Empower Personal Cash (formerly Personal Capital Cash) Review: Online Cash Management Account
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Empower Personal Cash – formerly called Personal Capital Cash – helps customers manage their money with the benefit of no fees or minimum balance. Cash management accounts — also known as cash accounts — combine features that are commonly found in checking and savings accounts but are typically offered by nonbank financial service providers, such as Empower, an automated investment management service. Keep in mind that you can’t withdraw or deposit cash with Empower Personal Cash, and there is no face-to-face customer service.
» Looking for information about Empower's investment services? Check out NerdWallet’s review of its investment offerings
Where Empower Personal Cash shines | Where Empower Personal Cash falls short |
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Checking and savings features
3.5/5.0
Upsides
No fees. Empower Personal Cash doesn’t charge any fees — monthly or otherwise — for its service.
No minimum balance. Empower Personal Cash has no minimum balance requirements.
Offers joint accounts. Partners can co-manage their finances with a joint account.
FDIC insurance through third-party banks. Like most cash management accounts, Empower Personal Cash uses third-party partner banks to federally insure customers’ deposits. Empower sweeps its customers’ cash balances into one or more third-party banks, where those funds have Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage up to $250,000 per third-party bank.
No withdrawal limits. Empower Personal Cash doesn’t have limits on the number of withdrawals customers can make.
» Looking for products that are similar to cash management accounts? Check out Cash Accounts and Apps to Buddy Up With Your Investments
Downsides
No cash withdrawals or deposits, and no check writing. Empower Personal Cash currently only supports electronic transfers to deposit into and withdraw from the account. Direct deposits and wire transfers are also supported.
No debit card. A debit card is not available with the Empower Personal Cash account, but the company says it’s working to make it available, along with bill pay.
Other things to consider
APY is comparable to brick-and-mortar banks. Customers receive a 4.10% APY on their money in an Empower Personal Cash account.
No overdraft program. If a customer tries to make a transfer that exceeds available funds, Empower will decline it. This means customers avoid hefty overdraft fees, but there's also no cushion if they come up short during a transfer.
» Looking for more information about Empower? Check out NerdWallet’s review of its tools and investment services
Customer experience
3.5/5.0
Upsides
Budgeting tools and net worth tracking. Empower built its business on helping customers budget and track their net worth via its online platform, so its site and app have robust tools to help with these tasks.
High mobile app ratings. The Empower app — which includes its hallmark net worth tracking service — has very high app ratings in both the Apple and Google Play app stores.
Solid website. The Empower website is well-designed and easy to navigate, and prospective customers can easily find information on how to open an Empower Personal Cash account.
Downsides
Limited human phone support. Phone support is usually for customers to talk to a sales associate. Empoewr Personal Cash customers wanting support are advised to email or talk with their individual advisors.
No chat support. Customer support is available only via phone and email.
No branches. Empower Personal Cash is an online-only financial service, so customers don’t have access to face-to-face service.
No mobile check deposit. The only way to deposit money into your account is through electronic transfer, so if you need to make a check deposit, you’ll need to deposit it into a linked bank account and then transfer it into your Empower Personal Cash account.
