Balance Health Zone Definitions
Last updated: In force from 3 August 2026
This document is incorporated into the Terms and Conditions by reference and forms part of the same agreement (Clause 47.1). It is referenced at Clauses 8.1–8.8; Schedules 2 and 3. It may be amended on not less than 30 days’ notice under Clause 50. The full register of incorporated documents is at Membership documents.
These thresholds have been prepared for board adoption and have not yet been formally adopted. They are published here so that they can be served with the Terms and reviewed before they take effect.
Schedule 3 of the Terms sets out the design principles of the Balance Health Traffic Light System and says the zone definitions are "tabulated in materials accompanying this Schedule". This document is those materials, and it is also the zone-calculation methodology that Clause 8.3(b) requires us to publish.
1. What the zones do, and what they do not do
The Balance Health Traffic Light System is a recommender. Your zone changes two things and only two things (Clause 8.4):
- the weighting and presentation of the trade matches we show you; and
- the content and tone of the messages we send you.
A Member in a high-balance zone is offered more ways to spend and fewer prompts to earn. A Member in a low-balance zone is offered more ways to earn and is prioritised for buyer matching.
Your zone does not block any transaction. At any zone you may accept any sale and make any purchase, subject only to the Trading Headroom Limit floor under Clause 7 — which is a separate mechanism entirely.
Your zone also has no effect on (Clause 8.5):
- your membership status;
- any Cash Fee you pay;
- your Reputation Hand scores;
- your right to terminate your membership; or
- your right to ask a person to review your classification.
Being in any zone other than Green is not a breach of the Terms, incurs no fee and carries no penalty (Clause 8.7).
2. The two reference points
Your zone is calculated from your current SILVA balance measured against one of two reference points, depending on which side of zero you are on.
| Side of zero | Measured against | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Positive balance | Your Earning Cap | Trading Headroom Guidance, section 6 |
| Negative balance | Your Trading Headroom Limit | Trading Headroom Guidance, section 2 |
Both figures are visible on your dashboard at all times, alongside your current balance and your current zone.
3. The zone table
| Zone | Your balance | What it means | What we do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red — earn | Negative, at or beyond 80% of your Trading Headroom Limit | You are close to the floor. Further purchases will start being refused. | Sell-side matches are prioritised heavily. You are pushed to the front of buyer matching. Communications focus on finding you sales. |
| Amber — earn | Negative, at or beyond 50% of your Trading Headroom Limit but short of 80% | You have used more than half your headroom. | Sell-side matches weighted up. Gentle prompts towards earning. |
| Green | Anything between — from just short of 50% of your Trading Headroom Limit, through zero, up to just short of 75% of your Earning Cap | Healthy. Balanced participation. | Matches weighted normally, on relevance alone. |
| Amber — spend | Positive, at or above 75% of your Earning Cap but below 100% | You are earning faster than you are spending. | Buy-side matches weighted up. Prompts towards categories in your expense analysis. |
| Red — spend | Positive, at or above 100% of your Earning Cap | You are holding more SILVA than you can realistically spend in three months. | Buy-side matches prioritised heavily. A Trade Broker looks for supply in the categories you actually spend on, including recruiting it if it is not on the network yet. |
3.1 Worked example
A Member with £25,000 Declared TAE on Band A has a Trading Headroom Limit of SILVA 2,708 and an Earning Cap of SILVA 6,250. Their zones are:
| Balance | Zone |
|---|---|
| −2,166.40 or beyond | Red — earn |
| −1,354.00 to −2,166.39 | Amber — earn |
| −1,353.99 to +4,687.49 | Green |
| +4,687.50 to +6,249.99 | Amber — spend |
| +6,250.00 or above | Red — spend |
Note how wide Green is. It runs from a meaningful negative position all the way to over four and a half thousand SILVA positive. That is intentional: normal trading swings either side of zero, and a system that turned Amber every time a Member bought before they sold would be noise rather than signal.
4. Why the bands are not symmetrical
The negative side is tighter than the positive side. Amber starts once half your headroom is used, but on the positive side it does not start until three-quarters of your Earning Cap is reached.
Holding SILVA and owing SILVA are not equivalent risks. A large positive balance is a Member who has supplied more than they have taken — the network owes them, and the consequence of leaving it too long is idle value rather than a stopped account. A large negative balance runs towards a hard floor that will start refusing transactions. The signal has to arrive earlier on the side where it can actually cost you something.
5. Red for ten consecutive days
If you remain in a Red zone — either Red — for more than 10 consecutive days, a human Trade Broker contacts you to offer personalised support (Clause 8.6 and Schedule 3, principle 5). This is not an enforcement step and it is not a warning. It is the point at which we accept the matching algorithm has not solved the problem and a person should look at it.
6. Transparency and review
You can see your zone at all times, along with the balance, Earning Cap and Trading Headroom Limit that produced it. We do not operate a classification you cannot see.
You may ask a person to review it at any time, free of charge (Clause 8.6). We acknowledge within 5 Business Days and give a substantive response within 20 Business Days. Zone classification is produced by the AI System; the review is not.
The review route, and what happens if you disagree with the outcome, is set out in section 7 of the Trading Headroom Guidance.
7. Language
Schedule 3 commits us to positive, opportunity-focused framing in every communication driven by these zones, and to no punitive language. "Red" here describes a position in a range. It does not describe you, your business or your standing, and no communication we generate from it will imply that it does.
8. Amendment
These thresholds may be amended in accordance with Clause 50 of the Terms, on not less than 30 days' notice. Any change is published on this page before it takes effect.