AU2001100053A4 - TESS (Technology and Education Savings Scheme) - Google Patents

Description

e I q"AqrDo j n J 1a, g im S e) *A unique online affinity business program* DATE OF THIS DOCUMENT AS AT TIME OF WRITING 03/06/2001 c h tal TABLE OF CONTENTS Background and reasons for inventing this scheme The TESS Foundation TESS Foundation funding .2.1 The family network long term strategy Contributions The Strategy How TESS members will get the contributions 4.1 Contributions conditions and restrictions 4.2 On-line affiliates contributions 4.3 Setting up a standard on-line account Account conditions and charges 5.1 Account contributions and tracking 5.2 Use of TESS members credit card information 5.3 Account Contribution accruals, reversals and withdrawals 5.4 Eligible reasons and uses of account asset withdrawals How to withdraw account contributions 5.6 Special TESS savings accounts .5.7 Establishing a network TESS members information and privacy policy Legal information NOTE This document consists of a total of 16 numbered pages including this contents page.

BACKGROUND AND REASONS FOR INVENTING THIS SCHEME The cost of providing a good education is enormous. Australians today are not good at saving however all Australian parents would all wish to provide their children with access to the best educational resources possible. Australia is rapidly falling behind first world standards in technological research and computer technology education. As providing quality education, particularly in computer technology is becoming more and more profit oriented, parents today must plan and save for the future, however few can afford this luxury. Computer skills and a good education are now and will be more so in the future be prerequisites to getting a good job. It will be TESS s mission is to fundamentally alter the affordability of and access to quality private and public education particularly in internet related technologies for Australian families. TESS will harness the power of private industry and the Internet to help Australian families realize the increasingly unreachable goal of a good education.

The TESS Foundation TESS will be a for-profit business loyalty incentive scheme which will establish the TESS Foundation as an affiliated non-profit institution which will be committed to helping lower to middle income students attain a good education. The TESS Foundation will be a tax-exempt, public charity that will seek to broaden college opportunity by addressing the financial and institutional barriers that students from lower income families face. The Foundation will also work to match students with schools that fit their needs and to challenge their abilities, so that more lower-income students can get a good education.

In order to fulfil its mission, the TESS Foundation will build a powerful network of high school teachers, university and college admissions officers, and cutting-edge service organizations, equip them with a curriculum and training that is proven to help students make it to university or a college, and partner with Australia s most community-minded companies to provide individualised support to help keeps students on track. TESS will be a business scheme which will be of fundamental importance to Australian families.

TESS will facilitate valuable lifetime connections between millions of consumers and brands and in doing so will provide financial access to a good education for future Australian generations. The TESS foundation will; Create and support community-based programs to encourage students to stay in schools and study computer literacy related subjects Devote resources to innovative programs for students who seek a higher education, particularly in internet/computer science related technology applications and research.

Develop and promote access to effective information resources to help students and families learn about educational and financial aid opportunities Advocate public education policies that promote both computer technology and general education access and affordability.

2, FOUNDATION FUNDING TESS founders, management, and financial backers will be pledging a substantial portion of their equity in TESS to the Foundation. Additional contributions will come from TESS's contributing companies, employees and the general public. This will all create a powerful network that will act as a sales force by promoting meaningful savings for TESS members to help pay for education. The network will get company contributions and will give some or all of the contributions to students nominated by primary and supporting members (see section By making this connection, TESS will deliver tremendous value to both its members and contributing companies. In exchange, TESS will generate revenue through the administrative fees it will receive from contributing companies. TESS aims to generate $5 billion dollars in savings for education over the next 5 years. This will fundamentally alter the educational standard of Australians to one of true world class, especially in computer science technologies.

THE FAMILY NETWORK LONG TERM LOYALTY STRATEGY TESS will be a breakthrough in loyalty incentive strategy, a powerful alternative to frequent flier miles. TESS will be a very sophisticated online direct marketing service which will be a very compelling way to make loyalty work. Rather than repackaging traditional merchandise and travel, it will mine a new vein families strong commitment to the success of their children. Part of its power will lie in its potential to secure the active involvement of the extended family. This will be the biggest innovation in loyalty marketing since the introduction of frequent flier miles. Unlike frequent flier miles which are based on short term gratification, TESS s business scheme will lure parents and family networks into saving for education by winning over them the idea that a little less short term gratification is worth swapping for their child s education. TESS will be promoting a socially worthy cause whilst building long term customer brand loyalty.

