Wealthfront Adds Debit Card And Checking Features To Its Cash Account
The company continues to reinvent banking and solidify its position as the primary financial relationship for its clients
Jun 29, 2020, 13:00 ET
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Wealthfront announced the addition of checking features to its Cash Account. This is the company's latest move to build a nextgen banking service that is branchless, automated and optimizes every dollar you earn. There is no fee or account minimum to access the new checking features. You can use them to:
- Direct deposit, get paid early. Clients can set up direct deposit for their paychecks and get paid up to two days early, as well as set up direct deposit for other payments like a tax refund or company reimbursements.
- Pay bills and friends. Bills like cable, mortgage or rent can be set up for automatic payment to be paid from the Cash Account and clients can pay friends with apps like Cash App, Venmo, PayPal and others.
- Make purchases, take out cash. A debit card can now be added to the Cash Account to make purchases and get cash from a nationwide network of fee-free ATMs.
"Our clients are anxious for Wealthfront to become their primary financial relationship and offering checking features puts us in that position," said Andy Rachleff co-founder and CEO of Wealthfront. "Our Self-Driving Money™ features will be able to route their hard earned money to the most appropriate investment vehicles as soon as it hits their account. It's exciting to see our vision of every dollar earned being optimized come to life."
In addition to being the next important building block of Wealthfront's Self-Driving Money™ vision, these checking features come to market at a crucial time for Wealthfront's audience. The demand to move to digital financial services has been greatly accelerated by recent events like nationwide shelter-in-place orders due to Covid-19. With the majority of bank branches closed, traditional banks' lackluster digital efforts have become more apparent, leaving customers unhappy.
"The retail branch-heavy model used by traditional banks is broken and the recent shelter-in-place orders exacerbated the existential threat banks face," said Dan Carroll, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Wealthfront. "Customers are waking up to the fact that mobile bank apps are just ATMs on your phone and they are demanding better solutions even louder than before. We've launched these features just in time to fill that void and are confident that we'll soon be the main financial relationship for our audience."
Wealthfront is able to offer checking features through its partnership with Green Dot Bank. Clients who are currently holding uninvested cash in their Wealthfront Cash Account can begin adding these features to their accounts today. In addition to the new checking features, the Wealthfront Cash Account offers 5x more interest than the national average, unlimited and easy transfers to a Wealthfront Investment Account and up to $1 million of FDIC insurance offered through Wealthfront's partner banks. To open a Wealthfront Cash Account, download the app on the App Store or Google Play or visit www.wealthfront.com.
About Wealthfront
Wealthfront is a nextgen banking service that helps young professionals optimize their savings. We provide no-fee banking and low-cost investment management all through a five star rated mobile app. Our ultimate vision is to deliver what we call Self-Driving Money™. Soon when clients direct deposit their paycheck into Wealthfront we will be able to automatically pay their bills, top off their emergency fund and retirement accounts and then deposit the rest into a tax-efficient investment account. To learn more please visit www.wealthfront.com.
Disclosures
Checking features are subject to Green Dot Bank's application and approval. Debit Card is optional and must be requested. Wealthfront Cash Account Visa® Debit Card is issued by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association. Green Dot Bank operates under the following registered trade names: GoBank, Green Dot Bank and Bonneville Bank. All of these registered trade names are used by, and refer to, a single FDIC-insured bank, Green Dot Bank. Deposits under any of these trade names are deposits with Green Dot Bank and are aggregated for deposit insurance coverage. Wealthfront products and services are not provided by Green Dot Bank. Green Dot is a registered trademark of Green Dot Corporation. ©2020 Green Dot Corporation. All rights reserved.
Early availability depends on timing of payor's payment instructions and fraud prevention restrictions may apply. As such, the availability or timing of early direct deposit may vary from pay period to pay period. Interest does not begin accruing until funds arrive at the program banks, which may take up to one business day.
Other fees apply to the checking features. Fee-free ATM access applies to in-network ATMs only. For out-of-network ATMs and bank tellers a $2.50 fee will apply, plus any additional fee that the owner or bank may charge.
Apple Pay, Face ID and Touch ID are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Pay is a trademark of Google LLC.
The Cash Account Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is as of 03/05/20. The APY may change at any time, before or after the Cash Account is opened. The APY for the Wealthfront Cash Account represents the weighted average of the APY on the aggregate deposit balances of all clients at the program banks. Deposit balances are not allocated equally among the participating program banks.
Cash Account is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC ("Wealthfront Brokerage"), a member of FINRA/SIPC. Neither Wealthfront Brokerage nor any of its affiliates are a bank, and Cash Account is not a checking or savings account. We convey funds to institutions accepting and maintaining deposits. Investment management and advisory services are provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC ("Wealthfront Advisers"), an SEC registered investment adviser, and financial planning tools are provided by Wealthfront Software LLC ("Wealthfront").
The cash balance in the Cash Account is swept to one or more banks (the "program banks") where it earns a variable rate of interest and is eligible for FDIC insurance. FDIC insurance is not provided until the funds arrive at the program banks. FDIC insurance coverage is limited to $250,000 per qualified customer account per banking institution. Wealthfront uses more than one program bank to ensure FDIC coverage of up to $1 million for your cash deposits. For more information on FDIC insurance coverage, please visit www.FDIC.gov. Customers are responsible for monitoring their total assets at each of the program banks to determine the extent of available FDIC insurance coverage in accordance with FDIC rules. The deposits at program banks are not covered by SIPC.
Nothing in this communication should be construed as tax advice, a solicitation or offer, or recommendation, to buy or sell any security. Any links provided to other server sites are offered as a matter of convenience and are not intended to imply that Wealthfront Advisers or its affiliates endorses, sponsors, promotes and/or is affiliated with the owners of or participants in those sites, or endorses any information contained on those sites, unless expressly stated otherwise.
Wealthfront, Wealthfront Advisers and Wealthfront Brokerage are wholly owned subsidiaries of Wealthfront Corporation.
© 2020 Wealthfront Corporation. All rights reserved.
SOURCE Wealthfront
