Free Empower Personal Cash Savings Account
This Empower Personal Cash management review outlines the main features of the Empower Personal Cash savings account and compares these to the offerings of other savings and cash account providers. The verdict is that the Empower Cash account might be a good match for people looking to grow their savings and build a respectable size money cushion.
[toc]
*Disclosure: Please note that this article may contain affiliate links which means that – at zero cost to you – I might earn a commission if you sign up or buy through the affiliate link.
Being financially healthy means that your wealth is balanced across investing and saving, liquid and non-liquid assets. So, keeping some of your wealth in cash that is easily accessible is a sound money habit as you might need this cash for opportunities or emergencies within the next year or two.
Here is the problem: the typical place to keep your cash easily accessible is in a savings account, and savings account interest rates are typically low.
This Empower Personal Cash account review (formerly Personal Capital Cash) will delve into the main features and benefits and compare them with other savings accounts providers like M1 Cash, Betterment Cash Reserve and Wealthfront Cash. This Personal Capital Cash review will help you decide which one meets your needs best.
What is Empower Personal Cash (formerly Personal Capital Cash)?
Empower Personal Cash is an account that offers you the ability to earn a higher interest rate on your cash than you might earn in a traditional checking or savings account. At the same time, the Empower Personal Cash Program offers up to an aggregate of $2,000,000 in FDIC insurance coverage, which is greater than the standard $250,000 any single bank can offer. Empower Personal Cash can do this because your money is spread across affiliated partner banks.
Empower Personal Cash is a savings account with high-interest rates, no fees or minimum balance requirement, and unlimited monthly transfers.
Empower offers the Personal Cash account along with a large array of personal finance services, including free Empower software and paid Empower Advisors and Wealth Management.
The free Empower Personal Cash account adds to the allure of this full-service digital investment advisor.
Empower Personal Cash Account Features at a Glance
| Overview | A savings account |
| Account fees | $0 |
| FDIC insurance – through partner banks | Yes – Up to $2.0 million for joint accounts |
| Minimum account balance | $0 |
| Mobile app | Yes |
| Deposits and transfers | Unlimited |
| Direct deposits | Yes |
| Bill pay | Yes-by linking to your checking account |
| Branches | No |
| ATM access | No |
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) Tutorial – Free Budgeting, Cash Management and Investing Tools
Empower Personal Cash Features – Drill Down
Let’s introduce the features of the Personal Capital Cash that will help you make up your mind about whether this is an appropriate savings account for you.
What is the Personal Capital Cash interest rate?
The current Empower Personal Cash interest rate is 4.10% APY
As market interest rates change, so will the interest rates paid on your Personal Capital Cash account. Rates are typically influenced by the Fed Funds rate.
Empower Personal Cash – Pros and Cons
Pros
- High yield savings account
- No minimum balance required
- Unlimited transfers
- Integrates with Empower Dashboard Investment Management Tools
Cons
- Empower Personal Cash doesn’t offer direct check writing capabilities
- No debit card or ATM access
Empower Personal Cash Features – Drill Down
What is the Personal Capital Cash interest rate?
The current Empower Personal Cash interest rate is 4.10% APY
The rate is subject to change, depending upon market interest rates. Rates are typically influenced by the Fed Funds rate.
What are the Fees?
There is no fee for opening and managing an Empower Personal Cash account.
Is the money insured?
If you’re wondering, “Is the Empower Personal Cash Account safe?” it is.
Your money in the Empower Personal Cash account is FDIC insured (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation).
The FDIC insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per institution and ownership category, Empower Cash (Personal Capital) spreads your money across several partner banks, in order to offer a higher limit of FDIC insurance.
If you open a joint account, you’ll receive up to $2 million in FDIC insurance, though partner banks.
So, Empower Cash is safe to use, as your money is insured.
What is the minimum balance requirement?
There is no minimum balance required for the Personal Capital Cash savings account. You can open an account with nothing in it and add cash to grow the balance from there. Since the interest is compounded daily, your cash grows more quickly, than less frequent compounding.
Is there an Empower (Personal Capital) Cash mobile app?
Yes, there is a mobile app. You can download the free Empower app. The Empower app is new, although the legacy Personal Capital app has been well-regarded.
