There are a few solutions available to tide you over until your next paycheck is sent into your bank account if you find yourself in a position where you are short on cash and are awaiting it. For some, the answer lies in seeking support from their family and friends. Others are able to meet their financial obligations by taking on part-time or freelance work on the side or by making charges to their credit card.
There is also the possibility of using cash advance applications in order to borrow little sums of money and then repay the money when you get your next paycheck. Earnin is a good illustration of this, and it’s now one of the most popular apps for getting cash advances available.
This app does not charge any interest or fees and instead generates revenue through a tipping system. However, before you borrow, it is essential to have a solid understanding of how the app operates as well as the benefits and drawbacks associated with it. The entirety of this material, in addition to some of the most viable alternatives, is covered in our evaluation of Earnin.
Pros
- Earnin’s tipping model provides users with the ability to charge fees on cash advances;
- There are no requirements for a credit check or interest;
- And the maximum cash advance limit every pay period is a high $500.
Cons
- There is a cost associated with instant cash advances.
- If you want to tip, your tips can make up a significant portion of your overall cash advantage;
- The savings account attached to Earnin’s tip jar does not accrue interest.
Regarding Earnin
Earnin is a firm that offers a variety of financial services, one of which is the provision of its customers with simple and hassle-free cash advances on the basis of their earned salaries. You can borrow up to $500 from Earnin for each pay period if you need cash a little bit early than your real salary and are seeking for a quick solution to your financial problem.
Since its founding in 2014, the organization has amassed more than 2.5 million subscribers to its newsletter. It is one of the most downloaded cash advance apps and is accessible on mobile devices running Android and iOS.
For Whom Is Earnin Being Done?
You have the ability to borrow up to $100 every single day through Earnin, with a cap of $500 every pay period. This opens up the possibility of earning some extra money to tide you over until the arrival of your next paycheck. It is frequently utilized for the purpose of covering bills, minimizing the impact of smaller emergency expenses, and avoiding incurring overdraft fees.
This application is not a personal loan provider that assesses interest or allows you to withdraw thousands of dollars at a time.
Achieving Earnin’ Features
You will have access to the money you make as soon as it is earned thanks to the cash out option of Earnin. You are permitted to receive a cash advance of up to $500 per pay period, with a daily limit of up to $100.
The application establishes a connection to your bank account and initiates a direct deposit of your cash advance. When you actually receive your paycheck, Earnin will deduct the amount of money you owe them automatically.
Earnin does not charge any additional fees or interest for cash advances, and there are no hidden fees. You also do not need to worry about having your credit checked, and you begin with a total cash out limit of $100 every pay period. Your limit will increase to a maximum of $500 every pay period the more you use the app and successfully make repayments to Earnin.
It is essential to be aware that Earnin frequently requests that its users provide screenshots of their bank balances as evidence that they are receiving their direct payments on a consistent basis. Earnin does not have access to the minute-by-minute data from your linked bank account, which is why it conducts random checks to ensure that you are able to repay the money that you have borrowed. If the app doesn’t find any new money in your bank account after a certain amount of time, it may request images of your timesheet as further evidence that you worked during that period of time.
Earnin provides a tipping option that may be utilized when you are borrowing money. This allows you to make money. Tipping ranges from zero dollars to fourteen dollars. However, participation in this activity is not required in any way, and if you choose not to tip, your experience with the app will not be affected in any way.
Please be aware that it may still take a number of days for the money to reach your bank account depending on the bank that you use. You also have the option of cashing out using Lightning Speed, which will allow you to receive the money in a matter of minutes. In order to be eligible for Lightning Speed, you will need to link a bank account that gets at least half of your paychecks deposited into it. The Lightning Speed cash advance service has a cost of $3.99 each transaction.
Max Boosts
In the event that you find yourself in need of more funds during a pay period, you have the option of requesting a Max Boost, which will give you a one-time increase of $50 to your cash advance limit for that pay period. Because it is a community-based system, the Earnin app requires that you ask a friend who is also using Earnin to vouch for you through the app.
