Frequently Asked Questions about SPENDiD APIs
Click a question below to jump to the answer:
- What are the main capabilities of the SPENDiD APIs (v1.0 and v2.0)?
- How does SPENDiD generate personalized budgets?
- What data inputs are required to use the API?
- How does peer benchmarking work within the API?
- What is the difference between v1.0 and v2.0 of the API?
- How fast is the API response time?
- Is user financial account data required?
- What authentication methods are supported?
- Can we access localized cost-of-living data?
- How is user privacy protected?
- What are key use cases for integrating SPENDiD?
- How can we use the API for underwriting or credit risk?
- What support is available for developers?
- Is there a sandbox or test environment?
- What are the pricing and licensing models?
- Can we license specific endpoints only?
- How often is the underlying data updated?
- What are the main benefits for end-users?
- How does SPENDiD handle edge cases or outliers?
- What reporting or analytics are available?
- How is the API maintained and updated?
- Can the API be embedded in mobile and web apps?
- What are the integration requirements?
- Are sample code or SDKs available?
- How does SPENDiD compare to traditional budgeting tools?
1. What are the main capabilities of the SPENDiD API?
SPENDiD provides predictive, location-aware budgeting; peer-benchmarked expense models; savings capacity and Budget Health Scores; and (in v2) occupation-based salary lookups and fair-market rent estimates. The API is modular, stateless, and easy to embed in fintech, education, HR/benefits, and real-estate workflows.
2. How does SPENDiD generate personalized budgets?
Given a small set of profile fields (e.g., location, take-home income, household size, rent vs. own) and optional fixed expenses, SPENDiD returns a peer-validated monthly budget. Variable categories are adjusted so the predicted savings never goes negative.
3. What data inputs are required to use the API?
At minimum: location (ZIP/area), take-home income, and household size. Helpful optional fields include age, housing status (rent vs. own), occupation (for salary guidance), and any known fixed expenses.
4. How does peer benchmarking work within the API?
SPENDiD aligns a user with a peer cohort (by income, location, age band, household size, and housing status) and returns category-level guidelines plus percentiles to show where the user sits relative to peers.
5. What is the difference between v1.0 and v2.0 of the API?
v1.0 focuses on peer models, budget generation/adjustment, and scoring (Predicted Saving Ability, Budget Health, Relative vs. Peers). v2.0 adds modular data endpoints such as location-specific occupation salaries and fair-market rent to complement budgeting and planning workflows.
6. How fast is the API response time?
Most calls complete within a few hundred milliseconds to a few seconds depending on payload size and computation required. Throughput and latency can be discussed for your expected volumes.
7. Is user financial account data required?
No. SPENDiD does not require bank aggregation or access to sensitive account credentials. The models operate on lightweight profile inputs and optional fixed expenses.
8. What authentication methods are supported?
API access typically uses a securely issued API key in the request headers. Enterprise authentication options are available upon request.
9. Can we access localized cost-of-living data?
Yes. Budget guidance and rent estimates are location-aware. v2 also supports lookups that complement budgeting (e.g., fair-market rent, occupation salary ranges by area).
10. How is user privacy protected?
SPENDiD is stateless by design for budgeting calls. You send minimal inputs; we return computed guidance. No bank credentials or PII are required for core use cases.
11. What are key use cases for integrating SPENDiD?
Fintech apps, education & career platforms, HR/benefits, credit unions/banks, real-estate experiences, and job boards embed SPENDiD to reveal “can I afford this?” clarity before important decisions.
12. How can we use the API for underwriting or credit risk?
Use peer-validated budgets and predicted savings capacity as a forward-looking signal. This can complement traditional scores and help assess ability-to-repay without requiring bank aggregation.
13. What support is available for developers?
Swagger references, sample payloads, and quick-start snippets are available. Technical support is responsive during implementation and scaling.
14. Is there a sandbox or test environment?
Yes. Test keys and non-production environments are available on request so you can prototype safely.
15. What are the pricing and licensing models?
Pricing is usage-based with volume tiers. Enterprise licensing (including endpoint-specific licensing) is available for partners and OEMs.
16. Can we license specific endpoints only?
Yes. The platform is modular—license the components you need (e.g., budget generation only, rent estimates only, or salaries + budgets together).
17. How often is the underlying data updated?
Cadence varies by source. Model refreshes and data updates follow the schedules noted in release notes/Swagger. Contact us if you need pinned versions or data-freshness SLAs.
18. What are the main benefits for end-users?
Clear, personalized, and peer-validated guidance; realistic plans that avoid negative savings; and privacy-preserving inputs—no bank logins required.
19. How does SPENDiD handle edge cases or outliers?
Cohort construction and robust statistics reduce outlier effects. Variable categories can be tuned to maintain non-negative savings while staying close to peer norms.
20. What reporting or analytics are available?
Responses include category breakdowns, percentiles, and scores. Many partners build simple dashboards on top; enterprise analytics can be scoped on request.
21. How is the API maintained and updated?
Versioned releases, documented changes, and backward-compatible pathways. You can pin versions by environment and upgrade on your timeline.
22. Can the API be embedded in mobile and web apps?
Yes. It’s a RESTful JSON API—straightforward to call from web, iOS, and Android. The stateless design simplifies client integration.
23. What are the integration requirements?
HTTPS, API key header, and JSON (request/response). Most teams integrate via their existing backend or directly from serverless functions.
24. Are sample code or SDKs available?
Starter snippets are available. Use these as a guide, then align field names with Swagger.
25. How does SPENDiD compare to traditional budgeting tools?
Traditional tools often reflect past spending. SPENDiD is predictive and peer-anchored, giving users forward-looking clarity with minimal inputs and strong privacy.
