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Acorns Checking account review

Use your Acorns debit card to invest spare change and earn bonus investments, but it costs $3 to $9 a month.

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By

Kimberly Ellis

Edited by

Holly Jennings

Reviewed by

Alexa Serrano Cruz

Updated

Fact checked
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Our verdict

The Acorns Checking account combines a traditional checking account with the convenience of investing with Acorns. You can access a checking, investing and optional retirement account. All three accounts sync together to let you make transfers seamlessly and invest spare change from debit card purchases. But this service comes with an unavoidable monthly fee, and we're surprised to see no savings component.

Best for: Those who use Acorns' round-ups investing feature and want a checking account for seamless transfers.

Pros
  • No minimum opening deposit or overdraft fees
  • SmartDeposit invests a portion of your paycheck
  • Round-ups invest your spare change after every purchase
Cons
  • Must have an Acorns investment account to open
  • Unavoidable fee of up to $9 a month
  • No interest-bearing savings or joint accounts
  • Less-than-stellar customer service
3.6

★★★★★

Finder rating

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on Acorns's secure site

APY

N/A

Fee

From $3 per month

Minimum deposit to open

$0

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Acorns Checking

Learn more and sign up on Acorns's secure site

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Who is the Acorns Checking account best for?

The Acorns account is best for anyone who needs a new checking account and is considering investing with Acorns. With its automated tools, including real-time round-ups and SmartDeposit, you can put your investing on autopilot by instantly investing your spare change or a portion of your paycheck. And transfers between Acorns accounts are seamless, allowing you to maintain a holistic view of your investment, retirement and bank account.

What we like about the Acorns Checking account

The Acorns Checking account makes investing easy and convenient. For example, with round-ups, Acorns automatically rounds up your transaction to the nearest dollar every time you use your debit card. Once you’ve rounded up at least $5, Acorns invest it in your Acorns investment account.

Another Acorns Checking automated tool is Smart Deposit, which lets you invest a percentage of your direct deposit as soon as you get it. Choose to transfer the money into your investment, retirement or kid’s investment accounts.

And finally, the Acorns Checking account has no minimum balance, overdraft or ATM fees.

Premium accounts get GoHenry for free

If you opt for the Premium membership for $9 per month, you’ll get a free GoHenry account. GoHenry is a top, kids’ banking app and debit card that’s meant to help parents teach their kids financial literacy – and normally, the cost starts at $4.99 per month.

GoHenry is suited for kids aged six to 18, and comes with strong parental controls with automated chore and allowance features, educational tools and games.

Where it falls short

Acorns Checking has an unavoidable monthly fee: You’ll pay $3, $5 or $9 a month for Acorns, but this flat fee covers your investment account, retirement account, checking account and potential kids’ accounts. And keep in mind that you’ll need to open an Acorns investment account before you can open its checking account.

Another disadvantage of Acorns is that it doesn’t offer any interest-bearing accounts, such as a savings account. While Acorns is inching toward a one-stop shop financial solution, without a high-yield savings account, you’ll need to go elsewhere to earn APY.

Acorns is also lacking in customer service, with several customers reporting issues about getting the run-around when inquiring why they’ve been locked out of their accounts. We also had a similar experience each time we spoke to a representative. Instead of answering our question directly, they copy-and-pasted irrelevant marketing information from their website. One representative abruptly ended our chat, and another refused to share the Acorns Checking Account Checking Agreement, stating that users receive it only after they’ve signed up. All to say, Acorns is also lacking in transparency.

