GO2bank is a mobile banking solution designed for people who want to manage their finances digitally while accessing features like credit-building tools, early direct deposit, and overdraft protection. Whether you’re trying to boost your credit score, receive paychecks faster, or avoid traditional banking hassles, GO2bank aims to provide a low-cost, accessible option.
This review breaks down everything you need to know about GO2bank, including its features, benefits, and potential drawbacks, to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your financial needs.
What is GO2bank?
GO2bank is the mobile banking division of Green Dot Bank, a financial technology company and bank holding company “focused on making modern banking and money movement accessible to all,” according to the GO2bank website. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, Green Dot Bank has a 22-year history and has served 33 million customers and counting.
Green Dot Bank launched GO2bank as a low-cost option for the unbanked and underbanked in the U.S. With a low, $5 monthly fee, that is easily waived with an eligible direct deposit in the previous monthly statement period, GO2bank makes it easy to save money, earn interest, pay bills, cash checks, and more.
Funds in GO2bank are FDIC insured up to the maximum limit of $250,000 per account holder and are not held by a third party. This is important today, as many people are concerned about holding their money in a bank that could collapse. FDIC insurance protects your hard-earned money at traditional and online banks.
Let’s learn more about exactly how this Green Dot Bank’s GO2bank product works in our comprehensive GO2bank review.
GO2bank Features
GO2bank offers a variety of features designed to make managing your money easier while providing opportunities to build credit and save. These features are organized into categories to help you understand their benefits.
Money Management
GO2bank offers tools to simplify managing your finances:
- Early Direct Deposit: Receive your paycheck up to two days early or government benefits up to four days early.
- Overdraft Protection: Cover purchases, debit card transactions, and bill payments with up to $200 in overdraft protection. Avoid fees by bringing your account balance to $0 within 24 hours.
- No Minimum Balance: Enjoy the flexibility of managing your account without worrying about maintaining a minimum balance.
- Bill Payment Options: Pay bills using your account’s routing and account numbers or with your Visa debit card.
- No Credit Check or ChexSystems: Open an account easily with no credit check or ChexSystems required.
Credit Building
GO2bank is designed to help you establish or improve your credit:
- GO2bank Secured Credit Card: Build your credit with a secured Visa card. No credit check is required, and your on-time payments are reported to all three credit bureaus.
- Experian Boost Integration: Link your GO2bank account with Experian Boost to improve your FICO score by counting on-time payments for utilities, phone bills, and streaming services.
Savings Potential
GO2bank helps you grow your savings with competitive interest rates and rewards:
- High-Yield Savings: Earn 4.50% APY on savings balances up to $5,000. Interest is paid quarterly, helping you grow your savings faster than with most traditional accounts.
- Cash Back on eGift Cards: Earn up to 7% cash back when you purchase eGift cards through the mobile app, redeemable at over 100 popular merchants.
Security Features
GO2bank prioritizes the safety of your money with advanced fraud protection:
Fraud Alerts: Stay informed with real-time notifications for suspicious activity or unusual transactions.
FDIC Insurance: Your funds are insured up to $250,000, giving you peace of mind.
Debit Card Lock: Temporarily lock and unlock your debit card through the mobile app to prevent unauthorized transactions.
GO2bank Checking Account Features
GO2bank has many of the features you’d expect in an online bank, along with a few perks that you don’t see in every bank. Let’s explore them, one by one, so you’ll know what to expect for your money – and even how to waive that pesky $5 monthly fee.
Mobile Banking with Overdraft Protection
Not all banks offer overdraft protection. GO2bank will cover your purchases, debit card transactions, and online bill payments up to $200, even if it causes a negative balance in your account.
Be aware that using overdraft protection could lead to fees of up to $15 per transaction for every purchase that brings your account negative. You’ll have 24 hours from the authorization of the first overdraft transaction to bring your account balance back to $0 to avoid the overdraft fee.
You will need to opt in to have your overdrafts paid, however, so you don’t have to worry about getting caught unaware by overdraft protection fees.
Earning Cash Back on Select Transactions
GO2bank also offers an opportunity to earn cash back on select transactions. Namely, you’ll earn 7% cash back when you use your chip enabled debit card to purchase eGift cards through the mobile app.
Note that eGift card merchants subject to change, but may include as many as 100 popular retailers and e-commerce sites.
Early Paycheck Access
More banks today offer early direct deposit as soon as two days faster than your ACH credit would normally hit your account. GO2bank offers this service for free.
Plus, many of the features advertised by GO2bank are only available with direct deposit, including overdraft protection up to $200, waived monthly fees, and the chance to apply for a GO2bank Secured Visa Credit Card without a credit check.
$50,000 Tax Refund Sweepstakes
If you opt to set up direct deposit of your tax refund into your GO2bank checking account, you will be entered to win $500. GO2bank will choose 100 lucky winners who set up a direct deposit of their tax refund by April 30, 2024.