This will leverage previously untapped sources of human motivation to fuel customer loyalty. TESS members will thus be hooked to the TESS business scheme for very long periods of up to 10 or 15 years. This will be held to be a marketing miracle by making saving look as easy as spending. The TESS loyalty concept is unique in that it will have; 1. Emotion 2. Long term benefits and 3. A long term context in that people will be saving for education over a ten to fifteen year period. And yet, it is also true cash to the consumers, so the perceived value will be very high.

The TESS scheme will be a unique adaptation of the traditional idea of pooling frequentflier credits offered by participating merchants. It actually will get people to start thinking about saving for education. The final result will be a big hard cash (as opposed to frequent flier points and other current loyalty schemes which reward with redeemable points rather than cash) multiplier which will become a consumer habit. The nature of the commitment this will engender is a marketing program that will tie a group of customers (the network of friends and family) to products and services by contributing companies and other organisations for decades, providing detailed transactional purchase data as well as rich lifestage and lifestyle information.

CONTRIBUTIONS The Strategy.

This business scheme will use internet commerce and relationship marketing, taking advantage of recent developments in online purchase and customer behaviour tracking technology. The idea is simple borrowing from the airlines frequent flier loyalty programs and rewarding credit card users for buying from the same merchant again and again. However this plan will sign up different credit card issuers and a variety of merchants that want to support education via TESS and link them with TESS approved fund managers.

The strategy will depend on using big names in consumer markets like computers, telephone service, travel, groceries, cars and restaurants to rope customers into the program. TESS will choose contributing companies that are respected leaders in their industries and that are committed to TESS s mission of helping families save for education. These contributing companies will have the marketing power, consumer trust and community presence to launch a movement by collaborating with the TESS business scheme. Other merchants who want to join the TESS scheme will benefit from the power of this network.

These companies will represent a wide range of consumer categories, making it easy for TESS members to accelerate their savings. TESS will take a percentage from members transactions and earns fees for marketing the merchants online. TESS contributing companies will recognise transactions from customers who are TESS members and will pay TESS an administrative fee for operating the TESS service. TESS will be sustained without charging the members anything.

Contributions will be received from the companies with which TESS members spend and may also be redemptions of other reward currencies. Contributions may be a fixed amount or a percentage of the transaction, depending on the contributing company. Some of the businesses that will participate in the service by rebating a portion of members' purchases at or with those businesses (each a "contributing company") may charge fees with respect to some of their offers related to the service. Any such fees will be disclosed in the description of those contributing companies' offers. Each contributing company will reserve the right to change such fees or to institute new or additional fees in the future, to change the amount or percentage of any contributions it offers as well as the terms and conditions of any qualifying purchase.

(41) HOW TESS MEMBERS WILL GET THE CONTRIBUTIONS TESS members who will be buying from the TESS network of companies will get company contributions which will be in the form of cash rebates and other cash rewards and payments denominated in Australian dollars on all qualifying purchases made at, from or with contributing companies, or upon redemption of points or other awards of certain contributing companies as applicable, in the amounts or percentages set by those contributing companies terms. Solely as a convenience, TESS may provide a promotional page or other description on the TESS website of each contributing company's terms. Contributing companies may impose conditions or restrictions different from, or in addition to, those described on such promotional pages or in such descriptions.

TESS members will get company contributions by purchasing eligible goods and services from TESS contributing companies and specifically save by: Shopping with a TESS contributing company and use a registered credit card (see section 5.3) for those purchases; Shopping with an TESS contributing company using a registered loyalty card (see section 5.3); Providing information requested by a contributing company either before or after spending with them; Shopping online through a link on the TESS website. By shopping through the TESS website, TESS contributing companies will be able to identify the customer as a TESS member and accurately send the appropriate contributions to the TESS members account; TESS members advising a contributing company that they wish to convert or redeem existing miles or awards from that contributing company's eligible awards program.

The companies contributions will probably be in the range of 1% to 10% of the TESS members purchases. The contributions will be based on the percentage of the amount spent and will vary by company. The contributing companies section on the TESS website will have more specific information about each individual company program.

