If you’re constantly feeling overwhelmed by money and using multiple apps just to budget, let’s fix that. Today I’m reviewing Crew Finance, which has the tagline “the world’s most powerful checking account.”
I originally joined Crew just to get my daughter her own debit card and test it for my weekly spending money. I moved over a tiny amount. I truly thought that was all I’d ever use it for.
But after using it in real life, I was surprised. I love it. And now I’m seriously considering using Crew for all of my finances, which I honestly did not expect.
So let’s talk about what Crew is, how it works, and whether it’s right for you.
About Crew Finance
Crew is a financial technology company, not a traditional bank. They partner with Bangor Savings Bank, an FDIC-insured bank, and other partner banks to actually hold your deposits. So your money is protected through those partner banks with their FDIC insurance.
High Yield Checking Account
As of today, Crew offers a high-yield checking account earning a high APY, which is 45 times higher than the average interest-bearing checking rate and eight times higher than the national average savings rate.
Crew calls themselves a high yield checking account, but it works more like a checking and savings hybrid with budgeting tools built in.
Pockets That Work As Digital Envelopes
The app gives you unlimited pockets, which are like digital envelopes.
You can separate your money into pockets for
- groceries & household spending
- personal spending
- bills to be paid
- sinking funds
- holidays
- home repairs
- car repairs
- your emergency fund
- or anything else you need!
When you’re ready to spend, you simply swipe on a pocket to choose which one your debit card pulls from. This is honestly the feature that sold me on moving everything to Crew because this functionality is so seamless but incredibly useful.
You’re spending from your budget categories on purpose, exactly like you would from a cash envelope. This helps you prevent overspending because you’re not guessing your balance and hoping for the best.
And I also love the pocket assignment rules so that you can automate a lot of your spending to match the pockets you set up and budget automatically.
Crew Virtual Debit Cards
Crew also gives you virtual cards. These are card numbers you can dedicate to specific bills you pay online.
You can set limits on these, cancel them any time, and this helps keep subscriptions from quietly creeping up on you.
It’s one of the best ways I’ve seen to proactively stop your spending from being overrun by charges for things you no longer use.
You can create as many virtual cards as you need which opens up endless opportunities.
Automation Rules
The automation features are where Crew really shines. Crew's automation is built on creating “if this then that” rules for your money.
You can split your paycheck automatically across your pockets as soon as it arrives. For example: “IF my paycheck deposits, THEN split it 70% to bills, 20% to savings, 10% to fun money”.
You can also set monthly transfers for sinking funds. You can even create rules like “If checking goes above this amount, move the extra into my long-term savings pocket.”
For example “IF my balance hits $5,000, THEN move the excess to savings pocket.” It feels like upgraded digital envelopes with an actual brain that will run tasks for you.
With Crew’s system you are basically programming your money to manage itself based on the triggers you decide (so things like money deposited, balances, dates) and also actions (transfers between your different “pockets”).
Kid's Debit Cards & Allowance Features
Crew also offers kids’ accounts with free debit cards and no minimum age. This is how I got started by giving Penny a debit card.
I have set up an automated allowance for her so every week she gets her allowance transferred to her accounts if she has completed her chores.
She has her own account inside of our family app section and she decided on savings, spending, and giving pockets. So when we log in together she sees her balance, and she gets to practice real spending and sorting her money in a safe way. It’s been great for teaching her money skills early.
New features:
- Mobile check deposit – So excited to finally have this live. It's been a long time coming.
- Cash deposits – Another really exciting feature to finally have available. It's a super smooth experience too, if you haven't already tried it.
- Web App (closed beta) – We've got a version of the web app available upon request. If you're interested in trying it out, let me know!
So far, I absolutely love everything about this app and the potential it has.
And this month that even added several new features including mobile check deposits and cash deposits.
They have even more features rolling out over the next few months.
Crew Downsides
Now, I want to be honest about the downsides. Crew is still a fairly new fintech company. While they do have thousands of users already they are not huge. They did just announce that they raised a $3.8 million seed round led by Capital Eleven and Kickstart Fund, on top of the $2.5 million they raised previously. That means that have the funds to be around for a while and the founders come from Divvy, where they helped scale that company massively before its acquisition. So the experience is solid, but the company itself is still newer and smaller.
Because of that, their marketing and website are honestly behind the product. The app and all the features are fantastic, but the website is pretty light on details. I actually refused to use Crew for anything earlier this year until I met the team in person at a financial conference and learned more about them.
After talking to the founders and understanding the behind the scenes, I felt much more comfortable. It’s a very product-focused company, which is great for us as users but does mean they are lacking in some of the traditional website and marketing features that make customers feel more at ease about using the app.
Some other downsides that are pretty typical to fintech companies are that there are no physical branches, and depositing cash is still limited. It works fine but you do have to go inside a location like a Walgreens and speak with an employee to do it.
Crew is fully digital, so if you rely on cash a lot, this may not be the best main account for you. If you’re like me and absolutely hate using cash but still love an envelope style system to keep your spending in check then this could be an ideal solution for you.
Who Should Use Crew Finance?
As far as the digital features — for online transfers, debit card spending, paycheck deposits, digital envelopes, and automation — the experience is incredibly smooth.
So, who is Crew best for?
- People who love digital envelopes.
- People who want banking and budgeting in one app.
- People who want high-yield interest on all their money without juggling multiple accounts.
- And families who want kids’ debit cards without monthly fees.
My suggestion is to do what I did: open an account and start small. Move over just your weekly spending money or allowance money for a month. See if you like the features and it fits your style of money management. If it does? Start using it for even more like I’m going to be doing.
If you want to try Crew, you can use my referral link here. Right now, new users can get a 0.5% APY boost for the first three months using the code PNP. It’s completely free to use, and I will receive compensation if you use it so it’s a great way to support the channel.
Thanks for watching, and let me know what questions you have about Crew.
Crew Sign Up Bonus
Give Crew a try using my affiliate link and code PNP to get a bonus APY boost on your account:
Note that if you use my code PNP or affiliate link that I receive compensation that supports my work. Thank you!
Crew is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC.
The Crew Mastercard® Debit Card is issued by Bangor Savings Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circle design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. Spend anywhere Mastercard is accepted.