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Wealthfront Checking Accounts Review

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Founded in 2011, Wealthfront is a multi-faceted personal finance website offering banking, automated investment, and investment advice services. It operates under the philosophy that excellent financial services should not be reserved for the wealthy. Wealthfront is located in Palo Alto, California and is owned by Wealthfront Corporation.
 
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How is Wealthfront rated?

Breakdown

4.0/5
Account Features
4.0/5
Fees and Restrictions
4.0/5
Support, Reputation, and Financials

Overall Rating: 4 / 5 (Very good)

Wealthfront does not offer a traditional checking account. Rather, the company offers an alternative product known as a cash management account which integrates some traditional checking features with savings and investment account features. Wealthfront combines an interest-bearing account, no fees or minimum deposits, and some of the checking services offered by competitive companies. Currently, you can use your Cash Account to make ATM purchases, pay bills electronically through your creditors' account services, or fund a Wealthfront investment account should you choose to open one. The account is not as full-featured as many we have reviewed, but depending on the amount you have on deposit with Wealthfront, you can earn up to 0.35% APY interest on your deposits.

Wealthfront Account Features

Account Features - 4 / 5

Wealthfront offers checking services that may be sufficient to meet your needs. But there are a couple of notable exceptions. Rather than providing a centralized online bill pay dashboard of its own, the company provides you with an account number and routing number. To pay bills from your account, you must provide this information to your individual creditors. Some creditors will support this practice, others may not.

While the company does offer a mobile app, at this time, you cannot pay bills through it. We should note, however, that you can make deposits using Wealthfront's mobile app. The company reports that it will soon offer traditional paper check bill payment, as well.

Wealthfront's Cash Accounts can be integrated with accounts like Paypal and Venmo or the company's own investment accounts. You can connect your Wealthfront ATM card to Apple Pay and Google Pay to gain access to touchless payment.
Types of Checking Accounts
Free Checking Accounts
Online Checking Accounts
Interest Bearing Checking Accounts
Methods of Deposits
Mobile Check Deposit
Online Transfer
Direct Deposit
Integration with Other Online Accounts
Savings
Brokerage Accounts
Retirement Accounts
Scheduled Withdrawals to Savings
No-Fee ATM
No-Fee at Network ATMs
ATM Locations
Wealthfront offers free ATM services at 19,000 in-network locations. Out-of-network ATM fees are not refundable.
Branch Offices
Wealthfront is strictly an online bank. It operates no brick-and-mortar branches.

Interest (APY)

Wealthfront currently pays 0.35% APY on its "top tier" Cash Accounts. Other rates vary.

Overdraft Protection

Wealthfront does not charge overdraft fees for either ATM withdrawals or purchases. Online bill pay withdrawals may be subject to penalties, though that wasn't made clear on the company's website.
Integration with Mobile Payment Services
Venmo
PayPal
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Pay Bills Online
Yes
Bank Checks
No
Mobile App
Yes

Wealthfront Fees and Restrictions

Fees and Restrictions - 4 / 5

Wealthfront prides itself on providing a fee-free checking experience to its customers. Your Wealthfront Cash Account isn't subject to the wide range of fees many other companies charge. These include monthly maintenance charges, minimum balance or overdraft fees, charges for account overuse or inactivity, and more. Wealthfront does charge customers for using out-of-network ATMs ($2.50 in addition to whatever charges the ATM company assesses) and foreign transaction fees.
Maintenance Fee
There are no monthly maintenance fees with the Wealthfront Cash Account.
Minimum Balance
You can open a Wealthfront Cash Account with a one-dollar deposit. You are not required to maintain a minimum balance.
Minimum Monthly Deposit
There is no minimum monthly deposit associated with a Wealthfront Cash Account.
Minimum Number of Transactions
Wealthfront allows you to use your account as frequently or infrequently as you choose without incurring any fees.

Wealthfront Support, Reputation, and Financials

Support, Reputation, and Financials - 4 / 5

While Wealthfront’s Cash Accounts offer some attractive features, when it comes to customer support, the company lags quite a bit behind its competitors. There is no customer support telephone number or email address listed on its site. The only means of accessing customer support is through an online form. The company does not tell you how quickly you’ll receive a reply to your online query. When you’re worried about your money—for example, if your card is lost or stolen or you’re concerned you may not have sufficient funds to cover a purchase— every minute can be agony. So we were disappointed by the lack of information Wealthfront provides about its customer support structure.

Wealthfront receives a 3.4 out of 5 star rating on Trust Pilot, based on just two reviews. The company receives an F rating from the BBB. We want to point out, however, that the BBB heavily penalizes companies that do not respond to complaints filed through the organization. In Wealthfront’s case, there have only been a handful of BBB complaints filed over the past four years. That’s a tiny percentage of the number of customers the company serves. Wealthfront’s poor rating may be due to its failure to respond to that handful.

As a privately-held company, Wealthfront itself is not rated by Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s. As is the case with many online banking service providers, Wealthfront partners with other banking institutions to deliver some of its services. These institutions may even be responsible for holding and insuring your money through the FDIC. Wealthfront deposits are held by and its checking services are provided by Green Dot. Green Dot is also not rated by Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s.
BBB Rating
F
BBB Total Complaints
6
BBB Resolved Complaints
1
Trust Pilot Rating
3.5 out of 5
Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) Complaints
0
Date Collected
2020-09-01
Year Founded
2011
Customer Support Hours
Not disclosed

Company Profile

Full Name
Wealthfront Checking Accounts
Company Website
https://wealthfront.com
Headquarters
261 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA, 94301

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