After enrolling to receive company contributions, some companies may require that TESS members have to input information either before or after the purchase. Other companies may not require any additional information.

CONTRIBUTION CONDITIONS and RESTRICTIONS Contributions from contributing companies will be based on the price of eligible goods and services purchased, generally excluding tax, shipping, and handling. In general, contributions will not be made for any portion of the purchase paid for with coupons, store credit, online currency, or gift certificates. Specific contribution restrictions will be detailed in the contributing companies section. In addition, contributions may not be provided for the following types of purchases: Auction purchases; Regular monthly deliveries; Purchases made with third-party partners or subsidiaries of a TESS contributing company not covered under a TESS agreement with them.

(43) On-line affiliates contributions Contributing companies may impose conditions or restrictions different from, or in addition to, those described on such promotional pages or in such descriptions. TESS will not responsible for setting or maintaining the amount of the contributions offered by any contributing company or for requirements of any contributing company's program or offer. TESS members use of the service will constitute acceptance of such terms and conditions. TESS will not represent or warrant that any particular contributing company will participate in the service at the time TESS members join the service or at any time thereafter. A purchase will be a "qualifying purchase" once all conditions in a contributing company's offer with respect to that purchase, including any waiting periods, have been satisfied.

Certain contributing companies with whom TESS members may shop online through the TESS website will be online affiliates. When TESS members shop with an online affiliate through the TESS website, the online affiliate will pay TESS a referral fee, of which TESS will give some or all back to the relevant TESS member as a contribution.

TESS members will be eligible to get contributions from online affiliates as long as they shop with those affiliates through a link in the TESS website. No contribution associated with any purchase from an online affiliate will be earned unless and until the associated affiliate or referral fee has been paid by such online affiliate to TESS.

TESS will reserve the right to reverse the posting of any contribution in the event the applicable online affiliate does not timely pay to TESS the associated affiliate or referral fee. TESS will reserve the right to change its offer with respect to the amount of the contribution associated with any online affiliate at any time, but no such change will affect any contributions earned prior to such change. TESS will deposit all or a portion of such affiliate or referral fee (as specified on the TESS website page for each particular contributing company) as a contribution into the TESS members standard online account (see below) for the benefit of the TESS member upon receipt of the associated affiliate or referral fee.

SETTING UP A STANDARD ONLINE ACCOUNT To set up a standard online account with TESS, members will need to do the following online at the TESS website (there will be nothing to be mailed in): Sign up by providing some basic information and creating a username and password; Confirm their profile and accept the member agreement Register their information so they can start earning contributions from contributing companies.

This will involve providing certain contact information, such as their name, mailing address, email address, phone number, username and password. This information will also allow TESS to contact members about new TESS savings opportunities, unless they opt out of receiving these messages. TESS members will also need to provide certain information about the students they are savings for. They will also be able to personalise their account to reflect their progress toward achieving their personal college savings goals by providing additional information about their future students, such as when they anticipate withdrawing their contributions and whether the student plans to attend a public or private institution. TESS account holders will have ultimate control of their TESS accounts and will be the only ones who will be able to direct how their company contributions will be distributed.

Unlike all current existing loyalty programs, there will be no membership card to carry.

There will also be no special credit card that members must use. There will be no need for TESS members to change how they shop or what they pay. By getting family and friends to join the same account, everyday spending will be returned automatically and savings in the TESS account begin to multiply. TESS members will be able to direct the contributions they receive into a specific TESS savings accounts and they will also have the flexibility of dividing their savings among two or more children or families.

The future student, the person for whom the TESS member will be establishing the standard online account and for whose benefit the TESS member will be saving for, will be able to be any Australian resident who wants to save for education. That includes children, the child of a family member or friend, spouses, siblings, and, depending on the particular savings plan chosen, the TESS member themselves. In other words, a future student will be able to be anyone whose future education a TESS member will want to support. TESS members will also be able to save for multiple students at the same time.

Additional students will be able to be added at any time.

