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Great Place To Park Savings
i just opened an savings account here through the app and it was easy. there is no access to the savings account anywhere else but the app which is good for me. ACH transfers should be sufficient for paying a few bills or transferring to other accounts as i am currently doing with other online savings accounts all of which are high yield savings but not as high as Affirm
Actually Very Easy To Open
I was a little concerned with the lack of reviews on Affirm. I went ahead and gave them a try anyway because of the decent APY. Opening an account was actually very easy, but it has to be done in the app since there is no web access. The app functions wonderfully. Transfers seem to move very quickly when pushed from an external account to Affirm. Linking within the Affirm app was accomplished with Plaid (owned by Visa), with an option for micro deposits for institutions that don't have Plaid functionality yet. Another concern I had was that since Affirm is a credit/micro loan provider that they would do a hard pull for me to sign up. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no hard pull for sign up. Overall I am happy with Affirm and Cross River Bank so far. If you don't mind using the app only, don't hesitate.
Great Interest Rate For Savings
This is an honest review! I opened the account on my phone app very easily and fast. I am ok that this account functions mainly on the app. I am getting 1.3%, much better than anything out there right now!! And it is FDIC insured.
Can't Access Account From A Computer. Not Safe. Not Private
You are not able to view your savings account on a computer or do anything with it. No login and password to link the account from another bank with. Am I missing something? No functionality, no website. They just want you to only deposit your money in the app so they get you to shop and take loans out for shopping. No transfer option on their end, and good luck getting your money out and efficiently.
You can only login from the app with a passcode, which is not safe. Anyone around you can access your phone and you can lose your phone with the app on it. It doesn't even immediately require the passcode when you exit the app. I don't want to keep the app on my phone so anyone can see what account I have with Affirm. And, since you can't just go to their website to login and close the tab, the alternative of deleting the app after every use is not practical.
Do Not Use Their Savings Product, They Can Freeze Your Account For An Indefinite Amount Of Time
I moved quite a bit of funds here because of the high rate on their savings product. Last Saturday my account was frozen without any reason why. I was informed of this by an email with a link to a form to fill out. Well would you know it, that link was broken. So I called and was told on Saturday they would escalate it. After 4 business days of no communication, I called and demanded at the very least a timeline. They could not provide one because they have no control or even communication with their partner bank in regards to freezing their customer's funds. On that 4th business day I demanded the supervisor transfer me to a manager, I was told they were all busy but rest assured either a manager would call me that day or the supervisor would call me back informing that the call would occur tomorrow. Guess what, no one called back, shocking right? On the 5th business day I spent an hour on the phone speaking with Brian a manager further identifying how the dynamic works with Affirm and their partner bank. It comes down to the point that Affirm has no control over how their partner bank treats their customers. If the account is frozen, it stays in that state for an indefinite amount of time, and best of all you cannot even close the account. So they can take your money and give you zero recourse to advocate for yourself.
Bottom line before you get sucked in by a high interest rate, imagine this scenario: You have $100,000 in cash in the account because you are saving for a down payment on a house. Then you find that house and are approaching your closing date, and they freeze your account and there is not a damn thing you can do, or they can do to unfreeze your account. Best of all they won't even be able to tell you a timeline, 1 day or 1 week, or 1 month, 1 year. Nothing can be done. Oops sorry about that house you wanted
Terrible Customer Service
When initially opening the account there was a problem with the direct deposit. Because actual funds are managed by Cross River Bank they couldn't tell me anything NOR could Cross River. It took 2 to 3 weeks to sort out. Now they have frozen my account and refuse to provide a reason why. They also refuse to tell me how long that will take. It has been 10 days. I have no issues with any accounts at traditional banking institutions. AVOID AFFIRM AT ALL COSTS
Unable To Open Account
Could open account on app, so tried on a desktop.
Not an easy process.
Need to take 1) photo of yourself 2) front of ID 3) back of ID and 4) yourself with ID
After you upload all of those, it doesn't like the quality of your photos,
but you don't know which one, so you have to do all of them over.
Then after waiting for processing you get
"Based on an eligibility check, we can't create an account for you just yet."
Data as of Q3 2020
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 58410 |
| Year Established | 2008 |
| Employees | 361 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.6% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 13.54% |
| Annual Interest Income | $203.9MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $11.78B$2.00B |
| Loans | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $9.89B$1.63B |
| Deposits | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $3.19B$1.50B |
| Equity Capital | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $321.6MM$235.1MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $70.4MM$36.0MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $5.7MM$2.2MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q3 2020vs Q3 2019 | $0$0 |