Best Automatic Savings (& Investing) Apps to Round Up Savings in 2021

Digit is so confident in its safe-to-withdraw algorithms that it offers to reimburse the fees for up to two instances of overdraft if any transfers leaves you overdrawn. You can request money from your Digit account anytime and you will generally receive it the next business day.

Digit communicates with you via text message, and you must sign up online, as it is technically not an app. Digit started as a text tool only but now has iPhone and Android apps. For those simply texting, you will receive a text message once per day with your current bank balance. You also have the option to receive more detailed text check-ins, which allow you to see recent debits. This can give you a no-effort daily snapshot of your finances

Digit recently started paying customers a 1% annual bonus (paid out every three months) on the balance of the account. Nice!

The big downside to Digit is the monthly fee of $5. $6,040 is what you’ll need to keep in the account on average to earn enough bonus to negate the monthly fee.

Budget tracking with the app is made easy by providing budget categories and spending limits to help create a plan for your money. The app reviews your spending and gives recommendations to reduce or cut expenses. Empower monitors your account and alerts you of late payments or bill increases.

A big upside to Empower is personal financial coaches. As a subscriber, you can talk to a financial coach and get personalized advice for your situation. Financial guidance is useful to have but can be particularly helpful if you’re facing money challenges.

Empower also provides cash advances for their app subscribers for life’s unexpected expenses. You can receive a $250 cash advance that you can pay back later. If you’re eligible and have Empower’s checking account, you’ll get the advance instantly. External checking accounts won’t receive the money until the next business day. Eligibility is determined by your account history and your average monthly direct deposit. You pay back the advance when you receive your next direct deposit.

It’s also important to note that the app will provide you with a daily summary of your spending, which includes automatic categorization of your purchases. A simple and easy-to-read daily breakdown of your spending habits will help you to improve those habits and take better care of your finances.

Though it has only been around since January 2017, Clarity Money is already shaking up the financial tech world. Clarity Money’s mission is to be a service that will both watch your back when it comes to your money choices, and help you take control of your financial life. The founders of the app believe that consumers deserve nothing less than transparency and advocacy in their financial choices, and they designed Clarity Money to provide it.

After you download the app onto your Android, your iPhone, or other Apple device, you then connect your accounts to Clarity, and the program analyzes your spending data before making suggestions to you on how you can optimize and save your money.

Clarity Money is able to do this through their Bill Negotiation & Lowering service, which asks users to give the program permission to negotiate and/or cancel any of your recurring services on your behalf. The program is able to make these negotiations by applying discounts and coupons you may be entitled to but were unaware of. When the program is successful in lowering your bill, Clarity Money will keep 33% of the savings as their commission, leaving you with the remaining 2/3 of the difference.

There is also an algorithm on the app that will help you to find lower interest rate credit cards and/or personal loans. You can also get your credit score for free through the app, which works with Experian and uses the VantageScore model.

Finally, the program identifies wasteful recurring charges and will cancel those services for you. The site promises that Clarity will not make a recommendation that does not objectively improve your financial well-being, so you can feel secure that your finances will improve by acting on the app’s recommendations.

SaverLife is run by EARN, a nonprofit that helps working families save and invest for their futures. This program was specifically created to give every American the opportunity to build and sustain a financial future.

SaverLife is a free program that gives you the opportunity to win prizes when you save money. The prize offerings change regularly, which helps keep you excited about saving your money. Prizes are also offered for users who make pledges (such as a pledge to save your tax refund) or share their savings stories. You could win anywhere from $5 – $1,000 in cash prizes by simply boosting your savings. You must save at least $50 in order to enter to win a cash prize.

All you have to do is link the program to your savings accounts, so it can track your savings amounts. You must be at least 18 years or older, have a valid email address, and have a savings account located within the United States.

If you are worried about security, SaverLife uses the identical type of encryption and privacy policies that other banks use. They do not store your banking information; they are simply tracking your transactions. They also back up your data with an encryption form, so you can feel safe and secure using their platform.

You will also be paired up with a financial coach that gives you weekly savings tips to help stay you on track. Saundra Davis is their in-house financial coach. Her award-winning work and experience has helped her build coaching programs around the nation.