ACCOUNT CONDITIONS AND CHARGES Application and membership of standard online TESS accounts will be free there will be no catch. Any program, including those with a fee, within the TESS service in which members may choose to participate will be voluntary. Anyone will be able to open a TESS account for a future student providing that they are over eighteen years of age and are legal Australian residents. It will be their responsibility to keep their member information current, complete and accurate by periodically updating their information in the appropriate section of the TESS web site. Standard TESS online accounts will not receive any interest on any funds deposited into them by contributing companies.

Contributing companies will have no role in verifying, administering or maintaining any TESS accounts.

A standard online TESS account will be established for TESS members by TESS on the TESS website automatically after they accept and agree to the following; a nonexclusive, non-transferable license (without the right to sublicense) for so long as they participate in the service and adhere to the service agreement, to access, participate in and use the service. They will agree that they will obtain no fights other than the rights and licenses expressly granted in the agreement. They will have to agree not to provide any unauthorized third party with access to the service or to any information, data, text, links, images, software, chat, communications and other content available through the Internet and proprietary to TESS (collectively, "Content") by any means.

By enrolling in the TESS Service, TESS users will also acknowledge that they have read and have understood the member agreement and that they agree to be bound by all of its terms. If they do not agree to all of the terms of that agreement, then they should not click the enroll button to finish enrolling. They will also acknowledge by enrolling that they understand that they are establishing an account with TESS Investments for the purposes described in the agreement and that they have had an opportunity to review the TESS privacy statement or that it has been made available to them.

2) ACCOUNT CONTRIBUTION TRACKING TESS will know that a TESS member has purchased a product or service from a contributing company in one of the following ways: *Through the data that comes in from their registered credit card (see section 5.3); *By shopping online through a link on the TESS web site; *When the information a TESS member inputs from a purchase or company program matches the data sent to TESS from that company.

TESS will securely maintain records to keep track of the contributions members earn from their purchases with TESS contributing companies. TESS members will have access to all account balances and recent account activities and any other information in their online TESS accounts 24 hours a day on the TESS website. TESS accounts will be completely private and secure. Unless TESS members give out their information or username and password, family friends of that member will not be able to see that TESS members account or personal information. TESS members will be informed as other contributing companies join the TESS network and will be provided with complete customer care, so any questions will easily be answered.

TESS will promise to post contributing company data to TESS members accounts as soon as TESS receives it. Contributions will generally take about ten business days after the TESS member receives their purchase to be posted as pending to their TESS account.

Transactions at some companies such as those that bill may take shorter or longer, depending on the company's policies and reporting methods. When purchases are made with TESS contributing companies, there will typically be some lag time between when TESS receives notice of the purchase and when contributions arrive for deposit into the TESS members account. During that time, these purchases will be recorded as pending company contributions. Additionally, some company contributions will be pending if a company requires a waiting period for its customers before distributing their contributions. For TESS members convenience, the contributions will show up as "pending" in the TESS members account until TESS has received the referral fee.

Company contributions will not expire. TESS members will be able to get company contributions every day or sporadically, depending on the programs they are participating in. However, if their account shows no activity for 12 months, it will be considered inactive. TESS will contact them to suggest that they reactivate their account (in other words, start getting company contributions again). If they do not respond within 60 days, TESS will send any company contributions remaining in their TESS account to their most recent address on record.

Use of TESS members credit card information For TESS to most effectively keep track of and collect members contributions, when members sign up for contributing company programs and shop online through the TESS web site, they will need to register the following with TESS; Credit cards which they use to shop with contributing companies.

Loyalty cards (membership card that encourage members through incentives and discount offers to continue to shop or purchase services from a specific company).

Billing Information (such as their telephone bill) Major purchases (such as the vehicle identification number of a new vehicle) If a TESS member uses an approved credit card to make a purchase, TESS may use their credit card number to identify the transaction. Every credit card TESS members register with TESS will be processed to ensure it is valid. If the credit card is rejected by TESS, any company contributions earned prior to the cancellation of the card will not be affected.

When TESS members old credit cards are renewed or they get a new one, they will simply update the profile section of their TESS account with their new card information. If the credit card expires during the TESS membership, the member will not be able to receive any more company contributions through that card until they update the profile section in their TESS account with their new expiration date or card information. TESS will only accept credit cards listed as choices on the registration screen. Up to 10 cards will be able to be registered through the TESS service.

