Empower Cash Advance App Review 2024

The Empower app stands out within the fintech scene as a sensible answer for gig staff and others who want a versatile solution to handle private funds and generally inconsistent earnings.

It’s recognized for providing money advances with extra lenient necessities than conventional banks and different comparable money advance apps. Empower offers fast entry to money with out the effort of a credit score test or paying predatory payday lender charges.

This Empower evaluation will cowl how money advances and different Empower app options work. We’ll inform you what you want to learn about this product and customary reader questions — together with different comparable mortgage merchandise.

What’s the Empower App?

Empower is a cellular cash administration app that provides money advances to staff who want a small advance earlier than payday.

The quantities are smaller than what different apps might supply, however Empower is understood for its rapid-fire velocity in getting customers their cash immediately, in addition to its thinner credit score necessities.

Past small money loans, Empower is a flexible fintech cellular app. Empower options funds and spend trackers, credit score monitoring, and different instruments to assist customers get monetary savings and handle their funds extra successfully.

Empower is just not a financial institution itself. It does supply some cellular banking providers via NBKC Financial institution, Member FDIC, and Empower Thrive is supplied by FinWise Financial institution, Member FDIC.

How the Empower App Works

The Empower app provides three (3) main providers:

• Money advances: Get an advance of as much as $250 with no curiosity, no charges, and no credit score test. The money is deposited into the identical checking account the place your paycheck is deposited, or onto your Empower debit card.
• Thrive: A credit score line designed to (re)construct credit score, get a credit score line beginning at $250 that may be raised to $1,000. There’s no minimal credit score rating required for Thrive and on-time fee historical past is reported to Equifax and Experian. Month over month, accountable debtors can entry an more and more larger restrict.
• Debit card: Utilizing the Empower Card means you will get quick entry to money advance funds and receives a commission up two (2) days sooner if in case you have direct deposit arrange. There are additionally cash-back rewards of as much as 10% for purchases made with the cardboard.

Charges, Withdrawals, Reimbursement

Empower provides customers a free 14-day trial, after which there’s an $8 month-to-month subscription price to make use of the app. For money advance customers, there aren’t any further curiosity or late charges.

Curiosity

For the Empower Thrive line of credit score, the APR is 0% for those who repay the road of credit score in full earlier than your subsequent paycheck. In any other case, the APR is 35.99% (besides the place native state legal guidelines require a unique charge). Missed funds might incur late charges and different prices.

Entry to Funds

If authorized for a money advance, the cash is transferred to your checking account or your Empower debit card. There’s no price for a daily ACH switch to your checking account which can take as much as 5 (5) enterprise days to clear. (Some debtors will get the funds inside 1-2 days.)

There may be additionally an prompt supply choice for funds to be expedited to your common checking account.

Prompt Supply Quantity | Charge

• $0-$10.00 | $1.00
• $10.01-$49.99 | $2.00
• $50.00 – $74.99 | $3.00
• $75.00 – $99.99 | $4.00
• $100.00 – $149.99 | $5.00
• $150.00 – $199.99 | $6.00
• $200.00 – $249.99 | $7.00
• $250.00 or extra $8.00

For Empower Thrive, charges are $1 to $8 for as much as $300. After $300, the price is 3% or $20 — whichever is much less.

Reimbursement

Reimbursement for an Empower Money Advance is routinely debited out of your checking account on payday or different scheduled date.

For Empower Thrive, you possibly can arrange personalized fee choices.

Eligibility Necessities

Whereas there is no such thing as a credit score test for money advances, the Empower app does contemplate different info to find out your capability to repay a mortgage. It’s going to evaluation info from an externally linked checking account corresponding to paycheck quantities and spending habits, and resolve what quantity you possibly can borrow. If authorized, you possibly can obtain an advance of $10 to $250.

Moreover, debtors should be 18 years or older, have a Social Safety quantity, and have a checking account that’s a minimum of 30 days outdated.

Extra Empower App Options

Past money advances, the Empower app has many different financial savings and budgeting options that will help you monitor your spending habits and credit score rating, construct wealth, and enhance your general monetary wellness.

Credit score Rating Monitoring

Empower app customers can view their credit score scores inside the app. Empowers reveals an in depth breakdown every month of various points, corresponding to invoice fee historical past or credit score utilization, that may affect your rating. The app will supply customized suggestions to extend your rating.

Budgeting Instruments

Empower can also be probably the greatest budgeting apps you’ll discover. It displays your month-to-month bills and incoming deposits and offers you an in depth report of the place your cash goes. It may assist you to set budgets throughout totally different spending classes, and supply alerts or reminders for paycheck deposits, payments, and purchases in sure classes.

This perk is offered for all Empower customers, even those that are connecting an exterior checking account to the Empower app.

