Update July 2024: Looks like Fidelity is ending this little experiment. They are no longer accepting new applications. It was fun to try out and collect the various incentives.
Update January 2024: If you have the Fidelity Bloom app, this is a reminder that the 10% annual savings match is reset and you can again get $30 for a $300 transfer into your Fidelity Bloom Save account. If you use the SPAXX option for cash sweep, you are also earning close to the equivalent of 5% APY (as of 1/3/24). Here is a screenshot of my 2023 rewards:
Full review:
Fidelity Bloom is a new(er) app from Fidelity Investments targeted at helping young adults become more financially aware and develop better savings habits. iOS and Android. Fidelity has included many “behavioral psychology” features from other fintech startup apps like a match on savings transfers, debit card cash back rewards, rounding-up purchases and saving the difference, and shopping portal cashback. The highlights:
- (No new user bonus at the moment. Was $100.)
- 10% annual savings match (up to $30). Get a 10% match on the first $300 saved into their Bloom Save account (up to a $30 match on $300 of new money deposited).
- 10 cents from Fidelity with every debit card purchase. Fidelity will automatically deposit a fixed 10 cents into the Fidelity Bloom Save account every time customers use the Fidelity Bloom debit card. Reminds me of the Citi Rewards+ credit card.
- Automatically round up purchases into savings. Customers can automatically round up purchases to the nearest dollar and have the difference moved to savings from their Fidelity Bloom Spend to their Fidelity Bloom Save account.
- Up to 25% cashback through shopping portal. Receive up to 25% cash back into your Fidelity Bloom Save account when you shop in-app with 1,100+ participating retailers.
Interest rate is competitive (up to ~5% as of 1/3/24 with SPAXX), but it’s a brokerage account. Is it a bank account? Is it a brokerage account? It’s a SIPC-insured brokerage account:
The Fidelity Bloom App is designed to help with your saving and spending behaviors through your Save and Spend accounts, which are brokerage accounts covered by SIPC insurance. They are not bank accounts and therefore are not covered by FDIC insurance.
You do get a routing number and account number for your two accounts, but the cash is held like their other non-retirement accounts. During the sign-up process, you can pick between one of three options for your core position:
- Fidelity® Interest-Bearing Option (FCASH)
- Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX)
- Fidelity Treasury Money Market Fund (FZFXX)
Although I have confidence in Fidelity’s long-term experience and conservatism in running these money market mutual funds, the lack of FDIC coverage is something to note. The rates may change daily. View current rates here.
After you open via app, you can see the account balances at Fidelity.com but you’ll still need the app to change any settings. Here’s a screenshot from my app.
Fidelity recently shut down another of its experimental apps called “Fidelity Spire”, so we’ll see if this one catches on a bit better.
For posterity, here are the terms & conditions for the (expired) $100 limited-time offer:
This offer is valid for new or existing Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (“Fidelity”) customers who make an initial total deposit of at least $50 (“Qualifying Deposit”) into their Fidelity Bloom Spend account or Fidelity Bloom Save account on or after August 13, 2023 through the Fidelity Bloom app. This offer is limited to one cash award per individual. For clarity, existing Bloom clients who have not yet made any deposits into either of their Fidelity Bloom Spend or Fidelity Bloom Save accounts can participate in this offer by making a Qualifying Deposit by August 27, 2023. Existing Fidelity customers who have previously made deposits into their Fidelity Bloom Spend or Save accounts, including individuals who have already participated in the Bloom $50 offer, are not eligible for this offer.
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I’m trying to set up the transfer for the reward, but the destination accounts shown are just my existing Fidelity accounts.
Should I be seeing new accounts in the transfer step?
Strange, I am seeing the same thing right now, although I was able to initiate a transfer at the time of sign-up.
Hope that was just a temporary glitch! As an existing Fidelity customer, I was able to sign up for Bloom just now and see all of my existing accounts plus the new Bloom Save account, where I initiated a $300 transfer to get in on the rewards. I did experience other buggy behaviors, like getting stuck with no obvious way to complete the Plaid authentication with my bank (so I had to quit out of the process to restart the funds transfer), and I also didn’t like that Bloom still suggested that my new account was empty even though on the same screen it also said I had $300 in incoming funds pending. (The messaging was technically true, but I feel like that is confusing and not confidence-inspiring, especially if this app is designed with less financially-savvy people in mind.) The separate Bloom Spend and Bloom Save accounts was also a little unintuitive, especially if your goal is to get the various rewards, and you’re not paying attention to make sure the funds are going to your Save account. Anyway, just a few quirky things I had to report back.
I agree that this Fidelity Bloom app is not quite ready for prime time. I have left multiple suggestions to them since they seem to ask me to fill out their same survey every single day!
FYI only works on iOS 15, my device is too old to update to iOS 15, so I guess I’m stuck waiting.
How many days for the $50 to show up in account?
I have the same question. All of the other bonuses showed up very quickly. (I think by the next day for the $1 and $5 “education” bonuses, and by the next week for the matching bonus.) But no sign whatsoever of the $50 bonus for putting in $25. (And even more worrying, no more mention of this $50 bonus anywhere in the app ever since I made my initial deposit!) Also, if I put in $300 in order to get the 10% matching annual bonus, so I need to put in an additional $25 to get the $50 bonus? Really not as clear as I’d hoped. I got my wife to sign up from her phone and account as well, and the same thing happened where all mention of the $50 bonus disappeared from the app as soon as she made her initial $25 deposit…
I did eventually get the $50 bonus. It took less than 14 days after initial deposit.
Need to leave the deposit in your account for 7 days and then it’ll deposit within 10 calendar days so ~2.5 weeks
Would you know if my teenager son(under 16) would be eligible to open this account?
Fidelity Bloom is 18+. For 13-17yo, look at the Fidelity Youth Account (also has $50 bonus):
https://www.fidelity.com/go/youth-account/overview
If you’re a Bloom app user, we’ve got a special treat for you! We’re giving away a bonus to everyone who uses the app this week. All you have to do is use the app as usual and you’ll automatically be entered to win.
We’ll be picking a winner at random, so make sure you use the app before the end of the week! Good luck, and we hope you enjoy using Bloom.
Do you know how long the $300 has to be in the Save account to get the annual bonus? Can you transfer it in and then right back out, or does it have to sit there for a certain period of time?
Also, do you know when the annual bonus is deposited into the account? Year-end?
Thanks
After I put in $300, I pretty much got the $30 within a week! I also have questions where you can pull out the bonus or principal without penalty.
Jonathan, did you get this bonus for 2024, I deposited the 300 first week of Jan, usually I get get first week of Feb, this year 2024, so far no 30 bonus yet.
Yes, got my $30 bonus on 2/2/24.
Called Fidelity and apparently you cannot schedule the transfer in December for January withdrawal. The transfer also needs to be scheduled in the current year, So they advised me to transfer another 300 and I would get the bonus the beginning of next month. Something I need to keep an eye on 🙂
Thanks for the info, that’s good to know.
A little puzzled about the mechanics — so if I got the bonus in a previous year, I can get another bonus this year by depositing another $300? Thanks for confirming!
Yes, the bonus resets each year. Schedule a transfer during 2024. I scheduled in January, got bonus in February.