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Albert is a robust online platform that offers cash-back rewards, early direct deposits, and savings tools. You'll need to look elsewhere to open a joint account, though. You can also earn higher savings rates elsewhere with the best high-yield savings accounts.
Albert: Overall Rating
Feature | Insider rating (out of 5) |
Cash account | 4 |
Savings | 3 |
Trustworthiness | 4.5 |
Total | 3.75 |
Albert: Pros and Cons
Pros | Cons |
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Albert Cash
no monthly service fee
None
$0
- No minimum opening deposit
- No monthly service fees
- No overdraft fees
- Earn cash back
- Receive paychecks up to 2 days early
- $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee
- With a Genius Subscription, you may qualify for Instant Overdraft and overdraw between $25 and $250
- No way to deposit cash
- No joint accounts
- 55,000 free ATMs, with an ATM locator in the app
- Deposit cash via direct deposit, mobile check deposit, or transfers from other bank accounts
- Activate cash-back rewards with one merchant at a time, within your mobile app
- FDIC insured through partner institution, Sutton Bank
The Albert Cash Account is a good free account that processes your direct deposits up to two days early. You can also earn cash back at certain retailers. You can only activate cash back with one retailer at a time with your app, though. When you activate rewards with a different company, your rewards with the other one will turn off.
Albert Savings
$12.49 or $14.99 monthly subscription fee
4.95%
$0
- No minimum opening deposit
- Smart Savings automatically transfers money from a linked checking account into savings if the algorithm says you can afford it
- Competitive interest rate
- Genius subscribers can set customized savings goals
- No joint accounts
- Smart Savings helps you automatically save money from linked checking account; choose a schedule of weekly, twice monthly, or monthly transfers into savings
- A Genius subscription includes customized savings goals, plus access to live financial experts and a tool that analyzes your financial plan
- Genius subscription costs $12.49/month billed yearly or $14.99/month billed monthly, your first 30 days are free
- FDIC insured through partner institution, Sutton Bank
The Albert Savings Account has strong savings tools. By enabling Smart Savings, you allow Albert to evaluate your linked checking account regularly and transfer money into savings. The exact amount depends on how much the algorithm decides you can afford each time. You can also create separate savings pools, such as "Travel" or "Down Payment," and qualify for cash bonuses.
About Albert
Albert is a digital financial platform with a cash account, savings account, and auto-investing tools. Albert does not offer joint accounts.
For a Genius subscription, you'll pay $14.99 per month or $12.49 billed monthly if you sign up for annual subscription.
The Genius subscription lets you open a savings account. You can create separate savings goals within the savings account. You'll also have access to Albert's team of live financial experts and a tool that evaluates your financial plan, including debt payoff, budgeting, and more.
Albert doesn't have any physical locations, but it does have over 55,000 free ATMs around the US. You can locate the nearest free ATM in the Albert app. The app has 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Apple store, and 4.1 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
To contact customer support, send Albert a text message or email.
Your deposits are FDIC-insured for up to $250,000 through Albert's partner institution, Sutton Bank.
Is Albert Trustworthy?
Albert does not have any public controversies.
The Better Business Bureau gives Albert a B rating. The best grade the BBB gives is an A+, and the website states that Albert has an B due to the high number of customer complaints on the BBB website.
How Albert Compares
Albert and Betterment each have separate checking and savings accounts, while Wealthfront has a hybrid checking/savings account. Wealthfront does let you create separate savings goals within the account, though.
Betterment and Wealthfront allow you to open joint accounts, but Albert only has individual accounts. None of the companies charge monthly service fees, although Albert does charge $4 per month for its Genius subscription that comes with extra features.
You might prefer Albert or Wealthfront if you want to receive direct deposits up to two days early. Betterment could be better for travelers, though, because it reimburses all ATM fees and foreign transaction fees.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Albert
We rate accounts on a scale from one to five stars. For Albert's cash and savings accounts we used Personal Finance Insider's bank account ratings methodology. The exact factors we evaluate vary depending on the type of account — for example, we look at overdraft fees for cash accounts and interest rates for savings accounts.
We use a weighted average to get our star rating, which means we weigh certain features, like interest rates and fees, at a higher weight percentage than others. We understand that these areas can more heavily impact a person's overall banking experience.