Computerized Financial savings

The app’s autosave characteristic makes it easy so that you can get monetary savings and steadily develop your financial savings account or wet day fund.

Savers can use a guide or AI choice. With the guide choice, you resolve what greenback quantity from every paycheck Empower ought to routinely put aside in your financial savings.

With the AI mode, you set a weekly financial savings objective and the app will transfer cash out of your checking to financial savings within the most secure, best method attainable. Its objective is to put aside as a lot as you possibly can afford to save lots of with out operating out of cash for different common bills.

Getting Began

If you’d like a money advance from Empower, right here’s how you can get began.

1. Obtain the free app on Google Play or Apple. Many different apps have comparable names. Be certain that the app developer listed is Empower Finance. Or obtain it from the Empower.me web site.
2. Arrange your account. Present your telephone quantity and look forward to Empower to ship you a verification code. Then present the verification code, and enter your title, e mail tackle, birthday, and set a password.
3. Join an exterior checking account — choose the one you employ to obtain paycheck deposits.
4. Request a money advance and see what advance quantity, if any, you might be authorized for.
5. Select a supply technique to get your funds. You’ll be able to choose the moment supply choice, for a small price, to get your funds inside an hour.

Empower will withdraw the quantity they’ve superior you, plus any categorical supply charges, out of your checking account on the due date.

The account set-up course of typically goes fairly easily, nevertheless, in some situations, you could be requested to offer further paperwork to confirm your identification corresponding to a driver’s license or navy identification card.

Alternate options to the Empower App

There are various apps just like Empower that may additionally supply a money advance to customers who want a money injection earlier than payday. Three (3) different different apps to contemplate are Dave, Earnin, and MoneyLion. All if these apps work on iOS or Android units.

Dave

This money advance app will spot you as much as $500 to cowl bills when you wait to your subsequent paycheck.

There’s a $1 month-to-month membership price and extra charges (of $3 to $25) to get your funds superior on the identical day as an alternative of ready for the conventional processing time of as much as three (3) enterprise days.

Moreover, customers should open an ExtraCash account to be eligible for money advances.

Earnin

One other well-liked money advance app, Earnin, will advance you as much as $750 per pay interval (or $100 per day) for hours that you’ve got already labored. Earnin has no credit score test necessities and provides a fee-free, interest-free advance. The advance is routinely repaid with a debit in your subsequent scheduled payday.

Earnin has no month-to-month subscription price, however as an alternative, customers tip the corporate no matter they consider is truthful for the service they supply. The app is not going to report these funds to the credit score bureaus, so it is not going to construct (or hurt) your credit score rating.

MoneyLion

Just like different money advance apps, MoneyLion offers interest-free money advances with no credit score checks. Preliminary money advances, nevertheless, begin out low. First-time debtors will qualify for simply $10. As you construct a historical past of repaying these advances, you possibly can unlock larger quantities — as much as $500.

Customers will need to have a linked, exterior checking account and meet different primary eligibility necessities.

MoneyLion additionally provides Credit score Builder Plus, a product just like Empower Thrive. It is a mortgage product that doesn’t require a tough credit score pull. It’s meant as a device for shoppers to ascertain and construct a optimistic credit score historical past. To make use of Credit score Builder Plus, there’s a $19.99 per 30 days price.

To this point, Empower has not provided conventional promotions (i.e. coupon code to save lots of 15%) the best way you may count on with retail apps. Nonetheless, Empower does have its personal bonuses and incentives to encourage customers to try to suggest the app.

Free Trial

First-time prospects can get a free 14-day trial. On the finish of the trial, Empower will cost an auto-recurring subscription price of $8 per 30 days. You can’t cancel our membership after which join a brand new free trial after you’ve gotten already had 14 days free.

Referral Rewards

Refer friends to the Empower app and also you and your good friend will every get a $5 reward. To qualify, the good friend should settle for your invite, begin an Empower subscription, and settle for a money advance inside 30 days.

The bonuses are paid out inside two (2) enterprise days after the referred good friend accepts their first money advance.

Safety

Empower makes use of business finest practices to guard your private knowledge from loss, misuse, or unsafe storage or entry. This consists of the utilization of multifactor authentication (MFA) strategies and knowledge encryption.

Buyer Assist

There are a few methods you possibly can attain Empower customer support.

• E-mail: Ship messages to [email protected]
• Telephone: Name 1 (888) 843-8967. Telephone traces are open 6 a.m. to three p.m. PST Monday to Friday, besides on holidays.
• Useful resource library: Empower has a sturdy support center crammed with articles and FAQs to troubleshoot points and reply the commonest consumer questions.

Buyer Evaluations

Shopper response to the Empower app has been overwhelmingly optimistic. It has extraordinarily excessive scores on Google Play and the Apple App Retailer (4.7 stars and 4.8 stars, respectively, based mostly on over 300,000 complete evaluations).

