Empower

BIG Step Up From Chime

I had joined Chime last year based on the promise of Micro Savings and early direct deposit.

What they DON'T talk about is how their ATM card network is small and if you don't use it, you are charged 2.50 a pop. If you get cash back from a bank, it is also 2.50 bucks. And they had a limit of 500 / day to get cash back.

I've been with Empower for just over a month and so far it is pretty good.

The good:
1. Early access to direct deposits like Chime
2. 2 percent cash back on debit card swipes like credit cards.
3. 2 percent interest on deposits (as opposed to 0.01 percent by Chime).
4. 1000 daily limit for cash withdrawals and no fees for ANY ATMs
5. Seamless integration with my other banks (including Fidelity, Live Oak Bank, and my local CU)
6. Mobile check deposits.
7. I haven't gotten hit with a single fee yet.
8. They will allow you see all your balances and activity from your other banks in the app so you have a one-app-look for all your money sources.

The not-so-good:
1. Support is not great if you have problems or questions
2. No website to view your activity -- you are limited to the app on your mobile devices
3. The app can be glitchy in terms of transfers
4. The app is very "chatty" and gives you lots of useless alerts which you can't delete.

However, the goods outweigh the bad -- especially compared to Chime. Hopefully they will continue to keep their features. I really like the fact that I get cashback for debit card swipes so I don't feel compelled to run up debt on my credit card.