It will not necessary to provide credit card information to be a TESS member. If TESS members choose not to register their credit cards with TESS, they can still receive company contributions by enrolling in other company programs that will ask them to provide different information and by shopping online through a link in the contributing companies section. Being a TESS member will not affect any other membership award, frequent flyer, or credit card programs the TESS member may be enrolled in.

Account Contribution accruals. reversals and withdrawals Contribution monies will be deposited by TESS company automatically into TESS members standard accounts and will accrue and belong to the member. The TESS website will display a summary of activity in the TESS Account. The money will be held in custody by TESS. TESS will create a special connection with each TESS member company, thus when TESS members shop online at major websites through the TESS website, they will get automatic contributions to their TESS account.

This system will be unique from existing loyalty systems in that it automatically will accumulate retail cash rebates online and offline into TESS members accounts. Any company contributions received from returned merchandise that has been paid into TESS members accounts will be deducted from that TESS members account. TESS will deduct contributions from TESS members from their TESS savings and any special TESS investment accounts in order to make adjustments for returns and cancellations with respect to qualifying purchases.

In the event that a TESS member will have redeemed a contribution from their account or invested it in a special TESS savings Investment Account (as defined below) and subsequently reversed the transaction with a contributing company that generated such contribution, or otherwise will be required to return the contribution to the contributing company pursuant to the terms of the applicable offer, whether or not they are still participating in the service. They will remain solely responsible for the repayment of the contribution credited from such purchase and TESS may apply future contributions made for their benefit against such obligation and/or repay the amount of any such credited contribution from their account.

In the event that a TESS member fails to repay such amount, TESS will take legal action necessary to collect the dollar amount from that member and to rescind contributions and to bar further contributions to, or terminate the membership of, any member that TESS believes is abusing or has abused the service, including, without limitation, by engaging in a pattern of returning products after the corresponding contribution has been credited, or creating or attempting to create or participating in any market in contributions, or engaging in or accepting any broad-based solicitation of contributions.

If one of a TESS members contributing companies discontinues a program in which they are participating, any contributions already received from that company are the TESS members to keep. However, the TESS member will not be able to continue to get further contributions from that company.

Eligible reasons and uses of account asset withdrawals Qualified institutions of education will be accredited public and private colleges, universities, post-graduate programs, most community tafes, and certain proprietary, trade, and vocational schools. Regarding trade and vocational schools cligibility TESS company contributions placed in a savings plan can only be used to pay for education expenses at fully accredited trade and vocational educational institutions in Australia.

Regarding post graduate schools, TESS company contributions placed in a savings plan can only be used to pay for higher education expenses at such fully accredited educational institutions in Australia.

Assets can be used to pay for qualified higher educational expenses, such as tuition, room, board, books, fees, and supplies; Assets can be used at any accredited post-primary school in Australia, for high school, university, trade school, or post graduate school; Control of the distribution of the account will be maintained by the account owner who can change their selected future student at any time; TESS will not pay off loans or other previously incurred education expenses. Parents retain control of the funds to pay for qualified education expenses. Qualified education expenses that will be eligible to be paid for with a Special TESS savings plans opened through TESS Investments will generally include: tuition, room boarding fees, fees, books and supplies.

If a nominated student that a TESS member has been saving contributions for decides to discontinue or delay their education, the TESS member may continue to save contributions for that student if he or she thinks that they will pursue some form of education in the future. If the student decided to discontinue study permanently, the TESS member can; Assign any remaining company contributions to another student in the TESS savings network Withdraw any remaining company contributions Donate any remaining company contributions to the TESS Foundation TESS members unused company contributions in their account s after their student graduates from either high school, tafe or university will have several options.

Continue to add company contributions for that student for any other higher education he or she would like to pursue, such as post graduate school Transfer any remaining unused company contributions to another student in the TESS savings network Withdraw any remaining unused company contributions Donate any remaining unused company contributions to the TESS Foundation How to withdraw account contributions: 1. From a TESS account there will be several options.

To withdraw contributions from a TESS account and transfer them to a special TESS savings plan accounts (see section 5.7) opened for a future student, members simply go to the Investment Accounts section of their TESS account and follow the steps there.

To withdraw contributions from their TESS account without transferring them to a special TESS savings plan accounts, they will have to call TESS.

