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A cash management account (CMA) offers interest rates similar to a high-yield savings account and the flexibility of a checking account. If you’re looking for a place to keep your idle cash where it will still earn something, a CMA might be just what you’re looking for.
And with Personal Capital Cash™, you can earn over 2% APY on their fee-free cash management account. Plus, you can take advantage of the wealth of other tools the platform has to offer, all without paying a cent.
Our Personal Capital Cash review includes how this account works, its pros and cons, and some of the best alternatives you can consider.
Characteristics – 8
Rates – 10
Interest rate – 8
Customer service – 8
8.5
total
Personal Capital Cash is a fee-free cash management account that pays over 2% interest for both non-clients and Personal Capital Advisory clients. It also offers benefits such as unlimited withdrawals and has no minimum balance requirements. However, it does not include a debit card or check writing skills.
What is personal cash capital?
Personal Capital Cash is a cash management account from Personal Capital, an online wealth management company. It provides a fee-free way for you to earn significant interest on your extra money. Plus, you pay even higher interest rates if you use Personal Capital’s advisory service.
Not the best cash management account out there if you want check writing skills or a debit card. But it offers a competitive interest rate and many other useful tools under the Personal Capital umbrella.
What does it offer?
The main reason to even open a Personal Equity Cash Account is to earn interest on your idle cash. It currently pays 2.60% APY to start and 2.70% APY for Personal Capital Advisory clients. This rate is much higher than your average checking or savings account, and it’s a great place to keep your emergency fund or some money you’re not ready to invest yet.
You must invest at least $100,000 to use Personal Capital’s advisory service, but even the base 2.60% APY is competitive with many other popular cash management accounts.
Other benefits of Personal Capital Cash include:
- Aggregate FDIC insurance up to $1.5 million ($250,000 per program bank)
- There is no minimum balance requirement
- No annual fees
- Unlimited number of monthly transfers
- Transfer up to $1 million without paying fees
- Set up paycheck direct deposit and link your account to your checking account to pay bills
Please note that there is a maximum deposit limit per transaction of $250,000. There is also a daily withdrawal limit of $25,000 unless you are a Personal Capital Advisory client or your account was open and funded more than 60 days prior to the withdrawal, in which case the daily limit is $100,000 .
Other useful features of personal capital
Personal Capital Cash is a great place to earn extra cash interest. But Personal Capital is also one of our favorite wealth management tools because of the range of free features it offers, including:
- An investment fee analyzer to examine the fees you pay with your 401(k) and other account types
- A net worth tracker
- Savings and budget tools
- A retirement planner
All these tools are also free and it is only the advisory service that requires you to invest at least $100,000. But if you want to invest, you can consider the advisory service and work with a personal capital advisor to create a customized investment plan that matches your goals and risk tolerance.
Pros Cons
pros
- No minimum balance requirements
- No account fees
- He still wins 2.60% APY as a non-advisory client
- Personal Capital Cash offers unlimited monthly withdrawals
- Joint accounts are available
against
- Many high-yield savings accounts and mobile banks pay higher interest rates
- Unlocking the higher APY requires investing with personal capital
- No physical branches
- You cannot deposit checks or write cash
- You will not receive a debit card
Better alternatives
Personal Capital Cash is a leading cash management account because of its high interest rate. And the variety of free tools you have to help you manage your finances is another selling point.
However, Personal Capital Cash does not pay as much interest as some of its competitors. And some other cash management accounts also include debit cards to make spending your money that much easier.
Front of wealth
APY: 2.55%
Minimum deposit: $1
commissions: $0
Wealthfront is a popular robo-advisor that also has one of the best cash management accounts, Wealthfront Cash. currently pay 2.55% APY and has a funding requirement of $1. You also pay no account fees like with Personal Capital Cash, and you get up to $1 million in FDIC insurance.
Another plus is that this account comes with a free debit card for easy transactions. Plus, you get free ATM withdrawals at over 19,000 ATMs and you can receive checks.
Betterment Cash Reserve
APY: 2.25%
Minimum deposit: $10
commissions: $0
Betterment is another popular robo-advisor that has its own cash management account called Betterment Cash Reserve. This account pays 2.25% APY and does not charge monthly fees. Like Wealthfront, you get up to $1 million in FDIC insurance† and up to $2 million for joint accounts.
