, envelope budgeting, and more.

Sign up for Pool today at poolmoney.com to make digitally pooling money simple and transparent!

Have a question? Reach out to hello@poolmoney.com. We'd love to hear from you!