Other options will include: i. Continuing to add company contributions for that future student for any other education he or she would like to pursue, such as trade school, vocational school, or adult education classes; ii. Transferring any remaining unused company contributions for the benefit of another future student in the TESS network; iii. Donating any remaining unused company contributions to the TESS Foundation.

iv Transferring all or part of the funds to another TESS member.

2. To withdraw from a special TESS savings plan account (see section 5.7); a. To make qualified withdrawals from a special TESS savings plan account for educational expenses, the TESS member must contact the investment firm of the special TESS savings plan in which they are investing.

Qualified education expenses will include tuition, room, board, fees, books, and supplies at any accredited college, university, trade school, or post graduate school in Australia.

b. Other options may include: i. Leaving the assets in the plan; ii. Changing the future student to another member of the same family without paying any penalty. Qualifying family members may include anyone related to the future student, such as a brother, sister, parent, grandparent, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, immediate in-law, or spouse of any of these. Halfsiblings, stepchildren, and stepparents may also qualify.

iii. Taking a non-qualified withdrawal from the account at any time.

The account owner will incur a penalty on the earnings portion of the withdrawal. (Exceptions to this penalty may be available in the event of the death or disability of the future student or if the student receives a scholarship.) It will be possible to withdraw company contributions from a TESS account without transferring them to a special savings plan. The TESS member will have to follow these steps; Submit a letter in writing to TESS requesting a withdrawal from their TESS account.

Include their name, TESS account number, the exact amount they would like to withdraw, and whether it is a partial or full withdrawal.

Include next to their signature on the letter a statutory declaration that the signature is theirs and that it is genuine. This is to protect TESS members and their money by not allowing anyone to make an unauthorised withdrawal from their TESS account.

The cheque will be mailed generally no later than eight weeks. Pending company contributions will not be able to be withdrawn until actually received.

Special TESS savings accounts Special TESS savings plans will be made available to TESS members which can be easily linked to the TESS account where members accrued contributions will be professionally managed by a major investment firm. To open a special TESS savings plan through TESS, TESS members need simply go to the investment accounts section of their standard TESS account, select open an investment account, and follow the instructions there. TESS members can open a TESS special savings account at any time with any investment firm that has teamed with TESS.

In order to tell TESS how to direct their savings from their TESS account to special TESS savings plan, the TESS member must submit to a TESS approved investment manager a separate account application and such other materials as the investment manager may require, and must satisfy any terms, conditions or requirements imposed by such investment manager, in their sole discretion. TESS will not represent, warrant or guarantee that any investment manager will accept a TESS members account application or make available to them any particular investment. Investment managers may impose conditions or requirements different from, or in addition to, any described on the TESS website. Each investment manager will reserve the right to change at any time, and without notice, the terms, conditions and requirements relating to any investment they may offer. TESS will not represent or warrant that any particular investment manager will make available any particular investment at the time a TESS member joins the service or at any time thereafter.

When a TESS member opens a Special TESS savings plan through a TESS approved investment firm, once their contributions in their standard TESS account have reached the minimum for that selected special TESS savings plan (which will depend on the plan provider), the TESS member will receive an email reminding them that they can transfer their contributions into their special TESS savings plan. Alternatively, TESS members may elect to have their contributions swept automatically into that special TESS savings plan account. TESS members will be able to open a special TESS savings plan for each student they are contributing to. TESS members will be able to track their special TESS savings plan account balances through their TESS account.

Contributing companies will have no role in establishing or administering the Investment Accounts. Upon the TESS members authorisation through the TESS website, transfers of their funds to an investment account will be made every three months (or more often, at the discretion of TESS Investments), subject to any minimum investment requirements of the applicable investment manager, once the TESS member has set up their preferences on the TESS website in accordance with the procedure TESS will establish from time to time.

TESS members will acknowledge and understand that their funds will only be transferred to an investment account in accordance with the foregoing, and funds will not be invested as directed by TESS members until received by the investment manager in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement with the investment manager. Once such funds have been transferred to an investment manager, TESS will not make any representation about, or assume responsibility for, the investment performance of any investment account, the risk of which will be borne fully by the TESS member.

