Current Review 2024: Banking With Premium Features (2024)

Current is a banking app that offers a ton of different services that make your financial life easier. Whether you're a young adult, parent, or teen just starting out, there are options for you with Current.

Teaching your teens about money management is more interesting when its hands on. But it’s impractical to follow your teen around everywhere they go so you can monitor their spending.

Current is not actually a bank but instead is a financial technology company that helps people make smart money choices. It also provides various benefits through its account, including faster access to paychecks, spending insights, savings pods and cash back rewards, all without any overdraft fees or minimum balance requirements. It’s CEO is Stuart Sopp. Current was founded in June 2015 and is based in the Greater New York area. Current has raised $400M in funding to date.

Current's accounts offer up to two days faster availability of your paycheck, removal of gas station holds, and great money management for teens.

For now, these accounts are mobile-only. So not only are there no local branches available to visit, but there is no desktop account access or management offered either. As of writing, account accessibility is only offered through Current’s mobile app.

Current offers a solid personal account - all of this is included for $0 monthly maintenance fees²

• No Minimum Balance REquirements
• Overdraft up to $200 without any overdraft fees³
  
• Faster direct deposits (up to 2 days earlier)
• 40,000 Fee-Free ATMs
• Mobile Check Deposit
• Savings Pods
• Earn up to 15x points for unlimited cashback at participating retailers⁴

The most compelling features are the faster direct deposits and gas hold removals. Faster direct deposits mean money deposited from your paycheck should be available up to two days faster than the average direct deposit. Also, the fee-free overdraft up to $200 when you have a qualifying direct deposit can be helpful.

Related:Best Bank Accounts To Get You Paycheck Early

The teen plan is designed with parental supervision and money management in mind. It’s a great way to help teach your teen about using money. Parental features include:

• Cashless convenience
• Instant transfer to your teen’s card
• Notifications for all purchases
• Ability to block specific merchants
• Ability to set spending limits
• Set chores to complete
• Automate allowance payments
• Multiple family members can add funds

The Teen plan, however doesn’t include any savings pods (explained next).

You might be better off finding a great starter checking account for kids.

Related: These Are The Best Prepaid Cards For Teens

Current's savings pod are like savings accounts which can be used to section off funds for a specific savings goal. You can label each pod and money can be deposited/moved into a pod directly from your account, direct deposit, or automatically added through round-ups (to the nearest dollar) from purchases made with your card.

Current currently offers up to a 4.00% Bonus on up to $6,000 once you receive qualifying direct deposits. All you have to do to enable the interest feature is to move money from your spending balance to one of your Savings Pods.

Current has a points rewards program for its members. Now, account holders can earn up to 15x points on purchases money they spend at 14,000+ retailers, including popular names like Subway, Rite Aid, True Value and Cold Stone Creamery, which are redeemable for cash back in your Current account.

Points are credited instantly after purchase and can be redeemed at 100 points per dollar inside the Current app. Current estimates that its members could earn up to $165 in cash back per year by just using their card at participating gas stations alone. It also says that new offers will be added regularly and can be found in its app.

Current accounts do have a few limits worth noting. These include:

• $500 daily maximum in ATM withdrawals
• $2,000 daily maximum in card purchases
• $5,000 maximum transaction amount for peer-to-peer payments through Current Pay

There are NO monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements.

Out-of-network and third-party fees may apply as well. For example, the fee for using an out-of-network ATM is $2.50. There's also a $3.50 fee per transaction for adding cash.

Current's teen accounts and their accompanying parental supervision and money management tools are really what set it apart from the myriad of online banking apps available today. But even in the teen banking space there's some strong competition.

Depending on your situation, another banking app might be a better fit. Check out how Current compares in this quick chart:

As mentioned previously, Current's accounts are mobile-only. This means that you can only open an account through one of its mobile apps. You can download the app from the iOS or Android app store. Or you can text yourself a download link from its site.

Open an account here >>

You can reach a Current agent by live chat 24/7 inside the app. To speak with someone over the phone, you can call 1-888-851-1172. Finally, you can contact the Current team by email at support@current.com.

On Trustpilot, Current has a 2.8/5 customer service rating out over 2,200 reviews. It's not currently accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) but it has a 1.9/5 rating and has been promptly responding to complaints.

Why Should You Trust Us?

I have been writing and researching banking and personal finance products since 2009. At The College Investor, we've been comparing and reviewing banks since 2018, and track the best banks for savings and money market accounts daily from a list of over 50major banks and credit unions.

We have been following and reviewing Current since 2020, and are excited by their latest updates.

Furthermore, our compliance team reviews our rates every weekday to ensure that we are accurately showing the correct rates and terms so you can make an informed decision about where to open a savings account.

Overall, Current is a compelling offering if you're looking for a mobile solution to your banking needs. If faster direct deposits is a need that you have, then Current could be worth it. And if gas station holds noticeably affect you, again, may be worth considering.

Given that so many financial institutions offer methods for parents to control their children’s spending, parental spending features may not offer much of a selling point. But if your financial institution doesn’t have anything like that, Current’s Teen plan could definitely worth it.

It's important to point, however, that many banks (especially online banks) are able to match many of Current's features while also offering savings accounts and other products. Check out our list of the best online banks.

And be sure to compare Current's teen banking app options with our favorite starter checking accounts for kids.