Plus, when you sign up for direct deposit of your federal tax refund, you could receive your money up to five days early. You should be aware that if you set up your GO2bank account at a tax professional’s office, early direct deposit will not apply. Also, make sure your name and Social Security number on file with GO2bank match the information on your IRS account to prevent delays or fraud restrictions.
Government Benefits Direct Deposit
In addition to receiving your paycheck and tax refunds direct deposit funds early, you can also receive your government benefits direct deposits up to four days early. That means you can receive Social Security direct deposits or SSDI direct deposits up to four days earlier than usual, making it easier to stay ahead on bills and manage your money.
Bill Pay Capabilities
Most bank accounts today offer bill pay capabilities, and GO2bank is no different in that regard. The ability to pay bills through your bank is one of the advantages of having a bank account that millions of unbanked Americans can’t enjoy.
You can pay bills using your Visa debit card or directly from your checking account by entering your routing number, account number, and other necessary information with the merchant or vendor.
Experian Credit Care Advantage
If you use your GO2bank checking account, you’ll also have the opportunity to boost your FICO score on your Experian credit report through Experian Boost.
First, set up a free Experian account through the GO2bank dashboard by clicking Experian Credit Care Advantage. When you pay your bills through your online account, your FICO Score 8 could receive a boost. Customers saw an increase of an average of 19 points.
Experian Boost evaluates your account for a history of on-time payments to:
- utilities
- video streaming services
- mobile and landline phone companies
- internet service
- trash collection and more.
Experian uses these on-time payments as an additional factor to re-calculate your FICO score. If you have no credit history or a history of late credit card payments, Experian Boost can help improve your score with no risk to you. Late bill payments won’t reduce your score, but on-time payments could help to increase it.
Fraud Protection
GO2bank offers state-of-the-art fraud protection that rivals larger banks like Chase. First, you’ll receive a chip enabled debit card that offers more secure transactions at the point-of-sale.
You can use the mobile app to easily lock your debt card to prevent debit card purchases if you’ve temporarily misplaced your card. That way, you don’t have to pay a card replacement fee if you find your card again. Simply unlock the card by using the app and you’re back in business.
GO2bank will send you fraud alerts if there seems to be unusual activity on your card, such as out-of-state debit card purchases or unusually large transactions.
GO2bank Savings Account Features
GO2bank offers a linked savings account that pays a 4.50% annual percentage yield (APY), which the bank says is 10 times the current national average. The account is included with your $5 monthly fee, which, of course, can be waived when you receive eligible direct deposits monthly.
Earning Interest on Eligible Savings Balances
You can earn interest on up to $5,000 of your balance, with interest paid quarterly. This is 10 times higher than the national average, and also higher than most online accounts we explored.
Compare earnings with GO2bank vs. traditional savings account
Traditional savings accounts currently pay 0.45% APY or less, which is the national average, according to GO2bank. An online savings account, however, tends to pay more. Let’s look at some popular bank accounts to compare GO2bank with traditional savings accounts as well as other online accounts.
- Chase Total Savings: 0.01% APY on all balances
- SoFi account online: Up to 3.80% APY on all savings balances (with eligible direct deposit)
- Capital One 360 Performance Savings: 4.10% APY
- UFB Direct Preferred Savings: 4.57% APY on up to $10,000
- Ally Bank High-Yield Savings: 4.00% APY
As you can see, few online banks pay higher yields than GO2bank checking account. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a traditional bank with higher interest rates. However, most bank pay interest monthly, rather than quarterly like GO2bank.
If you plan to hold more than $5,000 in savings, you might consider SoFi to earn up to 3.80% APY on your entire balance.
But considering that GO2bank is designed with the underbanked in mind and individuals just starting to build a solid financial future, you may open an account at another bank before you accrue $5,000 in your GO2bank savings account, anyway.
GO2bank Secured Credit Card
In addition to its checking account and savings account, GO2bank offers a secured credit card through Green Dot. You can qualify with no credit check, but a security deposit will be required to open the account. You can start with a credit limit as small as $100 and begin to build your credit.
To open your account, you’ll need to receive eligible direct deposits of at least $100 in the past 30 days. Then, apply for the card online or within the mobile app. Once you activate the card, transfer at least $100 from your GO2bank checking to your credit card as your security deposit.
Be aware that, although the card has no annual fee, it does have a 22.99% APR for purchases and 26.99% for cash advances, plus a transaction fee of $10 or 5% of the cash advance, whichever is greater. There is also a 3% foreign transaction fee if you opt to use your credit card overseas. If you make a late payment, expect a $39 fee.
Benefits and Perks
The GO2bank Secured credit card has no annual fee, requires no credit check, and allows you to make purchases in stores and online. As you build your credit, you may qualify for lower interest credit cards and even rewards cards that carry more perks and benefits.
