Aspiration is a provider of financial services. It provides investing with minimal costs and cash-back options, a cash management account, a debit card, a credit card, and other services. Read the Review of Aspiration Bank on TradingCritique to take the first step towards a better, greener, and more prosperous trading future.
Table 1: Aspiration Bank Overview
| Aspiration Bank Highlights | |
|---|---|
| Account Types | Spend & Save Account Investment Accounts Cash Management Account Retirement Accounts |
| Minimum Deposit | $10 |
| Debit Card | YES |
| Payment Method | Ach Wire Mobile Cheque Deposits Cash Direct Deposit |
| Account Base Currencies | USD |
| Trading Platforms | MobileDesktop |
| Overdraft Fee | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | Spend & Save Account – $0 |
| Aspiration Plus – $5.99/month if you pay annually (or) $7.99/month | |
| Foreign Currency Transaction Fee | 2%/transaction |
| Transaction Fee | $0/transaction |
| Redemption Fee | $0 |
| Commission | NO |
| Inactivity Fee | NO |
| Deposit & Withdrawal Fee | NO |
| Customer Support | Mon – Fri: 6 am – 6 pm PT |
| Sat-Sun: 8 am – 3 pm PT | |
Aspiration Bank Review- An Intro
Aspiration is not a federally insured, chartered Bank in and of itself. This firm provides a cash management account. It focuses on assisting clients in making moral financial decisions. Traditional savings accounts are not available through Aspiration. Cash back may be available on specific Aspiration debit card purchases, and if you meet the requirements, interest may be paid on your deposits. It donates 10% of its profits to charity.
In 2013, Aspiration was established. The company began operations in 2015, and by the end of 2020, it had over 360,000 funded accounts. California’s Marina del Rey is home to Aspiration, an online-only Bank with a strong Social conscience.
Joe Sanberg, a businessman, and Andrei Cherny, a former government official and political speechwriter, co-founded Aspiration. Cherny is the company’s CEO at the moment. One of Aspiration’s largest current investors is the asset management company Oaktree Capital Management, which specializes in alternative investments. Actors Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, and Orlando Bloom were early supporters.
Aspiration Bank – Knowledge Bites
For those customers who are dissatisfied with traditional Banks, Aspiration is a viable alternative. The minimum balance required to get started is low, and it offers a wide range of choices for fee-free ATM transactions. Furthermore, you can still earn interest by using your money to align your finances with a good cause. Aspiration gives Social and Environmental responsibility a high priority. By providing environmentally friendly and Socially responsible Banking solutions, it seeks to have a positive impact on the world. With Aspiration’s “Plant Your Change” program, transactions made with the Aspiration debit card are automatically rounded up to the nearest dollar to support reforestation efforts. Customers can select the fees they pay with Aspiration’s innovative “Pay What Is Fair” fee structure, including the choice to pay none at all.
Regulations and Trustability Review of the Aspiration Bank
Your assets are secured because Aspiration is a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) / Securities Investor Protection Corp (SIPC). Aspiration Bank does not have any physical branches.
Security Review of Aspiration Bank
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects the funds in your “Spend and Save” account through partnerships with Banks. Instead, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. will protect any securities you own through Aspiration.
The limited insurance coverage that Aspiration provides includes reimbursement for losses brought on by identity theft. If you use an Aspiration debit card to pay your phone bill, you can also get free cell phone protection.
Users who commit identity fraud may be reimbursed up to $1,000. Your money is kept at Coastal Community Bank during the day. For checking and savings accounts, you now have FDIC insurance for up to a total of $250,000. Your money is distributed overnight and instantly to a list of FDIC-member banks of which you will be notified. The network increases from $250,000 to $2 million in your FDIC insurance coverage.
Banks on Aspiration’s List
To manage your cash balance, Aspiration uses a list of Banks in order of priority. Aspiration has listed the following Banks:
Table 2: List of Banks available in Aspiration
| Aspiration’s Bank List |
|---|
| The Freedom Bank of Virginia |
| Progress Bank |
| Manufacturers Bank |
| Ion Bank |
| EagleBank |
| Coastal Community Bank |
| C3Bank |
| Bridgewater Bank |
| Bremer Bank |
| Bank of New Hampshire |
The Goal of the Aspiration Bank
The company is devoted to “clean money” and guarantees that savings and purchases won’t be used to support coal or oil companies. On the other hand, funds transferred from conventional Banks to Aspiration have a climate-saving effect. This is due to Aspiration’s policy of planting a tree for every debit or credit card transaction.
Review of the Aspiration Bank Mobile App
Mobile apps and the Aspiration website can both be used to access Aspiration. The mobile app allows for simple money transfers between the two accounts. Additionally, you can connect the Aspiration debit card to Google Pay or Apple Pay.
