Update 5/4/22: Card is now live for anyone to apply. Comes $300 signup bonus after $3,000 spend and $60 annual fee, valid through 6/30/22.
Original post: Aspiration plans to launch a credit card called ‘Zero‘. This new card will offer the following benefits:
- 1% cash back on all purchases when you reach carbon zero, otherwise the base rate is 0.5% (need to plant 60 trees per month to become carbon zero. This is adjusts monthly based on your spending patterns)
- One tree planted for every purchase. Second tree is planted when you round up to the nearest dollar (e.g if your purchase is $1.90 you can round up and donate $0.10 and a second tree is planted)
- $60 annual fee not waived
- Ten trees will be planted for every friend you refer
- Biodegradable card
Currently the card is in early access, so you need to join the waitlist before being eligible to apply. Can’t really see this being that interesting for most people with the low earning rate and the annual fee. I do care about the environment and thought I could supercharge my impact with small purchases, but the annual fee more or less kills that idea.
How long did it take to receive $300 statement credit? Terms state it will post after the following statement, I’m now on my 2nd statement and nothing so far
I wonder if the cash back from a 2% card could help purchase more tree plantings than the aspiration card. Also, the savings on the annual fee.
1% card for 240$ a year! Yayy??
After reading allthe negative comments, I am going to give this one a pass.
I had bad experience with Aspiration as well when I tried signing up for checking account and lost trust in this sh**t bank.
1. I started with application checking account without clicking the promo link, by mistake. I never submitted the application – I only entered my details including SSN
2. They logged my SSN and now they mention that I cannot start new application because one is already in progress for my SSN. Even if I try new email id, they ask me to continue with older application without promo!
3. I asked them to delete my application – they confirmed that it was deleted. I am still blocked from creating new application as they mention I have to resume the one without promo. LOL
Go fk yourself, Aspiration! You are not Aspiration at all!!!
avoid this card and company. i got the same card last year (or similar card?) and it took them 4 months to post the bonus after claiming they couldnt identify the promotion. a shit company.
Tree huggers will be doing a lot of amazon reloads. Churning trees lol. No way that the bank can satisfy on this promise, right?
Nah, would rather use a card with a better earning rate and then make a tax-deductible donation to an environmental charity with some of those earnings.
Planting trees only works for offset if they stay in the ground for the life cycle of a tree (decades to centuries). These programs are rife with fraud because they’re mostly planted in developing countries where there is isn’t a lot of enforcement/auditing and because the local people are so poor that there is every incentive to clear the land for farming/timber.
If you also plant trees that suck up carbon, but aren’t compatible with the local environment, you can end up in a situation where they wreak havoc on local ecosystems, possibly outcompeting local plants, destroying the soil, etc.
It’s definitely not as simple as “plant ten trees, offset a transatlantic round trip.”
Aspiration is not to be trusted! They lost my account, (REALLY! and I’m not the only one) could not process transfers, cheated me out of my bonus, and never refunded or gave me back my initial account opening deposit. I’ll follow up after the CFPB decision. Stay away from these amateurs, they are clueless.
ADD CITI BANK TO THIS LIST AS WELL LOL…. LOCKED ME OUT OF MY 15K$ FOR LIKE 4-5 MONTHS
Lucky you… I’ve been locked for 9 to 10 months now, just filed a cfpb complain today so, expecting an email from Aspiration soon 🤣
If they don’t do anything contact the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and your states attorney general….
How? What happened?
Used a credit union for initial funding when i opened the account, and some low iq dumbass andy decided to flag my account as fraud lmao.
I had bank statements / everything to back it up but still they didn’t care even when i called about it nicely to get it fixed they didnt get a f*ck they were probably jealous they will never see that much money in there life LOL.
CFPB didnt give af, the only ones that helped me were the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
and my states attorney general…. I even got the 300$ bonus because i requested it….
Stressful but in the end i won.
Your account got locked before they could add the bonus? So once they unlocked your account no bonus was attached yet and you complain again to get the bonus? Mine was locked before they could add the bonus so, I’m guessing once they unlock it they’ll play dumb.
Take the $300 if you want it, but Aspiration is not a company you can trust to better the environment (if there ever were any to begin with).
This is outrageous. I am outraged.
Great article.
What about Chime? Any other banks we should keep an eye on?
Zindella
Does Chime pretend that it’s doing good for the world? Any bank you can think of is probably engaging in some pretty unethical behavior, if that’s what you’re asking. But “ethical-centered” banks like Aspiration and Spiral are just good at making people feel generous.
interesting. love propublica!
Thanks for the link. What a sh*t company