Dobot is a free financial app that aims to help it’s users save money for bigger purchases they want to make. If you’re familiar with Digit then it’s extremely similar.
How It Works
- Download the app
- Link your checking account
- Set a goal (dollar amount you need and when you need it)
- Each week Dobot analyzes your spending patterns to determine your “safe savings amount” and automatically transfers this to your goals
The accounts are FDIC insured.
Fees & How They Make Money
Dobot doesn’t charge any fees, I assume they plan to make money two different ways:
- Your Dobot account doesn’t earn interest, so they’ll make money from deposits
- They’ll gather information from your account and partner with companies that can save you money
$5 Referral Bonus
You can refer friends to Dobot, you’ll receive $5 for every friend you refer when they make their first transfer into their Dobot account. Your friend will also receive a $5 bonus when they do this. You can share your referrals, but please do not that in the comments of this post (let’s keep that free for people to share their experiences and ask/answer questions about Dobot).
You can share/request a referral here.
Our Verdict
Compound interest is a beautiful thing and something you’ll never get to experience if you use an app like this. I’m also not a massive fan of things that automate the savings process, because I think it’s extremely beneficial for people to understand what they are spending money on so they can reduce expenses to reach their savings goal.
I know some people like these apps because they save money they wouldn’t ordinarily saved, but I’d urge you to not keep sums of money in these non interest earning accounts for long.
If you put $5,000 into a 5% account after:
- Two years you’d have $5,525
- Five years you’d have $6,417
- Ten years you’d have $8,235
You can find the best high interest accounts by reading this post.
Dobot is for small savings, not large sums. If I had $5,000, it wouldn’t be in Dobot (or Digit or Qapital, etc.), but for saving for a goal or even to pay down debt, these are all great options… if they work. Dobot couldn’t even connect to my bank, and they were unconcerned about this when contacted. Basically just said “it’s not for everyone.” If you are with a big bank – Welks Fargo or something — you’ll be fine, but if you are at a small or medium bank, you probably won’t be able to connect your bank. I was pretty stunned by the cavalier attitude of Dobot support personnel, frankly, but whatever. There are other apps. (TipYourself, Money Clouds)