Getting into the habit of saving money can be challenging, so SaverLife provides a community for support. They provide blog posts and additional resources to support you with your savings progress.

You can also earn cash back from your online purchases. Just start your online shopping from the CoinOut app and press one of the merchant buttons on the homepage–or visit the rewards section of the app to see the full list of participating merchants. When you click on the retailer you want, CoinOut will automatically direct you to the app or mobile website of the store. Any purchase you make at that point will be counted towards your cash back.

CoinOut essentially acts as your digital wallet and uses bank-grade technology with encryption methods, and multi-verification to keep your money safe. Funds are only transferred one-way. If someone tries to hack your account, their only choice is to send money to you.

To get started, just download the iPhone app, enter your bank information, and you’re ready to play. Then transfer $1 into your WinWin savings account to play a fun one-minute game like whack-a-mole or word finder to reveal your prize of up to $100 in cash. You can play up to 25 times every single day.

The WinWin savings account is with Wells Fargo bank and FDIC insured. You can transfer your WinWin funds back to your bank account any time you would like. You can also cancel WinWin at a moment’s notice.

WinWinSave is entirely free—for the moment. Their website does specify that there are no fees “for now.” If you enjoy playing games on your phone, consider WinWin as your go-to gaming platform, since it will help you save up to $25 per day (instead of giving money to those in-app purchases in traditional games), and give you the chance to win more money.

For a small fee, you can choose a portfolio that matches your risk tolerance as well as an investment strategy that works best for you. Fill out Stash’s investment guide and they will help you choose a portfolio that is appropriate for your needs.

Your investments are protected against institutional failure by Securities Investor Protect Corporation (SIPC). Your holdings and cash are held at APEX Clearing Corp.

In addition to the roundups, you can also take advantage of Found Money from more than 200 retailers. Shop with any of the participating retailers, and they will deposit up to 10% of your purchase in your investment account. You can also shop with Found Money partners using a chrome extension on your laptop or desktop. These deposits take anywhere from 60 to 120 days to show up in your investment account.

The Acorns app helps you to choose an appropriate portfolio for your needs by asking you a series of questions. The five portfolio options include index funds from investment firms such as iShares, Pimco, and Vanguard.

You have the option of withdrawing your funds from your Acorns Core investment account at any time, and the money will arrive in your checking account within five to seven business days. There is no limit on how much you can withdraw.

Acorns Later offers you all the benefits of the Core app, plus an easy way to save for retirement. The program will recommend an IRA and portfolio that’s right for you and allows you to set up an automatic recurring contribution–which is not available to Core users. Acorns Later also assists you with rollovers and automatically rebalances your account as you get closer to retirement.

Acorns Spend gives you all the features of Core and Later, plus a checking account and debit card that automatically rounds up your purchases and invests the change. The checking account has no overdraft or minimum balance fees and offers unlimited free or fee-reimbursed ATMs nationwide.

Each Acorns level has a different fee. Acorns Core users pay $1 per month, Later users pay $2 per month, and Spend users pay $3 per month—but remember, users who choose the more comprehensive programs get access to the lower-tier programs as well.

With the Bumped app (which is available for Apple and Android), you link your debit or credit cards to the app, choose which brands you would like to partner with, and then spend as you normally do. Every time you make a purchase on your linked card with one of your partner brands, you will earn a percentage of share (generally between 1% and 5%) based on your purchase amount.

Picking brands you already spend money on means that you are receiving free money in the form of fractional shares. When you earn your share portion, it is automatically placed in a linked Bumped brokerage account. Since Bumped helps to promote brand loyalty, brands, retailers, and other companies are eager to partner with the app, and there is a thriving list of companies for you to choose from.

The app is free, and there are no additional fees. However, Bumped will have access to your transaction history, and this data is collected and shared with affiliated third parties. If you’re uncomfortable having your data shared, Bumped may not be the right app for you.

Consumers interested in Bumped must join the waitlist, although as the company is growing and scaling up, the wait time continues to shrink.

Once you have downloaded the app and connected your checking account, you set a goal using their intuitive interface. You decide how much you want to save for your goal and in what timeframe. You can set up automatic transfers and also transfer money manually. For instance, if you skip happy hour after work, you can manually transfer $20 to your goal as a reward for being financially virtuous.

