Enzo is another fintech app meant to manage all your money… Spending, savings, long-term investing. Via DoC, the catchy feature is 2% cash back on rent (subject to caps). They are also dangling the possibility of owning shares in the actual company. They are not live yet, but let’s take a closer look.

Cashback on spending. From their disclosures (emphasis mine):

Earn 10% cashback on Uber, 5% on DoorDash, and 2% on rent, limited to $65 per calendar month and $500 per calendar year. Earn unlimited 1.25% cashback on everything else. Once the monthly and/or annual limits have been reached, you will continue to earn 1.25% on everything (excluding rent). Cashback on rent is limited to one transaction per month. Enzo reserves the right to request additional documentation providing proof that the payments are bona fide rent payments if it suspects unusual activity. Terms are subject to change. Cashback will be credited to your account the following month for qualifying transactions made the previous month.

If you only put rent on your debit Visa card, then you would max out the $65 monthly limit at a monthly rent of $3,350. However, you would max out the annual $500 cash back limit at a monthly rent of $2,083. At the US average rent of $1,100 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment, you would earn $264 a year in cash back at the 2% rate,

Checking account APY on savings. 0.50% APY as of 1/1/2022. This is about average for most online savings accounts. Banking services provided by Blue Ridge Bank N.A.; Member FDIC.

Investing. Very few details on this so far, beyond “$0 fee trading” which nearly every other broker already offers.

Equity in the company? Here’s what they say:

Enzo is committed to helping you create wealth over time. That’s why we are granting equity to our early members and reserving a piece of the company to permanently be owned by you.

From the disclosures:

All Enzo Waitlist members will be eligible to receive Enzo equity, and can earn additional equity by referring friends.

And curiously:

Equity is subject to terms and conditions and does not require opening an Enzo account. Terms for receiving equity available upon request.

I have sent an official email to hello@joinenzo.com to “request” this information, and will report back if they reply. Please let me know if you do the same.

Right now, Enzo has no app and no actual customers, so they are an imaginary fish in a big pond of fintechs. I still signed up on the waitlist with my e-mail since it is free with no commitment (that is my link). (You never know. I am old enough to have gotten free TravelZoo shares that actually materialized in the late 1990s.) In November 2021, this article announced a seed round with a modest $3 million in funding. Still, if you pay a decent amount in rent, it may be worth keeping an eye on this one.

Update 1/19/22: HMBradley announced a few additional changes (on the positive side). They are offering a bit more grace period for new credit cardholders, and ongoing cardholders now only need to maintain $1,500 in direct deposits per month (down from $2,500) along with $100 of monthly purchases on the credit card to get the 3X interest boost. Applies immediately as of January 2022.

Update 12/15/2021: On December 15th, 2021, HMBradley announced upcoming changes to their interest rate that will become effective February 1st, 2022, along with changes to their credit card boosts that are effective January 1st, 2022. Here are the old and new “no credit card” interest rates on balances up to $100,000:

Savings Tier APYs effective now through 1/31/2022:

• Tier 1: 3.00% APY
• Tier 2: 2.00% APY
• Tier 3: 1.00% APY
• Tier 4: 0.50% APY

Savings Tier APYs effective 2/1/2022:

• Tier 1: 1.00% APY
• Tier 2: 0.50% APY
• Tier 3: 0.25% APY
• Tier 4: 0.125% APY

“3X with credit card” rates. As of 1/1/2022, if you spend at least $100 each monthly cycle on the HMBradley credit card AND have a least $2,500 in monthly direct deposits for each month of the previous quarter, then you can receive the following higher interest rates (3x):

(The Savings Tier Boost Promotion terms say this is effective starting 1/1/2022, but the e-mail sent out says it starts 2/1/2022 for existing credit card holders.)

For new customers, you will need to become an HMBradley credit cardholder first before being able to open the HMBradley interest-bearing checking account.

In realistic terms, an interest rate drop was coming sooner or later. 3% APY was amazing, but 1% APY is still double what most “high-yield” savings accounts offer. As someone who already uses their credit card, my interest rate is only going down from 3.5% APY to 3% APY. Read my tips on getting approved either by increasing your direct deposit or self-reporting adequate income.

Spending $100 on the card per month is not bad, it’s probably the $2,500 monthly direct deposit that is slightly more problematic. Savings 20% of $2,500 means leaving $500 in there every month. However, since HMB credit card spend doesn’t count against the 20% savings requirements, you can simply put $500 on the credit card. I simply use my card for “online shopping” each money and earn 3% back on it as my top category, so there is no loss there. If HMB will pay me 3% APY on $100,000 (roughly $250 a month in interest), I will happily pay a $5/month annual fee for the credit card.

Quick take. As of 2/1/2022, HMBradly’s interest rates will drop significantly unless you utilize their HMBradley credit card. However, if you do have their credit card and meet the requirements, you can still earn up to 3% APY and the drop from before is not nearly as bad.

