Neobanks and financial technology companies (fintechs) are becoming increasingly popular by making banking easier and more accessible for a broader audience of consumers.
It’s no longer necessary to visit a brick-and-mortar location to conduct most personal banking transactions. HMBradley takes online banking one step further with its combination of attractive banking features. But the competition is stiff, and other fintechs are also fighting for your business.
In this HMBradley review, I’ll cover everything you need to know, so you can decide if you should take advantage of HM Bradley’s banking benefits.
HMBradley Announcement on September 29th, 2022
On September 29th, 2022, HMBradley posted an update on their website regarding upcoming changes to their banking partnerships. Specifically, they are transitioning away from their relationship with Hatch Bank and will now be partnered with New York Community Bank (NYCB).
According to HMBradley, the new partnership will allow them to “offer customers “a long-term foundation for continued growth – something we’ve been working toward since day one.”
I have included the announced changes in this article, but there could be more to come shortly, so I recommend you check the HMBradley website often for the latest information. Also, HMBradley requests that “all existing account holders switch to an account with NYCM by October 31, 2022, as “Hatch Bank will no longer process deposits or debit transactions” after that date.
Table of Contents
What is HMBradley?
HM Bradley is a neobank founded in 2019 by Zach Bruhnke, Germain Cassiere, and Dmitry Gritskevich. The company is based out of Los Angeles.
The fintech’s design is based on three personal finance goals: Build credit, spend wisely, and save more.
HMBradley has been so popular that, as of this writing, you can only become a new account holder if you’re invited to join by a current account holder.
Let’s see what HMBradley has to offer that makes it so popular.
How Does HMBradley Work?
HMBradley provides an FDIC-insured deposit account through its partnership with New York Community Bank (NYCB).
Here’s how it works:
When you open an HMBradley account with NYCB, you are rewarded with 1.00% APY. You are not required to set up a monthly direct deposit or save any of your deposits.
If you make a direct deposit of at least $500 per month to your HMBradley Deposit Account with NYCB, and you maintain a monthly positive cash flow, you will earn 2.00% APY the following month. Maintaining a positive monthly cash flow means that your monthly deposits exceed your withdrawals, except for HMBradley Credit Card payments.
Customers who fill the previous requirement and spend $500 per month on their HMBradley Credit Card will earn a whopping 3.00% APY in the following month.
For more details, check out the following Terms & Conditions.
What If I Miss the Requirements in One Month?
According to HMBradley, it’s okay to miss the requirements in a given month. In that case, you’ll still get the 1.00% APY, and you can work towards requalifying for the higher APYs in future months.
NOW Spending Account
HMBradley’s spending account has a $100 minimum to open, according to its Deposit Account Agreement page, but no minimum account balance.
You must spend using your HMBradley debit card, and the following criteria must be met for you to be eligible to open an account:
- Must be at least 18 years of age
- Be a U.S. citizen, a legal resident alien, or a legal non-resident alien
- Must have a permanent physical address in the U.S.
- Must have a U.S. phone number
- Have a Social Security number or tax ID number
Plans
Your HMBradley Plans are the money you set aside for saving and the specific savings goals accompanying those Plans.
Plans are sort of like savings accounts within your HMBradley NOW account. For instance, you might create a Plan within our HMBradley account for:
- New car fund
- Vacation fund
- Emergency fund
- Home purchase fund
Or any other savings goals you might have. You can have as many or as few Plans as you’d like.
Your Plans balances are shown separately from your available balance. The deposits you make into your HMBradley account go into your available balance.
From there, you transfer money into each of your Plans at your discretion. Once you transfer money into a Plan, your available (spending) balance will decrease by that dollar amount.
Attractive Interest Rates
HMBradley offers attractive interest rates on its account, but the rate of return depends on how much money (of your previous quarter’s deposits) is left in your account on the last day of the quarter.
Also, your interest rate is based on what percentage of your deposits stay in your account, i.e., your “savings” rate.
For instance, if you keep at least 5% of your incoming deposits in your account, you’ll earn an interest rate of 0.125%.
If you keep at least 20% of your incoming deposits in your account, you’ll earn an interest rate of 1.00%. See the chart below for interest rates as of this writing.
The laddered interest rates are designed to encourage account holders to save money. However, interest isn’t paid on balances above $100,000.
