Update 6/27/23: Rate is now 5.00% APY on Savings balances up to $100,000 when you receive $500 a month in eligible direct deposits or have a total daily balance of $5,000 or more.
Update 9/20/22: Apparently new customers do not get the 3% rate; only existing customers get it as a grandfathered benefit.
Update 7/20/22: Some One Finance customers got the following email: starting August 8, 2022, your Save Pocket and the current balance in your Auto-Save Pocket will both earn 3.00% APY. Up to $25,000.
One Finance Review
One Finance is a fintech online bank with no fees and no minimums. They are FDIC-insured through a bank partner, Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.
Most interestingly, they have two savings account interest rate offers:
- Get 1% APY on up to $5,000. If you have a qualifying paycheck direct deposit, the limit is $25,000.
- Get 3% APY on a separate Auto-Save account. The way it works is you designate between 1 – 10% of your paycheck to go to this account and earn the 3% interest rate. Max $1,000 per month can be added to the 3% Auto-Save account. (You can also have any purchases on the One Finance linked debit card get rounded up and deposited to the 3% account. These roundups have no limit.)
They also offer unlimited account creation which they call Pockets that you can create to separate money for various purposes and even share them with other people.
$50 Referral Bonus
Referral Terms | Referrer Terms
One Finance also has a referral program with the following bonuses:
- Both referrer and referee get a bonus of $50 when the person signing up receives a direct deposit of $250+
- You can refer a maximum of 10 people per year.
We’ve created a page where readers can share their referrals. Do not put your referral links in the comments below.
Post History
- Update
10/19/213/28/22 back again: This is now 11,250 ($112.50) on Swagbucks and 22,500 on MyPoints ($142-$150) via their Revenue Universe walls. Swagbucks link | MyPoints link You should also geta $50 direct deposit bonus offer after signing up and also (sorry, expired)$5 after first debit purchase. (ht Kris) - Update 9/7/21: Now $87.88 on Swagbucks via RevU or $102 via 15,200 MP. Hat tip to Davis.
- Update 8/10/21: Swagbucks is offering $75 for opening an account and setting up direct deposit of $100 or more. Hat tip to CT
- Update 1/13/21: There is a $50 bonus for existing users that add two recurring paycheck deposits of $250 or more to their One account from 1/1/2021 through 11:59pm PST on 3/05/2021. I assume you can’t do this if you do the referral bonus/have done the referral bonus in the past. First direct deposit must be received by 11:59pm PST on 1/31/2021.
- Update 1/1/21: Reposting as referral offer has been increased to $50.
Our Verdict
In the current interest-rate environment, even 1% APY on $25,000 is nice, though it probably wouldn’t get me to change my direct deposit. The more interesting part is the ability to get 3% APY which is terrific. It’s also a soft pull to open the account (no Chex either).
Though limited to 10% of paycheck, there’s no stated limit on how much can earn the 3%; if you have $120,000 in paychecks going to One Finance, you can max this out with $12,000/yr going to the 3% Auto-Save account. According to the current rules, that should be able to continue building year over year as you increase the balance – after 2 years you can have $24,000 earning 3%, after 3 years $36,000, etc. (Of course they can always add a limit or change the rate in the future, but for now it sounds good.)
We’ll add this to our list of Best High Yield Savings Accounts.
Thanks to readers Chris R, AA, and Trey for sending this in.
5.00% APY now up to $250,000
Their home page still says up to 100K, but their help center is updated: https://support.one.app/hc/en-us/articles/15197303264023-Earning-5-00-APY
Received this email:
Earn on even more of your money
You can now earn 5.00% APY on Savings up to $250,000.(1) It’s just one of the many reasons why it pays to bank through ONE.
(1) 5.00% annual percentage yield (APY) applies to the primary Savings pocket and custom pockets of customers who either (i) received $500 or more of eligible direct deposits in the previous month or (ii) have a total daily account balance of $5,000 or more. Customers can also earn 5.00% APY on Pay Autosave and Even Save balances. In all instances 5.00% APY is limited to a total Savings balance of up to $250,000. All other Savings balances will earn 1.00% APY.
APYs are as of 8/25/2023, but may change at any time before or after account opening. Fees may reduce earnings on this account.
Is selfie newly required to sign up on their app? Looks like they do business the same as Juno. Worrisome that my personal picture may be misuse.
Just received this email
You’ve unlocked 5.00% APY with either $500 a month in eligible direct deposits or a total daily balance of $5,000 or more. Starting 7/15/2023, if you no longer qualify for 5.00% APY, your primary Savings and any custom pockets will earn 1.00% APY. See Deposit Account Agreement.3
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1. 5.00% annual percentage yield (APY) applies to the primary Savings pocket and custom pockets of customers who either (i) received $500 or more of eligible direct deposits in the previous month or (ii) have a total daily account balance of $5,000 or more. Customers can also earn 5.00% APY on Pay Autosave and Even Save balances. In all instances 5.00% APY is limited to a total Savings balance of up to $100,000.
