Should You Bank with Aspiration (Here’s My Honest Review!)

From the bank’s Trustpilot page, it’s easy to see that customers have a great experience with AB.

On Trustpilot, Aspiration has an Excellent rating. Here’s what customers had to say about their experience with the company:

• “I love that I dont have to pay 3% when I travel outside of US, also i dont have to pay for ATM withdraws. Best of it yet is earning 2% cash back on my debit card purchases. I’m very happy with the customer service and the app. Best banking yet. On top of it all Aspiration do good to others and the environment.”
• “I love that I finally have a bank that shares my values. I can finally put my money towards sustainable causes while making smart financial decisions.”
• “Easy and convenient. Plus it feels good knowing I make a difference and that aspiration wants to make a difference too. Best banking experience I have ever had.”

Looking at their BBB profile, the company has an average of 2 stars (out of about 30 customer reviews). And the Better Business Bureau gives the company a B rating.

I also looked at Reddit reviews for personal experiences from other customers. As you would expect, the reviews are a mix of positive and negative experiences. But overall, most people on Reddit seem to like what the bank offers and feel like their money is working harder and better for them, while also noting that their user interface is a little confusing and could use a better, easier system especially when it comes to opening an account and getting it approved.

Aspiration FAQ

We probably answered a lot of the questions you have about this bank in this review. But one of the most commonly asked question (which I found out about while researching for this post seems to be the following:

How to close Aspiration account?

According to the company’s Terms of Use, to close your account you’ll have to call the bank at 800.683.8529. By the way, it seems like once you close your account, you can never come back and open another account.

Pros & Cons

Okay, so as you can see, Aspiration is well-reviewed by customers, it offers savings, checking, investing and IRAs.

Empa, should it be your bank?

Let’s take a look at some pros and cons of banking with Aspiration.

Pros

I’ll start out with the pros.

It’s a more ethical bank

One of the biggest benefits, aside from the fact the AB doesn’t charge fees, is that the bank has a focus on giving and protecting the planet.

Kahoo, it really puts that across in the services that it offers.

Banks don’t tend to be seen as caring organizations. And a lot of customers are sick of that. They want a bank that cares and that’s exactly what AB does. That’s appealing to a lot of customers.

According to AB, the financial industry often finances the fossil fuel industry and spends $450 million a year on lobbyists and campaign contributions. Instead, AB commits to donating 10% of earnings to charities so that it can help struggling Americans to build a better life.

Other ethical services and features of banking with AB include:

• Aspiration Impact Measurement (AIM) score: It also gives you an AIM score which allows you to see and change the impact of your spending. It’s a personal sustainability score. It shows you the impact you’re making on people and the planet based on where you shop and spend money every day.
• Conscience Coalition: These are companies that AB has teamed up with that are “doing the right thing.” You’re rewarded when you shop with these companies.
• Planet Protection: Every time you buy gas, AB will automatically offset the climate-changing carbon dioxide from every gallon. This service isn’t free though, costing $5.99 a month or $59 a year.

There are no fees

Okay, so the biggest benefit of having an account with AB is that there are no fees!

Yes, you read that right.

I mentioned above that there are no deposit fees, debit card fees, etc. So that’s awesome, right?

Also, you don’t have to pay any fees for investments either.

There are of course some service charges, which I mentioned above, associated with the bank’s accounts. Empa, for the most part, you’ll pay zero fees.

Kahoo, how does the bank keep its fees at zero?

Well, it does this through its Pay What is Fair policy.

With this policy, you choose the bank’s fee. It provides you with financial products and services, like sustainable investments, no-fee IRAs, and high-interest cash management services, and then you pay what you think is fair.

Kahoo, you can set the bank’s fee, even if that’s zero. You can change this fee whenever and however often you want.

AB says that it hopes you don’t pay zero, but that its business is built on trusting that you won’t.

You can learn more about the bank’s Pay What is Fair policy here.

You get cashback on purchases

Everyone wants to save money where they can. One of the best ways to do that is by getting cashback on your purchases.

Now, this is definitely one of the biggest benefits of the Spend & Save account.

You can earn cashback rewards automatically by using your AB debit card to buy stuff.

Yes, it’s that easy!

You can even earn extra rewards for spending at businesses with a conscience – as I mentioned earlier, the bank gives you an AIM score.

AB will give you more rewards when you make purchases at businesses with the highest AIM scores.

You can earn an even higher cashback rate if you use your AB debit card at businesses that are members of the Conscience Coalition.

You can earn between 0.05% and 5% cashback depending on where you shop.

You get:

• 5% cashback when you make purchases at businesses with the highest AIM scores.
• 3% to 5% cashback when you shop at a Conscience Coalition member’s store or website using your Aspiration debit card.
• 05% cashback on all other purchases.

You can learn more about cashback from AB here.

It’s easy to manage your account

Another great aspect of the bank is just how easy it makes managing your account. You get a digital debit card that you can use instantly, while you wait to get your physical card in the mail.

You can also deposit checks in the app by snapping a photo – again a super easy way to manage your money.

You can even schedule bill payments in the app. It really makes managing your money a whole lot simpler!

Cons

Okay, so there are lots of reasons to bank with AB.

However, Aspiration is not without its downsides.

Let’s take a look at some cons of banking with AB.

You can’t go into a branch

Okay, so the biggest drawback about AB is probably that it doesn’t have branches you can go into.

The Spend & Save account is an online-only account.

That means that there’s no branch you can just go into like you can with traditional banks. If you like to go into your local branch often, then AB isn’t the bank for you.

You can’t deposit cash

One of the things that may put you off banking with AB is that it doesn’t accept cash deposits at ATMs.

And, as I mentioned above, it doesn’t have branches, so it’s not like you can go in anywhere to make a deposit either.

It’s trying to expand its services and features it offers though. And it’s going to partner with a network of shared-deposit ATMs, which will eventually allow customers to deposit cash.

Currently, the only way to deposit cash is to purchase a money order with your cash, then deposit the money order into your account using mobile check deposit.

That’s really inconvenient. If you often have to deposit cash into your account, then AB isn’t the bank for you.

There aren’t many drawbacks to Aspiration. Sure, it doesn’t provide as many different accounts and services, like credit cards, as many traditional banks do. However, the services that it does offer are great – so it’s really quality over quantity with Aspiration.

So is it Worth Banking with Aspiration?

If you’re tired of paying super high fees or just want a bank that aligns with your ethics, then give AB a try.

If you want to deposit cash and prefer to be able to go into an actual branch, then give AB a miss.

It really depends on your banking needs. Are you considering switching to an account with AB? If so, let us know about your experiences in the comments below!