How many deposits and transfers per month are allowed at Personal Capital Cash?
There is no limit on the deposits and money transfers you can make per month. This is quite a bonus, as many high yield cash accounts limit the monthly deposits and transfers.
The maximum deposit limit per transaction is $250,000. While the daily withdrawal limit is $25,000 until it is open for a minimum of 60 days (unless you are an Empower advisory client). After 60 days, the daily withdrawal limit is $100,000.
This is an excellent feature for wealthier individuals who need to transfer larger sums of money between accounts.
Can I use direct deposit or bill paying with Empower Personal Cash?
You can set up direct deposit for your paycheck through Empower Personal Cash.
For bill pay, you can link your Empower Cash account to your checking account.
How can I deposit or withdraw money from my Empower Personal Cash account?
You can link an external account to the Empower Cash account and transfer funds in and out of the account from the linked account. Linking your external checking account is a seamless way to transfer funds in and out of Empower Personal Cash.
Visit the Empower Dashboard, go to the Empower Personal Cash page and click “Manage Account.” From there, click on “Transfer Funds” and initiate the transfer.
You can also schedule auto deposits and paycheck direct deposit.
Are there branches and ATM access?
There are no branches, and you can access and manage your account through the mobile app or the Empower website.
Furthermore, you don’t get a card with this account, so you cannot access ATMs – any withdrawals must be to a bank account.
If you’re seeking a debit card and ATM access, you might prefer Wealthfront Cash or M1 Spend.
How is the customer service?
Empower has excellent customer service and is easy to access by phone during normal business hours and email. Account holders can contact customer service by logging into their account and sending a message.
There is no fee for opening and managing a Personal Capital Cash account.
Free Empower Dashboard and Cash Management Tools (Sign up now)
How does Personal Empower Cash compare with other savings accounts?
For Empower Wealth Management Customers, the cash account is a sound way to integrate your investment accounts with a high yield cash account.
Let’s see how it compares with other savings accounts offered by digital investment advisers or robo-advisors.
Here is a comparison between four high yield savings accounts – Empower Personal Cash, M1 Spend, Betterment Cash Reserve and Wealthfront Cash.
| Empower Personal Cash | M1 Spend | Betterment Cash Reserve | Wealthfront Cash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | Savings account | Checking account | Cash management account | Cash management account |
| Account fees | $0 | $0 – one ATM fee covered per month – four available with M1 Plus. Must be M1 Plus member to receive interest on account. | $0
| $0 |
| FDIC insurance– Provided through partner banks. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Minimum account balance | $0 | $0 | $10 | $1 |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deposits and transfers | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Direct deposits | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bills paying | Yes – through linked checking account | Yes | Yes – Betterment checking | Yes |
| Debit card – ATM access | No | Yes – 1% cash back – 1 free ATM withdrawal/month and 4 free ATM transactions with M1 Plus | Yes | Yes |
- * Interest payments only available for M1 Plus members.
The current Empower Personal Cash interest rate is 4.10% APY
M1 High Yield Interest Rate – 5.0% APY*
The current Betterment cash reserve interest rate is 4.50% APY.** The rate will vary, based upon market interest rates.
The Empower Personal Cash Review Wrap Up
If you’re an Empower Wealth Management Advisory client, then the account is a no-brainer. It’s a good idea to have a place to stash cash, without fees and which pays a higher than average interest rate.
For others, if you’re seeking a high yield savings account and you prefer access to other related banking features like debit cards and ATM access. Currently, Empower Personal Cash doesn’t offer these features.
The following robo-advisors offer highly recommended, low fee digital investment management along with high yield cash management, debit cards and direct deposit:
Even if you’re not ready to invest yet, but want a high yield cash account, any of cash accounts mentioned are fine for storing your cash and earning higher than market interest rates. And, when you’re ready to invest, you can easily transfer funds into the accompanying robo-advisor services.
Regardless of whether you choose in use the Empower Cash savings account or not, the free Empower investment and money management tools are outstanding.
Sign up for FREE – Empower Software and Tools
To learn more about the complete Empower offerings read the comprehensive expert Empower Review.
