Current Review 2024: Debit Card and Mobile App With Useful Tools

Current is a financial mobile app with a Visa debit card, aimed at modern families. It enables clients to deposit money in their accounts faster, manage their budgets, and withdraw cash in over 55,000 ATM locations across the country.

Current Overview 

If you are looking for a modern banking solution to make your life easier, you’ve come to the right place. Current is a Neobank founded in 2015 by a team of young developers, designers, data analysts, and managers.

Following online banking trends, they’ve focused on delivering a unique mobile banking experience to users who want to have their personal finance at their fingertips. 

The New York-based company doesn’t provide any traditional banking services. Instead, it’s more like a financial technology company that offers personal checking accounts through its first-rate mobile banking app. 

Stuart Sopp, Current’s founder and CEO, created the app that uses Current Core, a unique banking technology, to help consumers take control over their finances and make banking available to everyone.

In addition to standard checking account features, clients get a debit card and access to a wide range of other money management tools that are hard to find elsewhere. 

Some clients are especially satisfied with the option to open an account for teenagers, which is useful for teaching children to manage their finances and adopt healthy spending habits. 

However, some recent testimonials indicate that they regard the 90-day dispute review policy as inadequate. Specifically, these clients would prefer that potentially fraudulent activity be solved more promptly.

We’ve done our own in-depth research and can confirm that Current’s banking services deserve your attention thanks to its excellent customer support, feature-rich mobile app, and a free overdraft.

Getting Started With Current

The Current product offer is limited to personal checking accounts. Unlike savings accounts, checking accounts are more liquid and considered one of the most important financial tools for everyday money transactions. 

There’s no initial deposit to open a Current account and no minimum balance requirements to maintain it. Moreover, with the Basic account, consumers are free of any fees. There are two more account types, the Premium account and the account for teens, both with premium features and additional fees.

Each account comes with a debit card that enables users to quickly withdraw money, make debit card purchases, and earn rewards in specific stores.

Since Current is not a traditional bank, the debit card for basic accounts is issued through Metropolitan Commercial Bank, while Premium account holders get a debit card issued by the Choice Financial Group. Current’s debit card is a Visa card, meaning that you can use it on any out-of-network ATM that accepts Visa cards. 

Current Features and Services

Current focuses on providing fast, efficient, and affordable online banking solutions. Here’s an overview of what you get by opening an account:

• Early direct deposit. Current’s main selling point. This financial institution claims it can fund your account two days faster than any traditional bank. As soon as your employer submits the payroll with the information on how much you should be paid, the Federal Reserve notifies Current to send the money to your Premium account.
• Savings pods. A feature that helps you save money, available to both Basic account (one pod) and Premium account owners (three pods). To fund your pods, make a direct deposit or enable the round-up feature that rounds up the sum you pay and credits your pod(s) with the difference every time you make a purchase. It’s similar to traditional high-yield savings accounts - you’ll get 4.00% interest on the deposited money up to $2,000 per savings account (pod). 
• Cash deposit. Although Current is an online banking platform without local branches, you can still make cash deposits. Thanks to its collaboration with over 60,000 stores across the US, you can deposit cash into your bank account wherever needed. 
• Debit card rewards. Clients are especially satisfied with the debit card reward program, something you can usually find only with cashback credit cards. With the Current debit card, you can earn up to 15x points when making purchases in specific stores and redeem them for cash. 
• Free overdraft. Current gives you a free overdraft through its Overdrive feature. It means that you can overdraft up to $100 cost-free, as long as you have a Premium account and get a minimum of $500 in direct deposits monthly. The app will simply deduct the money from your next paycheck. 
• Instant gas hold refunds. When you buy gasoline, some gas stations hold a certain amount of money (more than you spent on gas) until the transaction is completed. With the Current app, you don’t need to wait for refunds. For example, if you buy gas for $20, some stations can place a hold on up to $100 for up to three days. Current will credit those extra $80 to your Premium account instantly.