Original post (will be outdated as of 1/1/2022):

HMBradley is a fintech bank startup that differs by offering customers a variable interest rate based on their savings rate. Deposits are FDIC-insured through Hatch Bank. As of July 2021, the top rate is 3% APY, which is over 2% higher than the popular online savings accounts like Ally Bank, Capital One, or Marcus. Is there a catch? What’s the fine print? Here’s my review of HMBradley after opening an account and reading their FAQ, fee schedule, and other fine print. Thanks to reader Guarav for the tip.

Rate tiers. Interest is earned on balances up to $100,000 and is set each calendar quarter. The interest rate updates for all customers at the beginning of each calendar quarter: January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st. In order to qualify for a “Savings Tier”, you must receive a direct deposit at least once every month and save at least 5% of your quarterly deposits.

New customers start in Tier 3 and stay there as long as they maintain at least one direct deposit per month. For example, if you open in October, the next reset date would be January 1st and your interest earned for the next 3 months is based on your activity in the previous 3 months. Here are the current rates for each tier:

Requires a “real” direct deposit every month. You must receive some sort of direct deposit each month, as defined below:

For our accounts, we define direct deposits as those deposits made by the customer’s employer or a federal or state government agency or retirement benefits administrator. These generally include payments made by corporations and other organizations. We do not consider deposits to an account that are made by an individual using online banking or other payment provider such as PayPal or Venmo as direct deposits.

They appear to be relatively strict on receiving a “real” direct deposit and not a person-to-person transfer. Based on my experience, they have a system for detecting incoming deposits and marking them automatically as “real”, but it is not 100% accurate and your direct deposit may have to be reviewed manually. Their online account interface clearly tells you if you have made the required direct deposit for the current month (see screenshot below). If not, you should contact them in order for them to manually check and mark your transfer as a direct deposit. I have a legit employer direct deposit and had to ask them to manually review it. After that, they usually marked it as a direct deposit within 24-48 hours after arrive. (Due to the delay, I believe they still check manually.) Having it marked properly is required to get the top rate.

Savings rate is based on ALL deposits and withdrawals. For the calculation of “savings rate”, all deposits are considered including incoming transfers from another personal bank account. At the same time, your “spending” will also include any transfer out of your account, even if it’s just to another bank account that you own.

Basically, money has to keep coming into HMBradley and not go back out, if you maintain a positive savings rate. That’s rather clever. They just have to maintain the high interest rates to keep reinforcing this cycle.

NOW account? No paper checks. It should be noted that HM Bradley’s account is actually a lesser-known form called a “negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) account”, which per the CFPB which gives the bank the right to require at least seven days written notice of a withdrawal. Supposedly, this is rarely done in practice. Like a checking account, there are no limits on the number of withdrawals each month. However, unlike a checking account… there are no checks! I suspect that not having to deal with paper checks saves them a good chunk of money. I’m personally fine with that as long that equates to a higher interest rate.

The Bank offers Negotiable Order of Withdrawal transaction checking accounts, which allows you to make deposits by check, ACH payment, transfer from another account at the Bank, or wire transfer. NOW accounts only are available to consumers for personal, family, or household purposes. The Bank does not offer business accounts and you agree not to use your HMBradley Account for business purposes. The Bank may request 7 days’ advance notice of a withdrawal or transfer of funds from the NOW account.

Credit card adds 0.50% APY. They recently added a credit card, but it is invite-only and based on their estimate of your income (which is in turn based on the size of your deposits, although you can attempt to self-report). See my HM Bradley credit card review. If you do get it, you can earn another additional 0.50% APY, for a total of up to 3.5% APY.

Additional features. No minimum balance, no monthly fees. $100 minimum to open. Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly. No paper checks. There is fee-free ATM access via your Debit Mastercard at over 55,000 ATMs in the STAR and MoneyPass networks (or at any store that allows for cash back on debit purchases). There is no online billpay (“coming soon”) and there is no ability to deposit checks (remote deposit also “coming soon”). They may close your account without notice if you maintain a zero balance.

My thoughts. In the current rate environment, the ability to earn 3% APY on up to $100,000 is exceptional. I don’t know of any “rewards checking” account has a balance limit of $100,000. This can be a good opportunity if you understand the rules and the top interest rate stays higher than the competition.

The idea of incentivized higher savings rates is good, but it may be a tough hurdle for those living paycheck-to-paycheck. On the other hand, as long as you can switch over a partial direct deposit, adding some consistent amount each month with minimal withdrawals would also work.

Bottom line. HMBradley is a digital bank startup that differs by offering customers a high rate (currently up to 3% APY) based on the percentage of their deposits that they save. They require moving over a monthly direct deposit, and the rules are a bit more complex than a simple online savings account, but if the rates hold steady it can be a very competitive offer for motivated savers.

New deposit bonus back again for 2022. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is offering a $100 bonus if you deposit $10,000+ in new funds into their online savings account within 10 days of enrollment at this special offer page. Valid for both new and existing customers. You must enroll by 2/16/2022 and maintain the new $10,000+ deposit for 90 days. They have done a similar promotion in past years (and it’s nice that you can keep doing it). Thanks to reader Bill P who sent this in.

