Aspiration Bank

[Anonymous]

I've been seeing ads for Aspiration pop up here and there, and they've definitely caught my interest. Does anyone have any first hand experience with them? I've found a lot of reviews from sites like nerdwallet, but not many personal reviews.

Currently I bank with SunTrust, but I'm definitely considering a switch to Aspiration. Though, I did just remember the merger SunTrust had. Would it be worth it to stay put and see what changes may come post merger?

[titancylinder]

I have Aspiration as one of my side accounts (2.5 years+ back when they were partnered with Radius Bank) . I like them, they don't hound me for products and basically I have no problems with them. 

Some benefits:

 1.00% APY interest on your Spend Account for April, on top of the 2.00% APY interest you may have earned on your Save Account. It's not much, but for a no fee account, I'll take it. 

But the biggest selling point is:

you’ll pay no ATM fees, overdraft fees, or non-sufficient funds fees, and we’ll provide any additional services at cost (if a wire transfer costs us $0.82, we’ll charge you $0.82, and not a penny more.)

It's simply a nofrils Investment Bank. 

[designated_knitter]

I had Aspiration for about 6 months.  At first I liked them -- great alternative to Chime.  But I have since closed my accounts as their perks have steadily deteriorated.

First, you were able to get cash back using your debit card.  Cool!  Then they did away with that.

Then they had a high interest rate for savings -- they cut that as soon as the Fed cut their rates.  

You don't get early direct deposit.  Hard to get a live human being for support if something goes wrong.  They were better (not saying much) than Empower Checking or Chime....

But still not worth it to me since their perks are only as good as the current fed rate.

[titancylinder]

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@designated_knitter wrote:

I had Aspiration for about 6 months.  At first I liked them -- great alternative to Chime.  But I have since closed my accounts as their perks have steadily deteriorated.

First, you were able to get cash back using your debit card.  Cool!  Then they did away with that.

Then they had a high interest rate for savings -- they cut that as soon as the Fed cut their rates.  

You don't get early direct deposit.  Hard to get a live human being for support if something goes wrong.  They were better (not saying much) than Empower Checking or Chime....

But still not worth it to me since their perks are only as good as the current fed rate.

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This is true, they did cut the rates. But I found a lot of banks cut their money market rates after the Fed cut--including my primary bank. I think if you're looking for high yield savings accounts, it's still best to stick with a credit union. This is pretty standard behavior. And you're right, they did eliminate the rewards for using debit cards. But, I don't think this is a huge concern since most financially conscious folks don't use debit anyways. For myself, all my debit cards are on blocked status. 

Their IRAs and other investments have low entry levels though. Overall, I wouldn't use Aspiration as a primary checking account. But I still like their conscientious mentality. 

[designated_knitter]

Many people are do not have access to Discover and other cash-rewards cards -- so being able to use your debit card to earn cash back was a big selling point.  

Citi is still offering a high-yield savings.   I also have a smaller bank (Live Oak Bank) that has not cut interest rates.  

If they work for others, that is great.  I'm just relating my experience after 6 months.  

For more information -- I have found this site to be useful.  A lot of the 5-star reviews, though, sound like shill reviews in my humble opinion:

https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/reviews/aspiration.html

Cheers

[Anonymous]

I looked hard at Aspiration as there are some real positives, particularly in the corporate culture. I would reconsider if they handled everything in-house, but they do not.The possibility of Aspiration changing their partnership again on the back-end is enough to stay away. Just ask people customers who had issues when Radius Bank dumped the company.