Acorns Checking plans and cost

To access Acorn’s checking account, choose from one of its three plans. Each offers a range of features with prices starting at $3 per month

PlanMonthly costFeatures
Personal$3
  • Investable round-ups or recurring investments into a portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
  • Recurring transfers to Later, Acorns’s retirement account
  • Acorns Checking account
Personal Plus$5Everything in the Personal plan, plus:
  • Access to knowledge base and live Q&A sessions with Acorns financial experts
  • A separate non-interest-bearing Emergency Fund account
  • An extra 25% match on bonus investments up to $200 a month when you shop at a participating partner
Premium $9Everything in the Personal Plus plan, plus:
  • Investment account for kids
  • Customizable portfolio
  • Receive 50% match on Acorns Earn rewards, up to $200 per month
  • Set up a complimentary will
  • $10,000 in life insurance for funeral costs, income, debt and other expenses
  • Get a kids banking GoHenry account for free

Acorns Checking account fees and access

Type of feeFee details
Monthly serviceStarts at $3
Opening deposit$0
ATMs$0 for domestic and international ATMs
Debit card fees
  • 0% foreign transaction fee, but you might incur a currency exchange fee
  • $0 replacement card
Overdraft or nonsufficient funds$0
Wire transfersNot supported

Compare Acorns Checking to other checking accounts

Narrow down checking accounts by weighing monthly fees, opening deposit requirements and APY. Select Compare on up to four products to view them side by side.

Name Product Fee Minimum deposit to open Annual Percentage Yield (APY) Offer
PNC Virtual Wallet with Performance Select
Finder Rating: 3.4 / 5: ★★★★★
Bonus
PNC Virtual Wallet with Performance Select
$25 per month
(can be waived)
$0
0.01%
Earn $400 when you open a new PNC Virtual Wallet with Performance Select and establish a direct deposit of at least $5,000+ to your Spend account in the first 60 days.
High-interest savings, short-term savings and checking rolled into one easy-to-manage account. Avoid overdraft fees with Low Cash Mode and enjoy features like a contactless debit card, fee-free ATMs and more.
Go to site
View details
Discover® Cashback Debit
Finder Rating: 4.8 / 5: ★★★★★
Discover® Cashback Debit
$0 per month
$0
N/A
The Discover® Cashback Debit account earns 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month.
Go to site
View details
Current
Finder Rating: 4.6 / 5: ★★★★★
Bonus
Current
$0 per month
$0
4.00% on balances of $0.01 to $2,000
Get a $50 referral bonus by inviting your friends to join Current. Once the person receives the invite link and makes qualifying deposits of at least $200 within 45 days of opening the account, you and the referred friend each earn $50.
Earn 4% APY on the first $2,000 in each savings pods. Also get budgeting tools, early direct deposit and up to 15x cashback points. All with no monthly fee or opening deposit requirement. Member FDIC.
Go to site
View details
Chime Checking account
Finder Rating: 4.7 / 5: ★★★★★
Chime Checking account
$0 per month
$0
N/A
Save easily and access your paycheck up to 2 days early with direct deposit. Pay $0 monthly fees, and no minimum balance is required. Access 24/7 support and get daily balance and transaction alerts. FDIC insured.
Go to site
View details
SoFi Checking and Savings
Finder Rating: 4.5 / 5: ★★★★★
Bonus
SoFi Checking and Savings
$0 per month
$0
4.50% on balances of $0+
0.50% on balances of $0+
1.20% on balances of $0+
Get up to $250 with qualifying direct deposit. Terms apply. This offer is available until December 31, 2023.
Earn up to 4.50% APY on savings by meeting deposit requirements, and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Members without deposit requirements will earn 0.50% APY on both savings and checking balances. Turn on automatic savings or use the Roundups feature to help you reach your savings goals faster. Get up to $2M of additional FDIC insurance through a network of participating banks.
Go to site
View details
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How to open an Acorns Checking account

If you’re not a current Acorns user, you must first open its investment account before you can apply to the checking account.

Customer experience

Acorns doesn’t have a great track record for reviews. It holds a 1.1 out of 5-star rating on the Better Business Bureau and a 2.3 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot.

Customers who haven’t had issues with their accounts vouch that Acorns features more than justify the monthly cost. On the other hand, the main complaints include account freezes and poor customer service.

Checking account ratings

★★★★★ — Excellent

★★★★★ — Good

★★★★★ — Average

★★★★★ — Subpar

★★★★★ — Poor

We analyze top checking accounts and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include: monthly fees, the ease at which monthly fees can be waived, the breadth of ATM access, ATM and overdraft fees, and customer service.

Read the full methodology of how we rate checking accounts.

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