Rules Engine
Create customizable financial alerts to stay on top of your finances without constant checking.
Overview
Finn's Rules Engine allows you to create personalized notification rules that alert you about important financial events. Whether you want to know when your balance is low, a large purchase posts, or a new subscription is detected, Finn has you covered.
Key Benefits
- Proactive Alerts: Get notified about important events before they become problems
- Customizable Thresholds: Set your own limits for what matters to you
- Natural Language Setup: Create rules by simply telling Finn what you want (e.g., "notify me when I spend over $100")
- Smart Batching: Multiple alerts are combined into digestible summaries
- Family Support: Optionally notify all household members for shared visibility
Alert Types
Low Balance Warning
Get notified when your checking account drops below a threshold you set.
How it works:
- Monitors your checking account balances
- Triggers when balance falls below your configured threshold
- 24-hour cooldown prevents repeated alerts for the same low balance
Example setup:
"Notify me when my checking account goes below $500"
Sample alert:
⚠️ Your Chase Checking dropped to $432.15.
Large Purchase Alert
Stay informed about significant spending with automatic purchase notifications.
How it works:
- Monitors all debit transactions (purchases)
- Triggers when a purchase exceeds your threshold (default: $200)
- Batches multiple large purchases into a daily digest
Example setup:
"Alert me for any purchase over $150"
Sample alert:
💸 $287.43 at Target just posted.
Batched alert (3+ purchases):
💸 3 purchases over $200 recently: • Target: $287.43 • Amazon: $312.99 • Costco: $245.67
New Subscription Detection
Automatically detect and alert you when new recurring subscriptions are found.
How it works:
- Finn's AI analyzes your transactions for recurring payment patterns
- Notifies you when a new subscription is identified
- Includes the merchant name, amount, and billing frequency
Sample alert:
🔔 New subscription found: Netflix - $15.99/month
Income Arrived
Get notified when paychecks, direct deposits, or other income hits your account.
How it works:
- Monitors credit transactions (deposits)
- Filters out refunds and transfers
- Triggers for deposits above minimum threshold (default: $500)
Example setup:
"Let me know when my paycheck comes in"
Sample alert:
💰 Payday! $3,245.67 just hit your Chase Checking.
Merchant Alerts
Create targeted alerts for specific merchants you want to track.
How it works:
- Monitors transactions from a specific merchant
- Can optionally include an amount threshold
- Great for tracking spending at particular stores
Example setups:
"Notify me for any Walmart transaction" "Alert me if I spend over $50 at Amazon"
Sample alert:
🏪 Amazon charge: $67.99.
Custom Rules
Create personalized rules through natural language conversation with Finn.
How it works:
- Tell Finn what you want to be notified about
- Finn's AI interprets your request and creates the appropriate rule
- You can modify or delete rules at any time
Example requests:
"Notify me when I spend more than $100" "Alert me if my balance goes below $1,000" "Let me know about any transactions at Starbucks"
How Rules Work
Rule Structure
Each rule consists of:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Rule Type | The category of alert (balance, transaction, income, etc.) |
| Condition | The trigger criteria (threshold amount, operator, etc.) |
| Threshold | The dollar amount that triggers the rule |
| Cooldown | Minimum time between re-triggers (prevents spam) |
| Notification Settings | Who gets notified (individual or all household members) |
Rule Operators
Rules support various comparison operators:
| Operator | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
gt | Greater than | Purchases over $200 |
lt | Less than | Balance below $500 |
gte | Greater than or equal | Deposits of $500+ |
lte | Less than or equal | Spending up to $50 |
eq | Equal to | Exact amount match |
between | In a range | Purchases between $100-$500 |
Trigger Flow
- Data Sync: Finn syncs your latest transactions and balances
- Rule Evaluation: Each active rule is checked against new data
- Match Detection: Matching rules trigger alert creation
- Queue Alert: Alerts are queued for scheduled delivery
- Smart Delivery: Alerts are delivered at optimal times (batched if needed)
Managing Rules
Creating Rules
Via Text Message: Simply tell Finn what you want:
"Set up an alert for purchases over $100" "Notify me when my balance drops below $500"
Default Rules: When you sign up, Finn creates smart defaults:
- Large purchase alert ($200+)
- Income notification (deposits $500+)
- Low balance warning (if you set a threshold during onboarding)
Viewing Your Rules
Ask Finn to show your current alerts:
"What alerts do I have?" "Show me my notification rules"
Example response:
You have 3 active alerts: • Big purchases over $200 • Low balance warning (below $500) • Income/paycheck notifications
Updating Rules
Modify existing rules by telling Finn:
"Change my low balance alert to $1,000" "Update the large purchase threshold to $150"
Deleting Rules
Remove rules you no longer want:
"Turn off the big purchase alert" "Delete my Walmart notifications" "Stop the low balance warnings"
Smart Delivery
Scheduled Delivery
Alerts are delivered at optimal times rather than immediately, reducing notification fatigue:
| Alert Type | Delivery Time (MST) |
|---|---|
| Income Arrived | 8:00 AM |
| Large Purchases | 2:00 PM |
| Merchant Alerts | 2:00 PM |
| Subscription Detected | 2:00 PM |
| Low Balance | 6:00 PM |
Batching
When you have multiple alerts of the same type, Finn combines them into a digest:
Threshold: 3 or more alerts Format: Summary with itemized list
Example batched delivery:
💸 3 purchases over $200 recently: • Target: $287.43 • Amazon: $312.99 • Costco: $245.67
First-Time Customization
The first time each alert type triggers, Finn includes a customization prompt:
💸 $287.43 at Target just posted.
💡 This is your first big purchase alert! Reply 'change' to adjust the threshold, or 'stop' to turn these off.
Technical Details
Rule Types Reference
| Type | Code | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Amount | transaction_amount | Large purchase detection |
| Account Balance | account_balance | Low balance monitoring |
| Income Arrived | income_arrived | Paycheck/deposit detection |
| Subscription Detected | subscription_detected | New recurring payment detection |
| Merchant | transaction_merchant | Specific merchant monitoring |
| Custom | custom | User-defined rules |
Cooldown Periods
Rules can have cooldown periods to prevent repeated alerts:
| Rule Type | Default Cooldown |
|---|---|
| Low Balance | 24 hours |
| Large Purchase | None |
| Income | None |
| Subscription | None |
| Merchant | None |
Rate Limiting
- Rules are evaluated during each data sync
- Alerts are batched by household and rule type
- Delivery is scheduled to prevent notification overload
Best Practices
Setting Thresholds
- Large Purchase: Start with $200, adjust based on your spending patterns
- Low Balance: Set to your minimum comfortable balance (e.g., one week of expenses)
- Income: Default $500 works well for most direct deposits
Optimizing Alerts
- Start Simple: Begin with the default rules, then customize
- Review Regularly: Check your rules monthly and adjust as needed
- Use Cooldowns: For low balance alerts, 24-hour cooldown prevents spam
- Batch Awareness: If getting many alerts, consider raising thresholds
Family Households
- Shared Visibility: Enable "notify all members" for important rules
- Individual Rules: Each member can have personal rules too
- Coordinate Thresholds: Discuss what amounts matter to your household
The Rules Engine is continuously evolving. Have a rule idea? Reply to any Finn message with your suggestion!