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Chanelle Bessette is a personal finance writer at NerdWallet covering banking. She previously worked at Fortune, Forbes and the Reno Gazette-Journal. She is also a spokesperson for the banking team, and her expertise has appeared in The New York Times, Vox and Apartment Therapy.
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Cash management accounts, or cash accounts, are typically a sort of hybrid checking and savings account and are usually offered by nonbank financial service providers, such as Wealthfront, rather than banks. Wealthfront, like most cash management account providers, sweeps customers’ cash balances into third-party banks that provide FDIC insurance on deposits. The lack of fees on the cash account offered by Wealthfront, a top robo-advisor, make it a worthy cash account to consider.
Best for: Wealthfront brokerage customers who are looking for a free companion cash account that earns some interest.
Offers ahigh APY. At 5.00%, Wealthfront’s interest rate is higher than the national average for savings accounts, which is currently just 0.46%.
Offers a bonus. Wealthfront also offers a bonus of up to $625 for opening your first Wealthfront account and meeting minimum deposit requirements. See below for more details.
No fees. Wealthfront doesn’t charge maintenance, withdrawal or other fees on this account.
Early direct deposit. Customers can have their paycheck directly deposited into their Wealthfront Cash Account and access the money up to two days earlier than their regular payday.
FDIC coverage up to $8 million through affiliated partner banks. The FDIC typically insures up to $250,000, per depositor, per institution. Wealthfront sweeps customer's funds into multiple partner banks to ensure coverage of up to $8 million (and up to $16 million for joint accounts).
Debit card allows purchases and cash withdrawals. Customers can use an optional debit card that allows them to make purchases and withdraw cash from more than 19,000 ATMs for free.
Bill pay and peer-to-peer app compatibility. Customers can enroll in bill pay with their account as well as link it to peer-to-peer money transfer apps such as Venmo, Cash App and PayPal.
Free “send a check” feature. If you’ve met the basic requirements of holding $2,500 across your Wealthfront balances for the past two months and have had at least $250 in direct deposits, Wealthfront can send a check payment on your behalf for free.
Automated saving and investing tools. Wealthfront allows its users to set a maximum account balance on their Wealthfront Cash Account or other checking account and automatically move additional cash into other accounts, such as a Wealthfront Individual or Joint Investment Account, an IRA or a 529 college savings plan.
Quick investing through the account. The Wealthfront Cash Account allows customers to quickly transfer money into their Wealthfront investment accounts, which feature a globally diversified portfolio of low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
See more information about Wealthfront's bonus
You can earn a bonus for opening your first Wealthfront account; the bonus amount depends on how much you deposit: Earn $60 for depositing at least $25,000, $125 for depositing at least $50,000, $250 for depositing at least $100,000 or $625 for depositing at least $250,000. You can only earn one bonus.
From Wealthfront:
"Once your new account is open, you’ll have 30 days to make deposits across any of your Wealthfront accounts towards a qualifying balance. FYI: you can move your money to any of our expert-built investing accounts and still qualify for the bonus.
You’ll receive your full payment amount over 3 months — as long as your balance stays with Wealthfront. Terms and conditions apply.”
“Your bonus tier is determined by the net deposits you make within your first 30 days after opening a Cash Account as your first account with Wealthfront. This includes deposits made across all your Wealthfront accounts, minus any withdrawals made within the same 30-day period. Bonuses do not vary within tiers and you cannot change your tier after the initial 30 day period has ended.”
“Your bonus will pay out in three equal installments: the first installment processes on day 30 following the opening of your Cash Account. The second and third installments are processed on days 60 and 90.“
“Once your bonus tier has been determined, to continue receiving bonus payment installments, you must maintain at least the minimum amount of qualifying deposits for that tier across your Wealthfront accounts for the full 90-day period to receive your bonus. If you choose to withdraw funds and the amount of your total deposits held across your Wealthfront accounts drops below the minimum qualifying amount for your tier prior to receiving all three bonus installments, you'll forfeit any remaining payments.”
Downsides
No cash deposits. Even though cash withdrawals are available, cash deposits are not.
Other things to consider
No overdraft program. Wealthfront rejects any transaction that can’t be covered by the funds in your account. While that means no overdraft fees, it also means you'll have to keep track of your account balance so you don’t come up short during a transfer.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formulas take into account multiple data points for each financial product and service.
Solid website and high app ratings. The Wealthfront website is well-designed, and it’s easy to find information about different account offerings as well as FAQs and general information about the company. Both Apple and Android users give the Wealthfront app high ratings.
Downsides
No branches. Wealthfront Cash is an online-only service.
Limited support. Wealthfront has extended weekday hours for phone support — 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday — but it doesn’t offer live phone support on weekends. There is no online chat support.
A savings account is a place where you can store money securely while earning interest.
A savings account is a place where you can store money securely while earning interest.
4.60%SoFi members with Direct Deposit or $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits during the 30-Day Evaluation Period can earn 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate. Members without either Direct Deposit or Qualifying Deposits, during the 30-Day Evaluation Period will earn 1.20% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 10/24/2023. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.
5.50%*Base annual percentage yield (variable) is 4.75% as of 7/31/23. 5.50% APY reflects a .75% boost available as a special offer with qualifying deposit. Terms apply. Cash Reserve is only available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are conducted through clients’ brokerage accounts at Betterment Securities.
Min. balance for APY
$0
CDs (certificates of deposit) are a type of savings account with a fixed rate and term, and usually have higher interest rates than regular savings accounts.
CDs (certificates of deposit) are a type of savings account with a fixed rate and term, and usually have higher interest rates than regular savings accounts.
5.60%All Bread Savings APYs are accurate as of 10/26/2023. APYs are subject to change at any time without notice. Offers apply to personal accounts only. Fees may reduce earnings. To open a CD, a minimum of $1,500 is required and must be deposited in a single transaction. A penalty will be imposed for early withdrawals on CDs. At maturity, your CD will automatically renew and earn the base interest rate in effect at that time.
0.50%SoFi members with Direct Deposit or $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits during the 30-Day Evaluation Period can earn 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate. Members without either Direct Deposit or Qualifying Deposits, during the 30-Day Evaluation Period will earn 1.20% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 10/24/2023. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.