The only thing you need to do to do this is make a request for a Max Boost, and then have your friend confirm the request so that Earnin may give you additional money. Please be aware that the Max Boosts feature cannot award an increase that is greater than $500 every pay period.
The Shield of Balance
Cash advances from Earnin’s can be of assistance if you are in need of a little bit of money to tide you over till your next paycheck arrives. But its Balance Shield feature might also assist you in avoiding the agonizing bank costs that are associated with overdrafts.
Earnin gives its users the ability to select a minimum account balance threshold and receive a notification in the event that their balance falls below that amount. For instance, you can instruct Earnin to send you a notification if the balance of the associated checking account falls below $200. You also have the option to enable automatic Balance Shield cash outs, which function identically to standard daily cash outs of $100 but are intended to protect your account from falling into overdraft.
Earnin Express (Earnin)
With Earnin Express, you can get up to two days’ worth of your paycheck deposited into the account you attach to the service. In addition to this, it raises the cap on the amount of money you can withdraw from your account to 80% of your paycheck or $1,000, whichever is lower. When you cash out, the money will reach your account more quickly, allowing you to access it as soon as possible.
The transaction is completed by passing the funds from your paycheck through Earnin’s online account. It will not affect the day that you are paid, although it is possible that you will receive the money a little bit early than usual.
Earnin Express can be utilized at no additional cost to the user. However, gratuities for the service are still acceptable, just like they are with conventional cash outs.
Jar for Earnin’ Tips
Earnin allows you to deposit money from paychecks or from cash advances that you have received into a tip jar. This feature is intended to encourage users to save money. You can give yourself a “tip” of anywhere from one dollar to fifty dollars per day. Because you are able to access this money whenever you like, you can think of it as a miniature savings account or an emergency fund that you are working to build up over time.
Because Earnin intends to encourage saving money rather than simply living from paycheck to paycheck, this function has been implemented. Since Evolve Bank & Trust is the custodian of the money in your tip jar, you may rest assured that the money is protected by the FDIC.
However, because there is no interest accrued on the account, we do not recommend using the function that allows you to tip yourself. You would be better off opening a high-yield savings account with a business like Aspiration or Juno, where you can easily earn an annual percentage yield (APY) of over 1% and there are no fees involved.
How much does it cost to earn Earnin?
When it comes to standard cash advances as well as Earnin Express cash advances, Earnin does not impose any interest or fee charges on cash advances. The app generates revenue by requesting tips from its users and promotes the practice of tipping as a means of “paying it forward” to future users by ensuring the continued operation of the platform.
Earnin’s Lightning Speed option allows you to receive cash in a couple of minutes; however, there is a price of $3.99 associated with using this feature.
How do I get in touch with Earnin?
You can get in touch with Earnin by using the app’s built-in live chat assistance, which is available around the clock, or by sending a direct message (DM) via Facebook or Twitter. However, the app has 180,000 reviews on the Google Play store, with an average rating of 4.4 stars out of 5, despite having only a few reviews on websites such as Trustpilot.
Earnin’s ability to tide its users over until their next payday and its absence of any associated costs are two features that are popular with its users. However, some users have complained about the poor response times of customer care as well as troubles with the app constantly disconnecting from their bank accounts.
Is Earnin a Reliable and Honest Platform?
Earnin’s website makes it clear that the company does not engage in the practice of selling its customers’ personal information and that maintaining the confidentiality of that information is one of its highest priorities. In addition, Earnin does not monitor your credit score, ask for your Social Security number, or have any effect on your credit score in any way.
To use the app, you are not need to disclose too much personal information other than your Social Security number, which is only required if you enlist in the Earnin Express program. According to Earnin, information is additionally encrypted to protect the confidentiality of your personal and financial information.
The Controversy Regarding Earnin’s Tipping and Concerns Regarding Payday Loans
Earlier in 2019, Earnin customers who tipped were granted access to higher cash advances through the platform. However, as regulators began investigating into Earnin and other applications that offered similar cash advances, the company swiftly withdrew this function that offered rewards for providing tips. On the other hand, investigations into Earnin’s possible violation of usury laws have persisted in 11 states and Puerto Rico. Usury refers to the unethical and unlawful practice of lending money at extremely high interest rates.
