What are Aspiration's fees? What is "Pay What Is Fair?"
At Aspiration, there are no monthly mandatory fees for standard accounts. We believe that your financial institution should be good for both the world and your wallet.
Many financial firms impose all sorts of fees; minimum balance fees, overdraft fees, flat service fees…all regardless of the quality of the service. Instead of punishing fees, we offer our customers the choice to make an optional contribution that we call ‘Pay What Is Fair’ (PWIF). This means that you decide how much to pay us, even if it’s $0.
We want our customers to feel they are getting incredible value out of their Aspiration experience, and so ‘Pay What Is Fair’ gives us a daily incentive to work hard for you and live up to our mission. We also donate 10% of PWIF profits to mission-aligned non-profits; for example, in the past we’ve donated to Eden Reforestation Projects, SeaTrees, and Rainforest Connection.
How do I know how much is "fair" to pay?
Big banks can charge monthly service fees up to $15 per month.*
By contrast, with the Aspiration Spend & Save Account, you choose how much you’ll contribute. This optional contribution ranges from $0 - $20 on a monthly basis. While we hope that our products provide enough value for you to justify a monthly PWIF contribution, the ultimate amount you pay is up to you.
Depending on the PWIF contribution amount you’re considering, you may want to sign up for Aspiration Plus. For just $5.99/month (billed annually) or $7.99/month (billed monthly), you can supercharge your account and your impact, with features such as unlocking higher APY, higher cashback, and helping to offset emissions from driving your car**.
For our investment accounts, the PWIF option is 0%-2.00% annually (charged quarterly)***. The contribution is calculated by multiplying the PWIF option by the average market value of the account on the last business day of each quarter. (For IRA investments there is a $15.00 annual fee charged by the IRA custodian).
*Based on monthly fee data (accessed 01/2024) - https://smartasset.com/checking-account/cost-of-checking-account-fees-and-how-to-avoid
**Planet Protection offsets the estimated CO2 emissions from driving your vehicle based on purchases at gas stations. Verified carbon offsets are purchased quarterly, in aggregate, to account for estimated emissions from all Planet Protection subscribers. This feature is bundled into the Aspiration Plus program and is not offered as a standalone feature that can be purchased separately.
***2023 Broadridge 15(C) report to Aspiration Funds
How do I set my contribution? Can I change it?
After deciding on a Pay What is Fair contribution when you first sign up, you can change it anytime and as often as you wish from your account dashboard.
To make changes, login from the website (not the app) click Settings, and then Pay What is Fair.
If you change your contribution, the change is retroactive from the beginning of the month for your Spend & Save Account, or the beginning of the quarter for the investment accounts.
For Spend & Save Accounts, your monthly contribution will come out of your Spend Account. You are able to change the amount of the contribution until 9 am PT on the 30th of each month to be retroactively applied.
For investment accounts, you are able to choose whether your contribution payment will be debited from your linked bank account or from your Aspiration Spend Account quarterly, based on the level you’ve set. The contribution is debited at 9 am PT on the last day of each quarter.
For now, contribution changes can only be made from the web.
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