As of Thursday, Credit Karma's new checking account is available to people who file their taxes with TurboTax.
Until now, only select people who already have Credit Karma savings accounts have had access to Credit Karma Money Spend Account. The company isn't making the account available to 100% of the public just yet, but it has partnered with Intuit (TurboTax's parent company) to offer it to TurboTax customers.
Should you bank with Credit Karma?
The bottom line: Credit Karma Money Spend is a solid online checking account, unless you need to deposit paper checks or cash.
Credit Karma Money Spend review









Details



Pros Cons







Currently available to TurboTax customers and select people with Credit Karma Money Savings Accounts

55,000 free ATMs in the Allpoint network

With Instant Karma, Credit Karma randomly chooses debit card purchases to reimburse

Partner bank is MVB Bank

FDIC insured for up to $5 million






Pros


No minimum opening deposit

No monthly service fees

No overdraft fees

No out-of-network ATM fees

Receive your paycheck up to 2 days early

Instant Karma gives you the chance to receive a purchase reimbursement



Cons


No physical locations

Doesn't reimburse fees charged by out-of-network ATM providers

No way to deposit cash or paper checks

No option to overdraw
















You may like Credit Karma Money Spend if you're looking for a no-fee checking account. There are no overdraft, ATM, or monthly service fees. Credit Karma also lets you receive direct deposits up to two days early, which is useful if money is tight and you have a time-sensitive payment coming up.
The company's unique Instant Karma feature randomly selects customer debit card purchases to reimburse. There's no cash limit, so you might find out you've been reimbursed for your $5 coffee or your $350 car payment. The goal is to incentivize you to spend money on your debit card rather than charge money you don't have on a credit card.
Credit Karma told Insider that right now, the company sees one Instant Karma winner for roughly every 500 purchases across all checking account users. But Credit Karma hopes to increase people's odds over time.
Credit Karma plans to add some features to Credit Karma Money Spend before making it fully available to the public. But if you file with TurboTax, you can open an account now and even request TurboTax to deposit your tax refund directly into the account.
Laura Grace Tarpley is the associate editor of banking and mortgages at Personal Finance Insider, covering mortgages, refinancing, bank accounts, and bank reviews. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF). Over her four years of covering personal finance, she has written extensively about ways to save, invest, and navigate loans.















Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. What you decide to do with your money is up to you. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.

Source: Business Insider

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