The suspicion that Earnin and other apps like it are really just cover versions of payday loan services led to the initiation of this investigation in the first place. After all, if you reward consumers for tipping with higher cash advance limits, how are those tips any different from the exorbitant interest rates that suppliers of payday loans charge?
This is in all honesty a valid point of contention. For illustration purposes, a gratuity of $14 on a loan of $100 represents an extremely high interest rate. However, if users of Earnin believed that they were required to tip in order to access higher cash advance limits, then they might have done so regardless of the expense.
These days, Earnin is a significantly superior app that is more open and honest and does not provide users who tip with additional benefits. However, it is essential to be aware of the criticisms leveled against apps like Earnin as well as the functioning of their business strategy. Also, if you are thinking of tipping, calculate the amount of your tip as a percentage of your cash advance, and then assess whether or not it is financially prudent for you to do so.
Best Alternatives
These days, getting a cash advance is as simple as downloading one of the many applications available on the market, such as Earnin. Additionally, some of these alternate options have higher limits or other helpful features that make them more robust solutions than Earnin does.
Chime
If you want more bank-like features and to avoid fees, Chime, a fintech company, is an excellent alternative to Earnin. Chime is an excellent alternative to Earnin. A high-yield savings account, a checking account, and the ability to withdraw up to $200 using the SpotMe feature are all included in this product. Just like Earnin, you won’t have to worry about paying any interest or fees for this cash advance.
Additionally, we like Chime® because it offers a free secured Visa card that helps you improve your credit rating over time. In addition, there is no obligation for an annual fee, and there are no interest charges or fees associated with using this card.
Empower
Empower, much like Earnin, gives you the option to take out a cash advance to assist you in covering your bills until you get paid. You have the option of taking out advances in the denominations of $25, $50, $75, and $100. And much like with Earnin, there are no interest charges, fees, or credit checks involved in the process.
There is also a tool available to build credit, such as the one that Chime provides, which begins with a line of credit worth $200 and gradually increases to $1,000 as payments are made on the balance. The only expense you will need to be concerned about is the $8 per month subscription cost for Empower.
MoneyLion
MoneyLion is the last alternative to Earnin that you could think about using. This app, similar to Earnin, enables you to take out a cash advance of up to $250 and receive your payment up to two days early. In addition, it helps you save more money by providing you with a credit-building tool, cash-back rewards, and round-ups of your spare change.
In addition, if you add direct deposits to your RoarMoney account, you can receive up to a thousand dollars in cash advances whenever you need them. If you want to start investing with a small amount of money so that you can gradually build up your wealth, there is even the option of opening an investment account. Overall, MoneyLion is significantly more comprehensive than Earnin, which is a benefit if you’re looking for more bank-like services than those offered by Earnin can provide.
Membership is available for purchase at a cost of $1 per month. The fee for an instant cash advance can range anywhere from $0.99 to $7.99, depending on the amount of money you borrow. If you choose to wait a few days for the money to reach your account, however, you will not be subject to this fee.
Bottom Line
Companies such as Earnin have seen a meteoric rise in popularity over the past few years. And when you compare many of these free or low-fee cash advance applications to other options like payday loans, you’ll find that they’re generally a lot better solution to your financial problem.
Having saying that, you still need to be cautious about taking out an excessive amount of debt. The use of cash advance applications that are dependent on your approaching paychecks is not something that you should do on a whim because you are still borrowing money that you are required to pay back. Additionally, it is essential to keep an eye out for any hidden fees or features, such as tipping, as these can quickly add up to a significant sum of money.
Think about using applications like Earnin if they can help you avoid incurring overdraft fees or taking out loans with exorbitantly high interest rates. However, you should never overlook the need of establishing an emergency fund in order to have money saved up in case of unforeseen circumstances.