Offer available to new and existing customers. Each customer is limited to one cash bonus offer. This Offer can only be applied once to an account. If an account has multiple owners, the account is limited to being enrolled for this Offer under one account owner and receiving one cash bonus. Remaining account owners may be eligible to use another eligible account to enroll in this offer. This Offer may be combined with other promotional offers available to Marcus Online Savings Account customers.

New customer referral offer of 1% APY for first 3 months. If you don’t have a Marcus account yet, if you open with a Marcus referral link from an existing customer, you will get an extra 0.50% on all your balances for 3 months. Right now, that means 1% APY for the first 3 months. I believe that the referrer gets the same. That’s my referral link, thanks if you use it! I’d open and get the referral offer first, and then later enroll in this $100 offer as an existing customer.

Bonus math. This is a 1% bonus on $10,000 if you keep it there for 90 days, which makes it the equivalent of ~4% APY annualized. The bonus is on top of the standard interest rate, currently 0.50% APY as of 1/19/2022. (0.60% APY for AARP members.) This total of roughly 4.5% APY over 90 days makes it a great short-term rate at that balance size when compared to my January 2022 update of best interest rates. I have gotten the bonus in the past with no issues.

Current is part of the new wave of fintech apps that partner with a traditional bank. In this case, banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group, member FDIC. Current reminds me a lot of the Chime app, with its quick sign-up process, modern smartphone app, and user-friendly feature set targeting the young and underbanked (average customer age for both is 27 years old).

Basic Tier features (no monthly fee):

• No minimum balance. No minimum opening deposit.
• No credit check. No Chexsystems check.
• No overdraft fees.
• Fee-free ATM withdrawals within the 40,000+ Allpoint ATM network.

Premium Tier features ($4.99/month). You get the above, plus:

• Access to paycheck up to 2 days early.
• Gas station authorization holds immediately released.
• On top of no overdraft fees, also get up to $100 in fee-free overdraft coverage.
• 3 Savings Pods (earn 4% APY on up to $6,000 total).

4% APY details. Current just announced a new feature: 4% APY on their “Savings Pods”, which is definitely a differentiator if they keep it up. A “savings pod” is like a sub-account where you can set aside money for a specific goal like “rainy day”, “travel”, etc. Interest is paid out daily. There are no restrictions on transferring money in and out of a “savings pod”.

Basic members can create 1 savings pod, earning interest on up to $2,000. Premium members can create 3 savings pods with up to $2,000 earning interest per pod, for a total of up to $6,000 earning 4% APY. Note that you will have to accept some new terms and conditions before earning interest on a savings pod. Make sure you see a green banner that says “Earning Interest”.

If you held $2,000 at 4% APY for an entire year, that would be $80 of interest annually ($6.67/month). If you upgraded to Premium, that would cost an additional $60 a year in fees, but if you maxed out the extra $4,000 available at 4% APY, that would be $160 of additional (taxable) interest.

Note that the 4% APY does not come with a spending requirement or a direct deposit requirement. Current says that this is not meant as a temporary rate (via Techcrunch):

“We’re not approaching this as a promotional rate,” explains Current VP of Product, Josh Stephens. “We’re approaching it as something that’s available for all for the foreseeable future…I think, certainly, you see promotional rates from other folks out there with a lot of bells and whistles attached to it. But this is something that’s available for anyone, with no balance minimum, no fees,” he says.

(Mark the date, 1/13/22 and let’s see how long it lasts.)

New user bonuses. There are a few different sign-up bonuses available.

• If you sign up using the promo code WELCOME50 and make a single direct deposit of $200+ within the first 45 days after opening, they will credit you $50. You will also need to be on the Premium tier at the time of entering the code and to get the bonus. You can downgrade later, after receiving the bonus. The terms says that this bonus can’t be combined with other enrollment bonuses. CURRENT50 may also work.
• If you join Swagbucks (or are already a member), search for “Current” in the top search box. You will see an offer for 12,000 Swagbucks (10,000 Swagbucks points = $100 Amazon gift card) if you complete similar requirements of opening a Premium Banking Account and completing a payroll direct deposit of $200 or more.
• If you join MyPoints (or are already a member), search for “Current” in the Deals sections. You will see an offer for 20,000 MyPoints (15,500 MyPoints points = $100 Amazon gift card) if you complete similar requirements of opening a Premium Banking Account and completing a payroll direct deposit of $200 or more.
• There is a referral offer available, but it is literally for just $1. Yes, 100 pennies. The only plus is that you get it without a premium account. Don’t worry, I’d pass too!

The Swagbucks/Mypoints portals are honest sites but not 100% reliable in tracking so one possibility is to try and click through them, but enter the WELCOME50 code directly at sign-up or in the app, and be happy if you get the $50 and pleasantly surprised if the other bonus stacks on top.

Existing user bonuses.

• If you are an existing customer (or after signing up for the bigger bonuses above), go into your profile and enter the following Current Codes: Beast, BeastBank, and BeastHunt. Youtuber MrBeast should send you $1 for each code ($3 total) and some report also winning “Premium membership for life”. He’s figured out how to become rich by giving away money. Genius, really!
• Let me know if you find any other similar codes floating around.