Are round-up savings apps the best way to save in 2023?
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Updated: November 29, 2023
In the old days, I used to walk in the door at home and put my coins in old Las Vegas slot machine cups. When they filled up, I would take them to the bank and find myself depositing hundreds of dollars into my checking or savings account. But these days, I hardly ever use cash and rarely find myself with change at all. To replace the trusty change cup, a new crop of round-up savings apps have emerged that help you round up the purchases you make with credit and debit cards to automatically save, invest and even pay off debt.
Even better, some of the best automatic round-up apps are free to use or have a free version available. Read on to learn how they work and if you should use a round-up app with your money.
How round-up savings apps work
Round-up apps connect to your bank and credit card accounts to monitor new transactions. Each time you make a purchase, the app calculates what would happen if you had made a purchase with cash. For example, if you buy lunch for $7.75 with your credit card, the app would round up to $8.00 and transfer 25 cents from your checking account to your goal.
Some apps offer the option to amplify your savings. Rather than saving just 25 cents, you could turn on a feature to double your round-up and save 50 cents on the same purchase.
Most round-up apps will combine purchases from a period of time and make one transfer. For example, if you had round-ups for 10 cents, 50 cents, 25 cents, and 40 cents in one day, it would combine them and transfer $1.25.
If you do get a round-up app, be on the lookout for fees. Saving money is great, but it may not be worthwhile if you have to pay a lot to transfer your money from one account to another or even just to use the app.
The best round-up apps
Here are a few of the best round-up apps you can find today. This is not an exhaustive list, and some banks even offer this feature with existing accounts.
Best round-up app for investing: Acorns
If you just want to invest, Acorns is the place to go. Acorns is a popular app that gives you the ability to round up purchases to build an investment portfolio. You can invest in a taxable account with the Lite account.
Acorns is cheap, but it isn't free. It costs $1 per month for the Lite plan, $3 per month for the Personal Plan and $5 per month for the Family plan. I find Acorns is a convenient and easy way for self-employed persons to save for retirement.
Acorns automatically choose a portfolio of stock and bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for you. You never have to pick a stock or anything else. Just choose between one of five portfolios based on your risk tolerance, and Acorns takes care of the rest.
Acorns offers round-up multipliers and other features to increase your savings rate, one-time contributions, and the opportunity to earn money back from some purchases through a program called “Acorns Earn.”
Get more information about Acorns: On their website | Our review
Best round-up app with a bank: Chime
Chime is a mobile banking app that offers a microsavings option in addition to its spending and saving accounts – all for free. Use your Chime debit card to make purchases, the amount spent is rounded up to the nearest dollar and deposited into your savings account. And if you ever need your money, you can get access to it immediately, since Chime is a bank.
Besides round-ups, you can also have a portion of your paycheck automatically deposited into your savings account. This is a great feature for users who have a difficult time saving at the end of the month. Pay yourself first and round-up your purchases with Chime and you'll have a sizable chunk in your savings account in no time!
Find out more: On their website | Our review
Best round-up app to save without thinking: Oportun
If you want to save money without even having to think about it, Oportun could be for you. Oportun is a true “set-it-and-forget-it” savings app. Connect your bank account and Oportun will analyze your spending habits each month and automatically moves money into your Oportun account when it makes sense for your finances.
There's no need to keep an account minimum and you can withdraw your money at any time. Plus, save for three consecutive months, and you'll earn a 0.10% annualized super bonus!
Best round-up app for saving: Qapital
Qapital is one of the most powerful and full-featured round-up apps. It gives you the option to save for multiple goals at once using round-ups and other savings rules. It supports most banks and popular payment methods in the United States.
I'm currently using Qapital to save for a small plane (I'm a private pilot), a trip to Iceland, and to buy a rental property. In addition to round-ups, it offers additional single transfers, recurring transfers, a percentage-of-income transfer, and other useful rules.
You can also connect to the IFTTT website and make nearly anything a rule. For a short while, I saved $1 every time Donald Trump put out a new message on Twitter, but his habits made my savings rate a little more aggressive than I wanted so I turned it off.
There are three basic tiers, with the lowest tier starting at $3 a month.
Get more information about Qapital in our review
Should you round up your transactions?
Rounding up your purchases does not make sense for everyone. If you live paycheck to paycheck or keep a very low checking balance, you could accidentally find yourself out of money due to an automatic transfer.
Outside of that scenario, however, round-up savings apps are great. They can help you save more, invest more, and pay off debt without having to think about it. And that's a win for anyone. And it makes sense for a wide range of uses.
What is your money goal? The odds are you can round up your way to success.
Eric Rosenberg is a finance, travel and technology writer in Ventura, California. He is a former bank manager and corporate finance and accounting professional who left his day job in 2016 to take his online side hustle full time.
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