Related
- Robo Advisors With High Interest Rate Cash Accounts
- What are the 8 Main Differences Between Robo-Advisors?
- M1 Finance vs Empower
- Acorns vs Qapital – Best Money Management Apps
- Bill Harris – Personal Capital’s Marketing Genius
Disclosure: Please note that this article may contain affiliate links which means that – at zero cost to you – I might earn a commission if you sign up or buy through the affiliate link. That said, I never recommend anything I don’t personally believe is valuable.
Empower compensates Stocktrades Ltd (“Company”) for new leads. Stocktrades Ltd is not an investment client of Empower.
*Betterment is not a licensed tax advisor. Tax Loss Harvesting+ (TLH+) is not suitable for all investors. Read more at https://www.betterment.com/legal/tax-loss-harvesting and consider your personal circumstances before deciding whether to utilize Betterment’s TLH+ feature. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed.
**Cash Reserve is only available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are conducted through the clients’ brokerage accounts at Betterment Securities. For Cash Reserve (“CR”), Betterment LLC only receives compensation from our program banks; Betterment LLC and Betterment Securities do not charge fees on your CR balance. Checking accounts and the Betterment Visa Debit Card provided and issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Checking made available through Betterment Financial LLC. Neither Betterment Financial LLC, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank. Betterment Financial LLC reimburses ATM fees and the Visa® 1% foreign transaction fee worldwide, everywhere Visa is accepted.
Wealthfront Disclosures:
Robo-Advisor Pros receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Advisers LLC (“Wealthfront Advisers”) for each new client that applies for a Wealthfront Automated Investing Account through our links. This creates an incentive that results in a material conflict of interest. Robo-Advisor Pros is not a Wealthfront Advisers client, and this is a paid endorsement. More information is available via our links to Wealthfront Advisers.
Cash Account is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (“Wealthfront Brokerage”), a member of FINRA / SIPC. Neither Wealthfront Brokerage nor any of its affiliates are a bank, and Cash Account is not a checking or savings account. Wealthfront conveys funds to institutions accepting and maintaining deposits. Investment management and advisory services are provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC (“Wealthfront Advisers”), an SEC registered investment adviser, and financial planning tools are provided by Wealthfront Software LLC (“Wealthfront”).
Wealthfront partnered with Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC, to bring you checking features.
Checking features for the Cash Account are subject to identity verification by Green Dot Bank. Debit Card is optional and must be requested. Wealthfront Cash Account Visa® Debit Card is issued by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association. Green Dot Bank operates under the following registered trade names: GO2bank, GoBank and Bonneville Bank. All of these registered trade names are used by, and refer to, a single FDIC-insured bank, Green Dot Bank. Deposits under any of these trade names are deposits with Green Dot Bank and are aggregated for deposit insurance coverage. Wealthfront products and services are not provided by Green Dot Bank. Green Dot is a registered trademark of Green Dot Corporation. ©2022 Green Dot Corporation. All rights reserved.
Other fees apply to the checking features. Fee-free ATM access applies to in-network ATMs only. For out-of-network ATMs and bank tellers a $2.50 fee will apply, plus any additional fee that the owner or bank may charge. Please see the Deposit Account Agreement for details.
Other eligibility requirements for mobile check deposit and to send a check may apply.
The cash balance in the Cash Account is swept to one or more banks (the “program banks”) where it earns a variable rate of interest and is eligible for FDIC insurance. FDIC insurance is not provided until the funds arrive at the program banks. FDIC insurance coverage is limited to $250,000 per qualified customer account per banking institution. Wealthfront uses more than one program bank to ensure FDIC coverage of up to $2 million for your cash deposits. For more information on FDIC insurance coverage, please visit www.FDIC.gov. Customers are responsible for monitoring their total assets at each of the program banks to determine the extent of available FDIC insurance coverage in accordance with FDIC rules. The deposits at program banks are not covered by SIPC.
The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) for the Cash Account may change at any time, before or after the Cash Account is opened. The APY for the Wealthfront Cash Account represents the weighted average of the APY on the aggregate deposit balances of all clients at the program banks. Deposit balances are not allocated equally among the participating program banks.