Evaluations on the Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB) web page are extra important. Complaints focus on prospects sad with the $8 month-to-month subscription price (for not canceling their free trial in time). Additionally, many customers depart unfavorable evaluations for Empower Retirement Planning, a totally totally different entity owned by the Empower Annuity Insurance coverage Firm of America, on the mistaken web page.

Listed here are some related evaluations from actual customers of the Empower Finance (money advance) app:

This app is unimaginable, to say the least. $200 immediately despatched to you, a $7 prompt switch price, pay the $207 again in your subsequent paycheck. After efficiently paying again an advance, you possibly can unlock the flexibility to get Thrive which stories to the credit score bureaus, builds credit score historical past, helps your credit score rating climb, and permits for larger advances as much as $1,000. the ONLY factor that will make Empower higher is for those who may do cut up funds (ie: borrow $1000 and pay again over time.) In any other case it is good!

I am a journey journalist. I wanted cash as a result of financially the automobile repairs cleaned out my meager checking account. I learn the evaluations and selected Empower, they’re precisely as marketed… No surprises OR hidden charges. I took a leap of religion. Empower most positively got here via for me. Completely, & with out reservation, I’d select them. They seem to be a Firm…not simply an app!

One of many ONLY mortgage apps that’s HONEST! I’ve been utilizing the app “Empower” now for a couple of month and thus far so good, I mainly have zero complaints apart from one. After I first bought provided a money advance it was $10 which is comprehensible since I used to be a first-time buyer. I repaid on time and bought provided one other money advance for $25 which actually helped me…however now I’m on my 4th advance with Empower they usually nonetheless haven’t provided me greater than $25 although my account is in good standing…

Professionals and Cons

We rapidly addressed a number of the professionals and cons of utilizing the Empower app in our intro, however right here’s a deeper look.

Professionals

• Flexibility eligible standards with no credit score test: There’s no credit score pull, exhausting or gentle, to get an advance. The platform is extra involved with incoming earnings and a confirmed capability to repay the quantity.
• Advances are funded inside in the future: Empower debit card holders can get the funds inside an hour. Different prospects pays an extra price to get the funds right away.
• Gig staff and freelancers might also qualify. These less-traditional staff are often not capable of entry loans and comparable monetary merchandise with favorable client phrases.
• Budgeting and credit-building options. Many instruments inside the app promote monetary wellness and higher cash administration.
• Significantly better different to payday Payday mortgage merchandise are notoriously predatory, and cost rates of interest as excessive as 456% in some states.
• Refunds customers if the app causes an overdraft price.

Cons

• Loans are smaller than different money advance apps. Different comparable apps like Dave, MoneyLion, or Earnin, will advance as much as $500 to $750.
• Month-to-month subscription charges of $8. Nonetheless, that is less expensive than the curiosity you’ll be charged for a payday
• An empower card is required free of charge, quick money advances. In any other case, you will have to pay a price to get the advance funds on the identical day requested.
• No consumer notifications earlier than reimbursement Funds are withdrawn on the pre-agreed-upon date (payday), however there is no such thing as a reminder or alert earlier than this occurs. You’ll must set your individual calendar alert.
• Can take some time for Empower to extend your authorized money advance quantities. Within the app evaluations, some customers state they can not get authorized for greater than $25 after repaying 4 (4) or extra cash advances in a well timed method.

Ceaselessly Requested Questions

Listed here are a number of the commonest FAQs that readers have about utilizing the Empower app for money advances.

Can You Belief the Empower App?

Sure, Empower is a respectable and protected app that has glorious scores within the Google Play and Apple app shops. You’ll be able to learn evaluations from hundreds of subscribers who’re pleased with the service that Empower offers.

Moreover, Empower is a US-based firm (headquarters in California) with US telephone and e mail assist.

How Lengthy Does It Take to Get an Advance from Empower?

In response to Empower’s web site, 98% of prompt money advances arrive inside quarter-hour, usually quicker.

They do warning that it may take as much as two (2) hours to obtain an prompt fund request.

For the standard money advance, it could possibly take as much as 5 (5) enterprise days nevertheless most debtors will get their funds inside one (1) enterprise day.

How A lot Will I Qualify for with Empower?

At current, the typical borrower qualifies for a money advance quantity of $140. Advance quantities vary from $10 to $250 based mostly on Empower’s eligibility standards.

Why Did Empower Decrease My Money Advance?

Empower can change or decrease your typical money advance quantities based mostly on any modifications (they predict) in your capability to repay the advance. They are going to look over your checking account transaction historical past, reimbursement exercise, drops in earnings, or will increase in spending.

How Do I Use Empower With Money App?

You should use Empower with Money App and different digital wallets and cellular fee platforms like Venmo.

• Log into your cellular fee service account.
• Hyperlink your Empower account through the use of your telephone quantity and passcode.