All other Savings balances will earn 1.00% APY. APYs are as of 6/14/2023, but may change at any time before or after account opening.
2. Based on the FDIC’s National Deposit Rate for Savings as of May 15, 2023. See FDIC website for more information.
3. As a Prior User, today you earn 3.00% APY on your primary Savings pocket up to $5,000 for non-Direct Deposit Customers, and up to $25,000 for Direct Deposit Customers, and excess incremental balances in the Savings pocket earn 1.00% APY. This structure will remain in place until 7/15/2023.
Oops.. Sorry didn’t see a post on this but saw it’s already on the high-yield savings list.
I gave up on them moving from 3% not long before this and closed the account instead of keeping it with mere pennies. I’d have swung back had I known it was coming. Oh well, the period it would have been useful for is almost over anyways.
Did the 2% Walmart last year.
Has anyone tried again this year?
What is wrong with One Finance? Just received the following email:
Subject: Your ONE Application Status
Welcome to ONE! We’re reaching out to let you know that while your application has been approved, we’re still processing your account opening. You can sign in and make a deposit today, but you’ll be unable to make any withdrawals, use your debit card, or make any other transactions from your account.
We should have an update for you in one business day and we appreciate your patience and understanding in the meantime. Please let us know if you have any questions but you’ll hear from us soon.
Lots of people got that email today (many reports on reddit & discord), even people who had already closed their accounts. Probably just an email that was accidentally sent to the wrong people.
I received the same email. The user interface looks different than in 2021. If they changed their system, it might have triggered something to send people these emails.
UPDATE: I checked with support. They said it’s an error and to disregard to email. They are aware of the issue.
Yup, got the email today too.
I never completed the application a year ago and in fact have an email received last year asking me to complete my application, but today I received the same email above.
Looks like they are desperate to get some new customers after they pulled their 3% savings and people probably closed accounts.
Just got an email from them about new fees and terms. If I’m reading Appendix A correctly, it looks like you will now need direct deposit to get the 1% (or 3% for grandfathered accounts) up to $25k. Otherwise interest will only be given in the first $5k. This also appears to apply to the (now-defunct) Auto-Save pocket. As a result, I’m probably going to take all my money out and close the account, too many hoops to jump through when the rate isn’t even that great (see Ally no-penalty CD @3.5%)
The 2023-01-05 terms look basically the same to me as the 2022-09-15 terms, which also mentioned the $500 direct deposit requirement to get interest on $25k instead of $5k (the terms before September were similar but didn’t have the $500 minimum for direct deposit).
Thanks, for some reason I didn’t get the September update email from them. I haven’t set up direct deposit, but was still getting the full 3% on the $25k balance between September and now.
Did you previously have direct deposit into One, and then stopped it? Or is one of your deposits classified as direct deposit without you knowing about it? (One counts various things as DD. In the One app (not the website), when you tap on a deposit to view the details, it would say “Paycheck Direct Deposit” for Transaction type.)
Or maybe they’re not enforcing the direct deposit requirement (I wonder if they never did, or maybe it’s a temporary thing while they’re changing the terms).
I did have direct deposit once upon a time, but stopped it many months ago when the Auto-Save from paycheck went away. Now the money just sits there collecting interest, shouldn’t have any transaction that counts as DD.
I think the main difference in the terms is a $3 fee for ATM or withdrawing cash at Walmart or mailing a check (none of which I’ve ever done) if you don’t have $500 DD.
anyone think they will be raising the rate? If not I’m moving the money out
Nobody can answer that for sure, but I moved out months ago.
It’s hard to say. Some fintechs don’t want to let you back in once you have had an account in the past. Since they are partnering with Walmart, they will likely get people to sign up with a 2-liter sign-up bonus.
https://imgur.com/QctE5Zs
I will probably close it, but it’s not on my priority list.
I was keeping money in Auto-Save, since if their rate becomes competitive again, it’d be nice to have that account without the $25k cap (if we withdraw from Auto-Save, it won’t be possible to put the money back in). But it seems kinda unlikely; maybe I’ll move my money out soon, since the rates elsewhere keep going up.
Looks like the save pocket is only 1% now.
both savings and auto-save are showing 3% for me
Auto-Save is still 3% for me, but Savings now says 1% (on both the website and the app). It was 3% for me previously; seems like something changed today. Other people in discord & reddit reported the same thing. Not sure if it’s a bug or if the rate really changed.
Is today the first day the pocket is named “Savings” instead of “Save”? Possibly they renamed it but forgot to change their special case for “Save” earning 3%.
I’m seeing 3% for savings too.
It’s fixed now (my Savings says 3% again). On reddit a One employee said it was a bug.
Argh, pulled out money too soon then. Stupid bug. Thanks
Did anyone randomly get interest paid today in their Save account? I got credited $0.17 in my Save pocket around 11:30am EST. Nothing in my Auto-Save pocket though.
Is the savings account type savings or checking? I linked one to my external account and the savings showed as checking?
checking
Thanks! I didn’t know.