Betterment checking and cash reserve review

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Overall bank rating

Pros and cons

Betterment Checking is a good account for travelers because it reimburses 100% of foreign transaction fees and ATM fees.

You can also earn cash back with thousands of retailers. The percentage you’ll earn will depend on a) which business you shop at, and b) whether there are any new cash back promotions — but you can typically expect to earn 2% to 20% cash back.

Betterment Cash Reserve is essentially a high-yield savings account. But unlike most savings accounts, it doesn’t limit how many transactions you can make each month.

Betterment Cash Reserve pays a high interest rate. You can also create buckets to save for different goals, such as “Travel Account” or “Emergency Fund.”

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How Betterment works

Betterment is primarily known as an online investment platform, but it also has a checking and cash reserve account.

If you have both accounts, you can link them to take advantage of what Betterment calls the “two-way sweep.”

With the two-way sweep, Betterment assesses whether there’s any extra money in your checking account by looking at your balance and spending habits. Then it sweeps any excess money into cash reserve to help you save more and earn interest. The two-way sweep also uses your cash reserve account as overdraft protection. If you overdraw from your checking account, money moves from cash reserve to cover the overdraft.

The Betterment app ranks as one of our top banking mobile apps. It has 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store, and 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.

To contact customer support, call or email Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Your deposits in Betterment Checking are FDIC insured for up to $250,000 through NBKC Bank, or $500,000 for joint accounts. Deposits in Betterment Cash Reserve are FDIC insured for up to $4 million by multiple partner banks.

Betterment trustworthiness and BBB rating

The Better Business Bureau gives Betterment a B rating. The BBB cites 65 complaints filed against the business as the reason for the grade. A good BBB score indicates a company responds effectively to customer complaints, advertises honestly, and is transparent about business practices.

A strong BBB grade doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a smooth relationship with a company, though. You may want to ask friends and family about their experiences with Betterment or read online reviews. You could also look at any recent controversies.

Betterment hasn’t been involved in any recent public controversies. 

Betterment vs. Wealthfront

You’ll probably like Betterment if you want separate checking and savings accounts. Wealthfront has a hybrid checking/savings account. On the bright side, Wealthfront does let you create savings buckets to organize and plan your saving.

You’ll earn interest on your entire balance with Wealthfront. With Betterment, you’ll only earn interest on your cash reserve balance. 

Betterment vs. Acorns

Acorns actually doesn’t have a savings account. But it does have checking, retirement, and brokerage accounts, plus investment accounts for kids. Depending on which accounts you want, you’ll pay between $1 and $5 per month.

You may prefer Acorns if you want more account options, but Betterment if you want a regular checking and savings account.