Top Cash Advance Apps in 2022 — Get Your Paycheck Sooner

Overview — Earnin stands out from similar apps that loan you money primarily due to its lack of fees and good attitude toward responsible lending.

Earnin started under the name Activehours, and it has a unique system to let you access your wages before payday. That is, you can withdraw a portion of the money you’ve already earned. So instead of waiting for your next payday, you get the money within the next business day. Then, Earnin debits it from your bank account when you get paid.

Key  features — The following qualities make Earnin worth all your attention:

• No interests or fees — As unlikely as it seems, all you have to do is pay back the credit on your payday with no extra costs. But Earnin has to produce revenue, and it does so through tipping. When you withdraw any amount from Earnin, you can choose to leave an optional tip of up to $14.
• Overdraft protection — You can opt-in to Earnin’s Balance Shield, which will deposit up to $100 to your bank account if it drops below $100. Earnin will debit the deposited amount on your next payday.
• Health Aid — You can submit photos of your medical bill and Earnin will work with your healthcare provider to negotiate down the total. Alternatively, the Earnin app team can help you set up a payment plan.

Overview — Chime is a financial technology company that provides you with free overdraft protection of up to $200 that works with Chime’s debit card. Therefore, it works like a borrow money app. If you qualify for Chime’s SpotMe program, and a charge would put you in overdraft, Chime will cover the missing balance (up to the max advance) and debit it to your next deposit.

Key features — Because it provides overdraft protection already, there are few apps working with Chime. Nevertheless, a Chime account has several other benefits and even a great debit card for kids:

• No upkeep fees — Chime’s debit card account has no monthly minimum balance or account fees. You’ll only have to pay withdrawal fees when you use the card out-of-network.
• Early deposit — When someone deposits money to your Chime account, you can access it two days earlier (max) than you would at most banks. When you need money now, a couple of days can make a huge difference.
• Credit builder card — Chime offers a credit card acting like a debit card that helps you build credit. With Chime’s Credit Builder account, the money you can spend on the credit card cannot exceed the money you’ve transferred to the account. The credit gets paid off automatically, and Chime reports it to credit bureaus as “timely payment.”

Overview — In the same vein as similar apps that let you borrow money, Empower lets you receive a cash advance and repays it from your next forecasted direct deposit. And while it charges no late fees or interest, Empower’s terms allow it to withdraw fractional amounts from your account until the entire advance is settled.

You’ll need to provide proof of regular income and give Empower access to your bank account to qualify for cash advances. Or, if you open an Empower account, you may qualify more easily and receive free instant funding.

Key features — Among instant cash advance apps, a monthly fee of $8 is a glaring drawback. But Empower makes up for it with several benefits:

• Bill negotiation help — You can ask Empower to reduce the amount you owe on certain bills. Its negotiators will contact your bill provider and attempt to work out either a reduced amount or a payment plan.
• Savings assistance — Empower allows you to set weekly savings targets and let it help you reach them. Moreover, Empower’s system will examine your transaction history and habits to determine when’s a good time to set money aside in your savings account and automatically make up to four transfers a week.
• Human finance coaching — If you need help making financial decisions, you can text one of Empower’s human coaches directly from the app. Payday loans apps can lead to poor financial management, so a bit of guidance goes a long way.

Overview — Current is a banking app that offers a useful cash advance alternative in the form of automatic overdraft protection.

The concept is simple.

You set up a Current account with direct deposit and opt-in to the Overdrive service. If you overdraft that account, Current advances you up to $100 to prevent it. Much like cash advance apps with no credit check required.

Current will collect the advance amount from your next direct deposit to the account. There are no fees or interest rates to worry about. Think of it as an emergency reserve at the bottom of your money tank.

Key features — Here’s what else Current offers:

• Faster paycheck — Current can help you access your salary up to two days ahead of schedule.
• Instant gas hold refunds — If you’ve ever tried to purchase something right after gassing up with a low balance, you know how frustrating gas station holds can be. Current refunds gas holds instantly to let you make purchases uninterrupted.
• Savings pods — A Current premium account comes with three pods to distribute your money for different purposes. You can also set savings goals for every pod.

Overview — Apps like MoneyLion don’t exclusively focus on cash advances. But even if cash advances aren’t its top priority, the Instacash service it provides is on par with the industry’s best.

MoneyLion doesn’t need to see employment history. Instead, you just need a checking account to qualify as long as:

• it’s at least two months old
• shows regular income deposits
• has a consistently positive balance
• it’s active

If you qualify, MoneyLion works like any other same-day cash advance app for up to $250 per pay period. Then, MoneyLion will examine your bank account and set the due date to pay it back on the next expected deposit.

Key features — Here is what makes MoneyLion stand out:

• MoneyLion personal loans — MoneyLion also offers credit-builder loans to help rebuild your credit. You may be able to borrow money with no prepayment fees despite a bad credit score. MoneyLion reports to all major credit unions, allowing you to build credit responsibly.
• Turbo delivery — Normal funding time for cash advances from MoneyLion is 12–48 hours to a MoneyLion RoarMoney account or 3–5 business days to an external account. If you need an instant cash advance, you can receive it for a fee of $3.99 and $4.99, respectively.
• False representation — MoneyLion faced legal action in Virginia for falsely claiming it was licensed to operate in the state and offering loans at high APRs. It ultimately cashed out $2.7 million in restitution to customers. However, this action is unrelated to its cash advance service.