ESTABLISHING A NETWORK A primary TESS member will be a TESS member who initially opens a standard online account in the TESS website for a future student, they will be able to create their own expanded savings network of grandparents, uncles and aunts, even cousins and grandparents and friends all directing their college contributions for the primary members nominated student/s benefit. A primary members network of members will be called supporting TESS members.

To establish a family and friends network of supporting members, primary members will simply need to go to the family friends section of their TESS account and select Invite Someone to Join Your Network. The invitation by email will ask them to sign up with TESS if they haven't yet, or to start contributing as supporting members if they are already members. The primary member will have the opportunity to personalise a message to individual invitees and send this message from their TESS account. Upon receiving this message, individuals may choose to accept the primary members invitation to contribute to the primary members future student. After they invitee has been sent the invitation, the invitee s name will automatically appear in the "Family Friends" area of the primary members TESS account. Once a contributing member has a contribution which they have agreed to allocate, those contributions will also appear in the primary members "family and friends" section of their TESS account.

That person (the invitee) will be under no obligation to join TESS, however if they do not join TESS, they cannot contribute to a members account. A TESS member may contribute to more than one student by allocating the company contributions they receive among their future students according to the percentages that they specify. If they are the primary member saving for a student (a student that they intend to or have opened for an investment account in a savings plan), the primary member simply can add that student's profile to the students section of their TESS account. If they are a supporting member saving for a future student, they simply need to go to the family friends section of their TESS account and select join someone else's network.

From within the students section of their TESS account, supporting members will be able to notify the primary member saving for that student, via email, that they would like to support the primary members college savings efforts by linking their account, and by earmarking their contributions for that future student. Primary members will be able to see the dollar amount of contributions allocated to their future college student by their supporting members reflected in their own TESS account. However, primary members will not be able to see what percentage of their total savings those supporting members are contributing to the primary members student account.

The primary member will ultimately control the flow of contributions earmarked for their nominated student/s. Supporting members will need to request permission from the primary member to start earmarking their company contributions to those student/s through the TESS savings network. If a primary member feels the need to change their list of supporting family friends members who have earmarked their company contributions for that primary members student/s, they will have the ability to do that at any time.

Thus if the primary member wishes to remove a supporting member who is contributing to their student, the primary member will be able to go to the family friends area of their TESS account and select from beside their names either the change permissions link to adjust which of their future students the contributing member is contributing to, or to remove link, to entirely delete that supporting member from their TESS account. The primary member will be able to add back a supporting member at a later date if they wish to do so. Likewise, a supporting member will be able to go to the students section of their own TESS account and select remove for the student that they would like to stop contributing to.

(7.01 MEMBERS INFORMATION PRIVACY POLICY TESS and its investment manager partners may share certain personal information (such as members or student's Social Security /tax file number or address) and demographic data to comply with necessary legal requirements. TESS will also collect certain technical information from TESS members computer each time they request a page during a visit to the TESS site. This information will be collected from TESS members computer's web browser, and may include their current IP address, type of operating system, and type of web browser software.

The TESS business scheme will also provide aggregated, non-personally identifiable information about TESS members and their future students to third parties for audit and marketing purposes. As the aggregated data will not associated with any particular person, these third parties will not have access to any personally identifiable information about TESS members or their future students.

LEGAL INFORMATION Nothing contained on the TESS website will be intended to constitute personal tax advice. The taxation consequences of participation in the service will depend on the TESS members particular tax circumstances. The TESS member will be responsible for obtaining their own tax advice with respect to participation in the service. They will agree that TESS will not have any liability for any information contained on or omitted from the TESS website with respect to taxes and that TESS will have no obligation to inform TESS members of changes in the taxation laws.

Nothing contained on the TESS website will be intended to constitute investment advice, nor will TESS give advice or offer any opinion or recommendation on the suitability of any security or investment strategy. TESS will not be deemed to have solicited any investments directed by TESS members in investment accounts established by TESS members with the investment managers.

Although TESS members may be able to obtain investment related reports and information through the service and the TESS website, the availability of such information will not constitute a recommendation by TESS to buy or sell any security or other property discussed in such reports or information. Any investment decision TESS members make will be based solely on their own evaluation of the merits of the particular investment decision in light of their financial circumstances and investment objectives.