The app also helps you track your goals, letting you know how far you have come. For instance, if you are trying to save $40,000 for a down payment on a house, and have saved $18,000, the app will tell you that you are 45% of your way there. This is an excellent motivator for saving, and the app can help make saving money more fun for those who struggle with it.

Evati invests your money in portfolios tailored to shorter time horizons. That means the investments lean more heavily on bonds and other low-volatility assets to make sure your principal is protected on a shorter timeline.

The first month with Evati is free. After that, you will pay $1 per month for less than $5,000 invested, and 0.25% annually for portfolios larger than $5,000.

Chime makes it simple and effortless to save money with their automated savings plan. They are also passionate about making you feel secure. They have automated transaction alerts as well as daily customer support for all your banking needs.

Every time you make a purchase or pay a bill with your Chime Visa® Debit Card, you will be adding to your savings account. The Save When You Spend feature automatically rounds up transactions to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference from your Spending Account into your Savings Account app. Chime members can also automatically transfer 10% of every paycheck directly into their Savings Account on payday, making it easier to grow their savings without feeling the pinch.

Chime’s mission is to help you create a healthier financial life for you and your family. By pairing technology with a strong mission, they are able to give their members an outstanding banking experience. They also charge no fees, with one exception: There is a $2.50 fee for over the counter cash withdrawals or using an out-of-network ATM that is not part of Chime’s fee-free network of 38,000 ATMs. This fee should be easy to avoid, however.

1. Set & Forget: This is simple automation, where you can save a set amount on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
2. Roundup: This is similar to all of the roundup options in other apps, except you can round up to the nearest $1, $2, $3, $4, or $5.
3. Spend Less: When you spend less than your target budget amount, you can save the difference. For instance, if you spend less than $15 at Starbucks per week, this rule will save the difference toward your goal.
4. Guilty Pleasure: If you struggle with a certain type of spending, you can set up an automatic savings amount to go into your account if you give in temptation. So you could save $10 every time you make a purchase at McDonald’s.
5. Apple Health: (Not available on the Android app). Pay yourself for working out. If you hit a fitness goal, Qapital will save money towards your goal. For instance, you could save $25 towards your vacation every time you take 10,000 steps in a day.
6. IFTTT: IFTTT stands for If This Then That, and you can decide whatever you want that will cause a triggered savings–like saving $20 every time you fill your gas tank or saving $0.50 each time you like a video on YouTube.
7. Freelancer: Every time you get paid, put aside money towards taxes.
8. 52 Week Rule: Save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, and so on for 52 weeks

To protect you from potential overdrafts, Qapital pauses any transfers that will leave you with less than $100 in your funding account. That pause also applies to any rules that might be triggered–until your account balance has gone up again.

As of November 2018, there are now three membership tiers with three different pricing amounts: Basic, Complete, and Master. The Basic plan costs $3 per month and gives you access to Qapital’s goal-setting program and the customizable and automated rules. You can set unlimited goals with the Basic plan. The Complete plan costs $6 per month and offers users access to Qapital’s saving, spending, budgeting and investing tools, including the Qapital spending account that comes with a Visa debit card. With this account, you can write e-checks and receive 0.1 percent interest. The Master plan, which costs $12 per month, offers you everything in the Complete and Basic plans, as well as access to webinars and in-app money-saving challenges.

Like Acorns, Keep the Change rounds up each purchase you make with your Bank of America debit card, and places the change in your savings account. For instance, if you spend $4.17 on a cup of coffee and a muffin, $0.83 will automatically be placed in your savings account, and your checking account will be debited for a full $5.

If you do not have enough funds in your account to cover your Keep the Change roundups for the day, Bank of America cancels the Keep the Change transfer for that day in order to protect you from overdraft. Also, if you end up returning an item or having a purchase canceled, the Keep the Change transfer associated with that purchase does remain in your savings account.

The Bank of America savings account where your money is transferred does accrue interest, although the current rate for a regular savings account is quite low. You can access your money in that savings at any time.

Bank of America offers a mobile app that will allow you to monitor your Keep the Change savings, along with your other banking.