Overview — Apps like Earnin and Dave are gaining a substantial following rapidly.

In short, you link Dave to your bank account, and it sends you alerts when you’re in danger of going into an overdraft. You can receive an advance of up to $100 for an optional tip that you’ll need to pay back by your next paycheck.

Key features — Dave has several extremely user-friendly features:

• Payback options — You can let Dave set automatic paybacks for your cash advances (it will choose the date when it expects you’ll receive a deposit). Or you can choose to pay the advances back manually at any point.
• No late fees — There’s no penalty for paying your advance later than the due date. However, you won’t receive another advance, and you may be banned from the app if you abuse this feature.
• Side hustle — For no additional cost, you can use Dave to search for gigs in your area. Several cash advance apps like Dave offer a similar service, but Dave is the number one of the lot.

Overview — Branch is unique on this list in that it’s primarily an employer-side service. Your employer doesn’t have to use Branch for you to gain access to cash advances, but you might be waitlisted otherwise.

Unlike apps that loan you money based on fixed limits, Branch’s system checks the hours you’ve already worked to support your request. If you qualify for an advance, Branch will advance you up to 50% of your upcoming paycheck.

Then, Branch debits the advance amount from your next paycheck deposit.

Alternatively, you can pay an additional fee of $2.99–$4.99 (based on the advance amount) to receive the money instantly to an external account.

Key features — Branch provides a broader range of services as well.

• Branch Wallet and debit card — You can open a checking account with Branch and receive an associated debit card. Cash advances to your Branch card are instant with no additional fee.
• Early paycheck — rather than borrow money from the app, you can deposit paychecks directly to your Branch Wallet and get them as soon as your employer runs payroll. This feature depends on your employer’s instructions, but you could get paid up to two days before your payday.
• Branch paycards — Your employer can order Branch debit cards to keep on-hand for employees. Employers can then transfer wages, tips, and other rewards directly to each employee as needed rather than wait for payday.

Overview — Wealthfront offers a mobile banking account to access your paychecks faster and help you receive your paycheck sooner than you would from a traditional bank. Depending on your payroll provider, you could receive fast payday loans online in as much as two days in advance.

Now, that may not be what you need to get you through a tight spot. However, Wealthfront can be an invaluable long-term partner if you can afford to sit on your money for just a little while.

Key features — It has some genuinely innovative elements too that make investing accessible at any income level.

• Hybrid checking/savings account — Wealthfront’s cash account acts like any other checking account, allowing you 24/7 access to your money. However, you’ll also receive 0.35% APY on your money, which is on par with some money market and cash management accounts and eight times the national average.
• PassivePlus investing — Wealthfront uses a combination of investment strategies to produce steady returns on investments based on your goals.
• Financial planning suite — You can use Wealthfront to check your financial status against several projects, such as taking a year off for travel or purchasing a new home. Then, Wealthfront analyzes your finances to show you how feasible your projects are.

Overview — Varo is a nationwide digital bank that only recently introduced a cash advance feature to its services. Varo’s funding lies somewhere between what’s offered by payday loans and money lending apps.

Varo customers can request up to $20 with no associated fees. Any amount above $20 carries a variable fee up to $5 for a $100 cash advance. However, Varo won’t start assessing any cash advance fees until January 31, 2021.

Unlike Earnin or Dave, Varo doesn’t request or accept tips for cash advances.

Cash advances from Varo have a 30-day payback deadline, but there are no penalties for late payments. The only consequence for non-payment is that you won’t be able to qualify for another cash advance.

Key features — Additionally, a Varo account has the following benefits:

• Early direct deposit — Qualifying customers can sign up to receive their paycheck immediately when payroll funds are disbursed instead of waiting for a deposit. Varo will deposit the paycheck amount to your account up to two days ahead of schedule, which is faster than traditional banks.
• Transparent fees — Varo is one of the payday loan apps that charges a flat fee for cash advances. You’ll see the price when you accept the advance, and there are no further charges or tipping.
• Visa debit card — With a minimum opening deposit of $5, you’ll receive a contactless Varo Visa debit card that doesn’t have monthly fees, transfer fees, or overdraft fees. You can use the card anywhere Visa is accepted and at 55,000 ATMs nationwide.

Overview — As its name implies, Brigit is an app that helps you bridge the gap between paydays. To that end, Brigit keeps track of your banking activity and protects you from overdrafts.

When Brigit predicts an expense that will overdraft your account, you’ll get a notification and the option to have Brigit advance you up to $250 to prevent the overdraft.

The notification will include a payback date that Brigit determines based on your account activity.

What does that mean exactly?

Well, cash advance apps that work like Brigit use your recent deposits to guess when the next deposit will be. But Brigit can get it wrong.

If that happens, you can extend the due date by one day directly from the app with no questions asked.

Key features — Brigit has a few other helpful features, as well.

• Earn extra income — The app aggregates part-time and full-time jobs you can do on the side to earn more money. You can search the directory and apply for jobs directly from the app.
• Credit monitoring — Brigit doesn’t do credit checks, nor does it require any credit score to offer cash advances. But you can opt-in to let the Brigit app keep track of your credit and receive notifications when it changes and why it changed.
• Auto advances — If you’re in danger of overdrafting your account, Brigit can cover the expense automatically to prevent overdraft fees. However, you’re still limited to one cash advance at a time, and the auto-advance will not activate if you have a pending advance to repay.