Betterment Cash Reserve Review 2024 (2024)

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The bottom line: Betterment has strong checking and cash reserve accounts. However, Betterment won't be a good fit if you need to deposit cash, or need to deposit checks but don't qualify. See how the Betterment Cash Reserve Account stacks up against the best high-yield savings accounts.

Overall Betterment rating

Betterment pros and cons

Betterment Cash Reserve Account Review

Betterment Cash Reserveis essentially a high-yield savings account. But unlike most savings accounts, it doesn't limit how many transactions you can make each month.

Betterment Cash Reservepays a high interest rate.You can also create buckets to save for different goals, such as "Travel Account" or "Emergency Fund."

Betterment Checking Account Review

Betterment Checking is a good account for travelers because it reimburses 100% of foreign transaction fees and ATM fees.

You can also earn cash back with thousands of retailers. The percentage you'll earn will depend on a) which business you shop at, and b) whether there are any new cash back promotions — but you can typically expect to earn 2% to 20% cash back.

How Betterment works

Betterment is primarily known as an online investment platform, but it also has a Betterment Checking Account and cash reserve account.

If you have both accounts, you can link them to take advantage of what Betterment calls the "two-way sweep."

With the two-way sweep, Betterment assesses whether there's any extra money in your checking account by looking at your balance and spending habits. Then it sweeps any excess money into cash reserve to help you save more and earn interest. The two-way sweep also uses your cash reserve account as overdraft protection. If you overdraw from your checking account, money moves from cash reserve to cover the overdraft.

The Betterment app ranks as one of ourtop banking mobile apps. It has 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store, and 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.

To contact customer support, call or email Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Your deposits in Betterment Checking Account are FDIC insured for up to $250,000 through NBKC Bank, or $500,000 for joint accounts. Deposits in Betterment Cash Reserve Account are FDIC insured for up to $4 million by multiple partner banks.

Betterment trustworthiness and BBB rating

The Better Business Bureau gives Betterment a F rating. The BBB cites a high volume of customer complaints and Betterment's failure to resolve several of the complaints for the F rating. A BBB considers how a company responds to customer complaints, whether it advertises honestly, if it's transparent about business practices, and more.

In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Betterment $9 million. The SEC claimed that Betterment was dishonest with clients about its tax-loss harvesting service and failed to give proper notice about contract changes.

Betterment vs. Wealthfront

You'll probably like Betterment if you want separate checking and savings accounts. Wealthfront has a hybrid checking/savings account, the Wealthfront Cash Account. On the bright side, Wealthfront does let you create savings buckets to organize and plan your saving.

You'll earn interest on your entire balance with Wealthfront. With Betterment, you'll only earn interest on your cash reserve balance.

Betterment vs. Acorns

Acorns actually doesn't have a savings account. But it does have checking, retirement, and brokerage accounts, plus investment accounts for kids. Depending on which accounts you want, you'll pay between $1 and $5 per month.

You may prefer Acorns if you want more account options, but Betterment if you want a regular checking and savings account.

Betterment Cash Reserve FAQs