Offer at a glance
- APY: Up To 5% APY
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: $1,000 in debit card spend
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: Up to $7.99
The Offer
- Aspiration is offering up to 5% APY on balances up to $10,000. It requires $1,000 in monthly spend. There are two tiers of accounts:
- Aspiration, no monthly fee and earns 3% APY
- Aspiration Plus, $7.99 monthly fee and earns 5% APY
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
As mentioned above there is one account with no monthly fee and the other account has a $7.99 monthly fee that is not avoidable.
Our Verdict
You can also get a sign up bonus of $100-$200 as well from Aspiration. If you max out the account this is how much you’d earn per month:
- Aspiration (3%): $25
- Aspiration Plus (5%) $41.67
So if you’re maxing out the account then it is worth paying the $7.99 monthly fee. The main problem with these accounts is that it requires the $1,000 in spend. If you put that on a credit card earning 2% cash back that would be $20 monthly, obviously if you put it towards meeting minimum spend requirements on credit card bonuses it’s even higher.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
New inactivity fee on Aspiration Spend and Save accounts beginning in November for those who may still have an account with them.
As
Davis said, getting nerfed to 3% with $500 spend on 1/1/2023. Withdrawing everthing
Getting nerfed on Jan 1. Plus going to 3% with $500 spend, regular going to 1% with $500 spend. Going to try to get a refund on my annual fee since this is a terrible deal
Please let us know! I’m gonna call tomorrow and try to get the annual fee refunded too!
Hi Davis,
Thanks for writing in regarding a prorated refund for Aspiration Plus. At this time, I have submitted your inquiry to leadership for consideration. I will follow up in 2-3 business days when they’ve reached a decision.
Kind Regard,
A.J.
Customer Engagement Team
I responded to please cancel it in January after the December 5% interest posts since they are saying the annual fee will be prorated
I called. Since I signed up in May, they issued a prorated refund of around $24. It’s already pending, rep was nice about it.
I messaged them and then followed up with a message for them to cancel on 1/1 after the December interest had posted but they canceled it already and I got my refund. Hopefully I still get 5% this month.
This is essentially a 4.28% APY on 10k, hypothetically to meet the $1k spend you can do: Aspiration bank > Venmo 1 > Venmo 2 > Aspiration bank at no cost. But is this worth my time or the hassle? Every month I will have to charge $1k to the card via Venmo 1 which sends it to my Venmo 2, then send from Venmo 2 back to aspiration bank.
Does Venmo count as a transaction?
I havent tried, but it should IMO. Its worked for all other HISA accounts with debit requirements. Im just trying to determine if I should bother with this or not
Ok because the terms do state that Venmo does not count https://my.aspiration.com/faq/Spend—Save%3EAspiration-Save%3EWhat-interest-rates-are-offered-for-Aspiration-Save-
Didnt notice the terms, if venmo cant be used I dont see how this is economically feasible to meet a 1k spend per mo. Only other option is buying giftcards / liquidating or prepaying IRS taxes 1k a month but these are not economical or a good use of time. In this case this savings account is dead.
I had written off this account but I’ll try a few methods to simulate the spend and see if they work
Hi
Davis , could you share if you had any luck? Thanks
Public (the brokerage) debit card reload works and generally was what I’ve used to satisfy high debit card spend limits but I just learned that there is only a $5000 lifetime limit for that. So I think I will just make a tax payment
See my earlier comment: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/aspiration-spend-save-3-5-apy-on-balances-up-to-10000/#comment-1294145
killdozer 
Davis
delete
Can someone that received a 1099 tell me if it is from Coastal Bank or Aspiration? And what is the address? They didn’t send a 1099-INT, however I need to report it on my taxes. Thanks
I have not received a 1099-INT either. I plan to report it as Aspiration Bank, while Coastal issues the debit cards I am not sure that they are the interest payer: https://www.aspiration.com/program-banks
It should be available in your online account. It is from:
ASPIRATION FINANCIAL, LLC
4551 GLENCOE AVE SUITE 300, MARINA DEL REY, CA
90292 USA (800) 683-8529
Yes, Settings->Aspiration Statements and Documents->2021 1099-INT Account Statement (on the top).
Zeus
Stockpile limits the daily purchase up to 100, anyone has a better way to satisfy the spending requirement? Does cashapp, venmo, or stockpile transfer work?
How could I confirm I have satisfied the 3% interest rate? I didn’t find any tracker in the website.
Unfortunately there is no tracker, and you will only know after the fact. The interest is not posted on the last day of the month or the first business day of next month. My interest for December was posted on January 6th.
appreciate this comment, was trying to figure out why the interest did not post. Will wait a few more days.
Aspiration is not a bank. It is a brokerage (or Fintech) that provides two accounts spend/save. GO to their website and see if they are FDIC insured.
If you have a problem with them you have to file with FINRA (and not CFPB.) I doubt CFPB can do much with them. But I am sure they do not want to lose their securities license so probably scared of FINRA. For details search in my post history.
“The Aspiration Spend & Save Account are cash management accounts offered through Aspiration Financial, LLC, a registered broker-dealer and Member FINRA/SIPC. An affiliate, Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, is an SEC registered investment adviser. An affiliate, Aspiration Card Services, LLC offers credit services. An affiliate, Aspiration Insurance Agency, LLC offers insurance products. An affiliate, Make Earth Green Again, LLC, offers a standalone Plant Your Change service. An affiliate, Aspiration Sustainability Impact Services, LLC offers business to business services. Aspiration Financial, LLC, Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, Make Earth Green Again, LLC, Aspiration Card Services, LLC, Aspiration Insurance Agency, LLC and Aspiration Sustainability Impact Services, LLC are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Aspiration Partners, Inc. (collectively “Aspiration”). Aspiration is under separate ownership from any other named entity. Aspiration pledges to donate 10% of our profits to charities. Indemnity Agreement. Aspiration is not a bank.”
Thanks for the DPs on negative experiences all. I received the cc mailer today ($300 bonus!) and that led me to think about the savings account… with all this feedback I’m going to pass!