HMBradley Credit Card
The HMBradley credit card is a rewards card based on your personal credit situation. You’ll earn between 1% and 3% cash back on every purchase you make with the card.
The card personalizes your cashback amount based on where you spend the most money. In other words, it’s an intuitive card.
There is a $60 annual fee charge with this credit card. However, the fee is waived for the first year.
Bonus: HMBradley credit card holders earn up to 3X interest on their HMBradley banking account balance. See the Savings Tier Boost Terms and Conditions page for more information.
Loan Offers
Another feature of HMBradley is that it works to find you the best loan offers and credit card offers based on your relationship with HMBradley.
If you are interested in potentially getting a car loan, mortgage loan, or other credit accounts, this could be a useful feature.
Who Should Use HMBradley?
HMBradley offers features that could appeal to a wide range of consumers. They make it more lucrative for account holders to save money each month.
Because your interest rate on your NOW account is higher when you save more money, it’s enticing to save to earn the higher interest rate.
The cash back credit card HMBradley rewards you for every purchase. In addition, the card is intuitive and pays you the most cash back in your highest spending categories.
And the card helps you build credit as you spend. Your HM Bradley account offers loans, credit cards, and other borrowing recommendations for account owners.
Lastly, the site gives you an overall picture of your credit record, savings, and more to help you gain total control over your finances.
If any of these features are in line with your personal financial goal, opening an HM Bradley account could be a smart move for you.
HMBradley Pros and Cons
There’s a lot to like about HMBradley, but it’s not without its flaws. Here’s my list of pros and cons:
Pros
- Free combination spending/savings account
- Tiered interest rates that encourage you to save more money
- Intuitive cash back credit card
Cons
- Annual fee of $60 for the credit card (waived the first year)
- Strict parameters to be met to get the highest savings rate
- No check writing allowed
HMBradley FAQs
As of this writing, interest compounds daily and is paid monthly.
No. You can transfer money out of any of your Plans into your available balance (spending account) at any time with no fees or restrictions.
According to HMBradley, customers who meet their eligibility criteria can expect to receive an invitation to apply within an hour of opting in. If you don’t qualify, HMBradley will continue to check every month.
HMBradley offers a simple, One Click Credit process for credit card applications. Click here for more information.
HMBradley Alternatives
These HMBradley alternatives offer more banking accounts and were also created to help you better manage your money. Depending on what your needs are, you might find them more suitable.
SoFi
SoFi has been known in the loan industry for several years, but you may not know that the company offers banking accounts as well.
Formerly called SoFi Money (a cash management account), the new SoFi checking and savings accounts offer accounts with no monthly or overdraft fees.
In addition, you earn 1.25% interest when you have a Direct Deposit into the account. And if you have at least $1,000 in Direct Deposits each month, you qualify for up to $50 in overdraft protection, free of charge.
If you choose not to have Direct Deposit into your SoFi account, you’ll still earn interest of 0.70% on your checking and savings balances. SoFi accounts are FDIC-insured. Learn more in our SoFi review.
ONE
The ONE bank account was created to help you organize your money and simplify your life. There are no fees and no minimums for this account.
The account features Pockets that help you to designate money for specific spending and savings purposes.
You can get your Direct Deposit up to two days early if you open a ONE account. The current interest yield on ONE account is 1.00%. Note that this may fluctuate.
Your ONE account is FDIC-insured through Coastal Community Bank.
The Bottom Line on HMBradley
The HMBradley account offers attractive features that encourage users to save more money, spend wisely, and build credit. The bank account is free, and the current 3.00% APY on savings is attractive if you qualify each month.
In my opinion, the biggest drawbacks are the $60 annual fee for the credit card and the fact that you have to take specific steps every month to get the highest interest on savings. It’s not a deal breaker, but there are other savings account options, so it would be nice if you could just set it and forget it.
Depending on how much you use your HMBradley credit card, you could earn enough cash back to cover the annual fee, but I would probably opt for a no-fee card elsewhere, Of course, this would negate the 3.00% APY because I wouldn’t meet the monthly spending threshold.
The bottom line, however, is that HM Bradley provides a compelling value proposition along with healthy competition for other neobanks and online traditional banks.
The post HMBradley Review: Is HMBradley a Good Bank? appeared first on Best Wallet Hacks.
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