Once you begin making purchases with your card and on-time payments, you can start building your credit and increasing your FICO score. Try to keep your credit utilization below 50% of your credit limit. GO2bank reports your on-time payments and your credit utilization to all three credit bureaus.
GO2bank Fees
In addition to a monthly service fee of $5, which is easily waived with a qualifying direct deposit in the previous monthly statement period, you might pay other monthly fees for certain services as a GO2bank customer. Fees are clearly disclosed on the website and include:
- Cash deposit fee: up to $4.95 retail service fee
- Transfer money from a linked debit card: 3% of the transfer, with a minimum of $2
- Out-of-network withdrawals: $3 transaction fee
There are no fees for when you make a network ATM withdrawal or deposit cash at an in-network ATM.
GO2bank Pros and Cons
Here’s a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of GO2bank to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your needs.
Pros
- Fraud Protection: GO2bank offers advanced fraud detection, real-time alerts, and the ability to lock and unlock your debit card directly from the app.
- Experian Boost Integration: Link your account to Experian Boost to improve your FICO score by reporting on-time payments for utilities, phone, and streaming services.
- FDIC Insurance: Funds are insured up to $250,000, ensuring your money is safe.
- High-Yield Savings: Earn 4.50% APY on balances up to $5,000, which is higher than most traditional banks.
- No Credit Check or ChexSystems: Open an account easily, even if you’ve faced banking challenges in the past.
- Cash Back on eGift Cards: Earn up to 7% cash back when you purchase eGift cards through the mobile app.
- Early Direct Deposit: Access your paycheck up to two days early and government benefits up to four days early.
Cons
- Quarterly Interest Payments: Interest on savings is paid quarterly instead of monthly, which might not suit all savers.
- High-Yield Balance Cap: The 4.50% APY applies only to balances up to $5,000. Balances beyond this cap do not earn interest.
- Overdraft Fees: While overdraft protection is available, a $15 fee applies if the negative balance isn’t resolved within 24 hours.
- Cash Deposit Fees: Depositing cash at retail locations incurs fees of up to $4.95 per transaction.
- Limited In-Person Access: As a digital-first bank, there are no physical branches for in-person banking needs.
How to Open a GO2bank Account
Opening a GO2bank account is quick and straightforward. You can set up your account online with no minimum deposit, making it accessible to anyone ready to start banking digitally.
If you prefer to open your account at a retail store, there’s a $2.95 transaction fee, and you’ll need to make an initial deposit between $20 and $500. The entire process can be completed in minutes, allowing you to start enjoying GO2bank’s features almost immediately.
To open a GO2bank account, you’ll need to provide basic personal information, including your name, address, phone number, date of birth, Social Security number, and a valid government-issued ID. You may also need to meet age and residency requirements.
Making Deposits to Your GO2bank Account
GO2bank offers multiple deposit options to suit your needs:
- Cash Deposits: Deposit cash at participating retail locations for a fee of up to $4.95 per transaction.
- Check Deposits: Use the GO2bank mobile app to deposit checks. If you don’t mind waiting 10 days for the funds, the service is free. Need the money sooner? Opt for expedited processing and pay a fee ranging from 1% to 5% of the check amount, depending on the type of check.
These flexible deposit options make it easy to add funds to your account, whether you prefer digital or in-person methods.
How to Withdraw Money from a GO2bank account
GO2bank provides convenient withdrawal options:
- ATM Withdrawals: Access your money at any network ATM without paying a fee. Out-of-network ATM withdrawals will incur a $3 transaction fee.
- Bank Transfers: Transfer funds to a linked bank account for free, offering a seamless way to move your money as needed.
With multiple ways to withdraw funds, GO2bank ensures you can access your money when and where you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GO2bank a real bank?
Yes, GO2bank is a legitimate banking service. It operates as a brand of Green Dot Bank, an FDIC-insured financial institution with over 20 years of experience serving customers.
Is GO2bank safe to use?
Yes, GO2bank is safe to use. Funds are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC, and features like debit card locking and fraud alerts provide additional security.
Is GO2bank a credit card?
No, GO2bank is not a credit card company, but it does offer a secured credit card as part of its suite of financial products. The card is designed to help you build credit while also providing savings and checking account options.
Can you use GO2bank without direct deposit?
Yes, you can use GO2bank without direct deposit. However, features like waived monthly fees, overdraft protection, and access to the secured credit card require an eligible direct deposit.
What fees should I expect with GO2bank?
GO2bank is transparent about its fees. Some common charges include:
- Cash Deposits: Up to $4.95 at retail locations.
- Out-of-Network ATM Withdrawals: $3 per transaction.
- Expedited Check Deposits: 1% to 5% of the check amount.
Does GO2bank offer overdraft protection?
Yes, GO2bank provides overdraft protection for eligible accounts, covering transactions up to $200. However, a $15 fee applies if the negative balance isn’t resolved within 24 hours.