There is no direct debit card for Betterment Cash Reserve. However, Betterment also has a checking account that you can use to make spending easier and also earn cash back rewards.
Betterment Cash Reserve APY Disclosure – The annual percentage yield (“APY”) on Betterment Cash Reserve’s deposit balances (“Cash Reserve”) is 2.25% and represents the weighted average APY of the deposit balances of banks participating in Cash Reserve (the “Program Banks”) “) and is effective as of September 26, 2022. This APY is variable and subject to change daily. Deposit balances are not allocated equally among participating Program Banks. A minimum deposit of $10 is required, but no minimum balance is required. The APY available to a customer may be lower if that customer designates a bank or banks as ineligible to receive deposits. APY applies to Cash only Reserve and does not apply to checking accounts with Betterment Checking Cash Reserve and Betterment Checking are separate offers and are not linked accounts.
Aspiration Spend and save
APY: 3.00% or 5.00%
Minimum deposit: $10
commissions: $5.99-$7.99 per month for Aspiration Plus
Aspiration Spend & Save is another alternative to Personal Capital Cash that also pays much higher interest. This account pays 3.00% APY for regular customers i 5.00% APY if you are an Aspiration Plus customer. The basic plan uses a payment model, which is fair, so you decide what Aspiration costs. The Plus plan costs $7.99 per month or $5.99 per month if you pay annually.
Other benefits include earning cash back for shopping at green businesses and free ATM withdrawals at over 55,000 locations.
bottom line
If you’re an existing Personal Capital Advisory client, using their cash management account is a pretty smart move. This allows you to earn significant interest on your excess cash and you can always move the money into your investments when the time is right.
But even non-customers can benefit from Personal Capital Cash. And the amount of free tools the company offers to help people manage their finances is why we love it so much. Earning over 2% APY is really the cherry on top.
Of course, don’t leave several online-only high-yield savings accounts out of business. Banking options like Current and Varo pay higher fees than Personal Capital Cash, although you lose some flexibility by going with a savings account.
Disclosure of personal capital – Personal Capital Advisors Corporation (“PCAC”) compensates Webpals Systems S. C LTD for new customer leads. Webpals Systems S. C LTD is not an investment client of PCAC.
†Betterment Cash Reserve Disclosure – Betterment LLC offers Betterment Cash Reserve (“Cash Reserve”). Betterment LLC clients participate in Cash Reserve through their brokerage account at Betterment Securities. Neither Betterment LLC nor any of its affiliates is a bank. Through Cash Reserve, customer funds are deposited in one or more banks (“Program Banks”) where the funds earn a variable interest rate and are eligible for FDIC insurance. Cash Reserve offers Betterment customers the opportunity to earn interest on cash used to purchase securities through Betterment LLC and Betterment Securities. Cash Reserve should not be viewed as a long-term investment option. Funds in your brokerage accounts are not insured by the FDIC, but are protected by SIPC. Funds in transit to or from program banks are generally not insured by the FDIC, but are protected by SIPC, except when such funds are held in a sweep account after a deposit or before a withdrawal, time in which the funds are eligible for FDIC insurance, but are not protected by SIPC. See the Betterment Customer Agreements for more details. Funds deposited in Cash Reserve are eligible for up to $1,000,000.00 (or $2,000,000.00 for joint accounts) of FDIC insurance once the funds reach one or more program banks (up to $250,000 for each insurable capacity, for example, individual or joint, up to four programs). banks). Even if there are more than four program banks, customers will not necessarily have deposits allocated in a manner that provides FDIC insurance in excess of $1,000,000.00 (or $2,000,000.00 for joint accounts). The FDIC calculates insurance limits based on all accounts with the same insurable capacity at a bank, not just cash in Cash Reserve. If customers choose to exclude one or more banks from the deposit-taking program, the amount of FDIC insurance available through Cash Reserve may be less. Customers are responsible for monitoring their total assets at each program bank, including existing deposits at program banks outside of the cash reserve, to ensure that FDIC insurance limits are not exceeded, which could cause some funds to be unsecured. For more information about FDIC insurance, visit www.FDIC.gov. Deposits held at program banks are not protected by SIPC. For more information, see Betterment LLC’s full terms and conditions and Form ADV Part II.
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