Review of Types of Accounts Available in Aspiration Bank
Aspiration Bank offers the following types of accounts:
The Aspiration Bank Account Types are:
Spend & Save Account
- This is a checking and savings account in one.
- You have control over how much money you spend every day and can earn interest on the savings you have.
- Direct deposit enables you to receive money up to two days earlier.
- It states that each thousand dollars you transfer to Aspiration results in 6,000 fewer miles driven.
- Joint accounts are available from Aspiration.
- Once you’ve opened and been granted access to your Spend and Save account, you can add the other user to turn your account into a joint account.
Aspiration and Aspiration Plus are the two available account types in the Spend & Save Account.
Aspiration Spend & Save Account
- One checking-like account was made available by Aspiration, and it caught people’s attention because it offered a high yield of 1% APY.
- Aspiration declared in 2019 that “Spend & Save,” a cash management account, would take the place of its checking account.
- It offers interest on savings and has a debit card.
Aspiration Plus Account
- The user should be able to use it as a single, seamless Aspiration account.
- You can enhance your Spend & Save account with Aspiration Plus, an upgraded subscription service
- With Aspiration Plus, you also get automatic carbon offsets for gas purchases, out-of-network ATM reimbursement, and Purchase Assurance (coverage for things damaged or stolen within 90 days).
Investment Accounts
- There is only one mutual fund offered by Aspiration, the Redwood Fund.
- A variety of green businesses are among those in which the Redwood Fund makes investments.
- ESG, or environmental, Social, and governance, is its main focus.
- This fund is perfect for small investments because the minimum investment amount is only $10.
- You won’t see any of your money invested in oil companies because the fund doesn’t use fossil fuels.
- You can do so through a taxable investment account or an IRA.
Cash Management Account
- The Cash Management Account is a high-yield savings account that is intended to earn competitive interest rates on your savings while maintaining access to your funds.
- Customers can enjoy several advantages from Aspiration’s cash management account, which has no monthly fees.
- Many of the financial services offered by cash management accounts are similar to those offered a “traditional Bank.”
- Both CMAs and conventional checking accounts offer access to a debit card, a checkbook, online account management, and other features.
- CMAs typically cost less while paying out more interest.
- CMAs make it simple to manage your cash because they let you handle both your money and your investments in one location.
- Customers won’t need to visit a traditional Bank in person since online account management eliminates that need.
Retirement Accounts
- Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), which offer tax advantages for retirement savings, are another service offered by Aspiration.
- For these accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs are both available.
Pay What is Fair: What is it?
You set the price you want to pay for Aspiration. They have enough trust in you to make this choice because they are confident in their customers and their products. “Pay What Is Fair” with this optional fee. Aspiration pledged to donate 10% of Pay What Is Fair’s earnings to charity.
You can alter your Pay What Is Fair fee as often as you’d like from your account dashboard after choosing it when you first sign up. Fee adjustments are only possible through the web.
Fees and Commissions Review of the Aspiration Bank
- The Pay What Is Fair fee details for accounts available in Aspiration Bank are detailed below:
- The Aspiration Spend & Save Account gives you the option to choose your price. The monthly cost of this extra charge is anywhere between $0 and $20.
- Aspiration Plus is $7.99 per month, or $5.99 if paid annually.
- The choice for our investment accounts is a 0-2% annual (charged quarterly) fee.
- The IRA custodian levies an annual fee of $15.00 for IRA investments.
- Customers are not charged overdraft fees because Aspiration prohibits overdrafts.
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods Review of the Aspiration Bank
ACH, wire, mobile cheque deposits, cash, and direct deposit are all acceptable methods of payment. The Aspiration debit card allows daily purchases of up to $4,000. Your daily Aspiration account ATM withdrawal limit is $1,000. Only USD can be used to open Bank accounts at Aspiration.
Additional features Review of Aspiration Bank
Below are some highlights of Aspiration’s wonderful, uplifting features:
Trading Tools available in Aspiration Bank:
Aspiration Zero Credit Card
Beneficial State Bank issues the Aspiration Zero credit card. Zero charges a $60 annual fee and requires a credit score of at least 680. Every time your Zero card is used, Aspiration grows a tree. You have the option to round up your money to support the planting of a tree.
Because of this initiative, using the Zero card just once a day can assist you in becoming carbon-neutral. Aspiration gives you 1% cash back on all of your purchases for each month you achieve carbon zero.
Aspiration Debit Card
You have the opportunity to earn 0.25% in annual percentage yield (APY) on your savings balance if you use your Aspiration debit card for monthly purchases of less than $500. The 3.0% APY on your savings is only available if you spend $500 or more each month.
Aspiration rewards you with cashback whenever you make a purchase using your debit card at a Conscience Coalition company. With an Aspiration Account, you can earn 3% to 5% cash back; with an Aspiration Plus Account, you can earn 10% cash back.
You have the option to round every debit card purchase to the nearest dollar with Aspiration. Aspiration will grow a tree for every roundup.
Protection of the Planet
The Aspiration Plus Account is the only one that offers the Planet Protection feature. The amount of carbon offsets required to offset the carbon dioxide generated from a tank of petrol is purchased by Aspiration every time you use the Aspiration debit card to buy petrol for your vehicle. You’ll get a push notification on your mobile device once Aspiration purchases carbon offsets.
Clean Money
You might believe that choosing a Bank only has an impact on you. You might not, however, be aware of how Banks use the funds you deposit. Many people believe that the money they deposit at a Bank is kept in a vault in the back. People are frequently unaware of how their own money is being spent in ways that harm the environment. Your deposits won’t be used by Aspiration to support harmful Environmental projects like fossil fuel exploration.
Personal Impact Score
Your personal impact score, which is a numerical score based on how your financial habits affect the environment, is tracked by the Aspiration app. Knowing which location has a higher impact score compared to another can be useful when making a choice.
Bonus Review of Aspiration Bank
Depending on the users’ spending patterns, they may even receive a sustainability rating. When customers shop at specific “mission-driven” companies that are part of Aspiration’s Conscience Coalition, they can receive up to 10% cashback. When you use the Aspiration Mastercard debit card to pay your monthly bills, you can receive up to $1,000 in annual mobile insurance.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Aspiration Bank
The lists of benefits and drawbacks of Aspiration Bank are explained in Table 3.
Table 3 : Pros and Cons of the Aspiration Bank Website
 Pros of Aspiration Bank |  Cons of Aspiration Bank |
|---|---|
| Wide-ranging ATM network that is free and available everywhere. | Not all countries accept debit card payments. |
| Your money won’t be used to fund any fossil fuel projects. | No cash deposits are permitted in ATMs. |
| No fossil fuel projects will be funded with your money. | Only available to citizens of the US. |
| In Aspiration, joint accounts are available. | No overdrafts are permitted. |
| Shop at environmentally friendly businesses and receive up to 10% cashback. | The Aspiration Plus plan is the only one that allows you to earn interest on your savings. |
Customer Support Review of Aspiration Bank
Calling, sending a written request, or contacting Aspiration through its Social media accounts are the primary methods of contacting support. In Aspiration, there are no physical branches. The website has a comprehensive glossary of terms related to Aspiration, account features, and other topics.
Table 4 : Customer support service details of Aspiration Bank
| Social Media Pages of Aspiration Bank | |
|---|---|
| Phone | 800-683-8529 |
| https://www.facebook.com/AspirationInvestments | |
| https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2FAspiration | |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/Aspiration-investments | |
| https://www.instagram.com/Aspiration/ | |
| Youtube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbAzYerbQvzGAxxA3vHLFww |
| support@Aspiration.com | |
In a Nutshell – Aspiration Bank Review
- If you want to protect the environment by making responsible financial and spending decisions, Aspiration is an excellent choice.
- Aspiration Bank has established itself as a progressive financial organization that not only offers fundamental Banking services but also works to build a better and more Sustainable future for both its clients and the rest of the world.
- Customers are urged by Aspiration to use their everyday spending to have a positive impact on the environment.
- The Bank encourages customers to match their values with their financial decisions through programs like “Plant Your ChangeTM and ESG-focused investing.
- If you’re looking for no monthly maintenance fees and free ATMs, Aspiration’s checking and savings accounts are good choices.
- All of this is done as part of a financial company’s effort to motivate and inspire its clients to adopt Socially responsible behavior and better the environment.
Unlock your trading potential with TradingCritique! Explore expert reviews, insightful blogs, and the latest trends to become a successful and informed trader. Elevate your trading journey and make wise decisions with our invaluable resources. Click now and step into a world of trading success!
Frequently Asked Questions – Aspiration Bank
1. Is Aspiration Legitimate?
Aspiration is an authorized financial organization.
2. Is a Digital Card available from Aspiration?
Yes, even before your physical card is delivered, you can start using the digital card after your opening deposit is made available.
3. Are there any Physical Branches of Aspiration Bank?
No, Aspiration Bank is primarily a financial institution with an online presence.
4. Is Aspiration Bank affiliated with any ATM fees?
No, there are no ATM fees at Aspiration Bank.
5. How exactly does “Plant Your Change” operate?
Aspiration’s “Plant Your Change” program uses spare change to plant trees as a way of supporting reforestation efforts. It rounds up purchases done with the Aspiration debit card to the nearest dollar.