Types of Accounts 

Current offers two types of accounts - Basic and Premium - and special parent/teen accounts. Here’s what you need to know about each before you sign up. 

Basic Account

The Basic account is free, meaning that you can get it along with a White Visa debit card without paying monthly maintenance fees or any hidden fees. The account features are limited compared to the Premium option but still beneficial.

Basic accounts come with no minimum balance requirement or initial deposit. Direct deposits have the standard turnaround time. You get access to one savings pod and budgeting tools to track and manage one category of spending. It allows you to see how much money you spend on specific products and notifies you each time you make a purchase.

Premium Account

The Premium account will set you back $4.99 monthly. This, too, is a no-deposit and no-minimum-balance checking account, but with an exclusive debit card and additional features like faster direct deposits, three savings accounts (pods), and instant gas station refunds. You can also create and manage budgets for various spending categories.

Parent/Teen Account

Another great offering here is the parent/teen account. Your teens will get an account linked to yours, so you can track their spending habits and help them learn to manage their finances. Through the mobile app, you’ll be able to see where they make purchases and even block some stores.

The account offers many other valuable features, like setting chores and paying your child when the chore is done. You can also set spending limits and automated allowances, and quickly send money when your kids are abroad. 

A teen banking account comes with a Visa debit card that enables teens to shop online, withdraw money from ATMs, or make purchases via Apple Pay.

This card for teens is a good way to teach your kids budgeting and spending, although it’s not quite like the traditional credit cards for young people that help them build credit scores and come with additional benefits.

The Current Teen Banking option comes with a 30-day free trial, after which you’ll be automatically charged $36 for the annual maintenance of one teen account.

Additional Perks

Current has several other tools and services worth mentioning. First off, the app is equipped with features that help you manage your budget and track your spending habits. You can create a budget for one or several spending categories, depending on the account you have.

The app checks your monthly spending and notifies you each time you are about to go over your limits. 

Another feature we need to mention is the mobile check deposit feature. It’s the fastest way to deposit paper checks into your account: Just take a photo of both sides of the paper check and wait a couple of days before it’s credited to your account. 

Then, there’s Current Pay, a tool that enables members to send and request money from each other. With the tag feature, you can share your profile with other members, type the amount you want to send, and complete the transaction within a second.

Fees and Guarantees

Current’s pricing scheme is transparently displayed on the website. As we’ve already mentioned, the Basic plan is free, while the Premium account will cost you $4.95 per month. To add one teen account, you’ll need to pay an additional $36 per year. 

Current doesn’t charge transfer and overdraft fees. The fee-free transfer is available via direct deposits, ACH transfer, or by using your PayPal account. However, there are some costs that come with the Current Visa debit card: 

• $3.00 international ATM fee
• 3% international transaction fee
• $5 for a debit card replacement 
• $20 for expedited card delivery (Normally, Current will send your Visa debit card to your home address up to 10 days after you open an account.) 

Current’s accounts are insured by its partner bank, Choice Financial Group. This means that if something happens with the platform, your money will be protected. Like other financial institutions that offer good checking accounts, Current secures each account up to $250,000.

The Current App

You can download the app from Google Play or App Store. After you choose the account type, Current will ask you to provide basic information, such as your name, address, Social Security number, and so on. 

Mobile banking with Current couldn’t be easier. The app has a sleek modern design, it’s easy to navigate, and packed with features that accommodate faster and more effective banking on the go.

For example, if you’re looking to withdraw some money from your card at an ATM, the app will show you where one of the nearest 40,000 fee-free ATMs is located. Also, it displays a map of stores near you where you can earn points while shopping. 

Funding Your Current Card

You have several options for funding your Current Visa debit card. Direct deposits from employers or other sources of income (government benefits or alimony) are the most common. Although Current is not a traditional bank but an online bank, it facilitates ACH transfers from an external bank to your Current bank account.

You can also take pictures of your paper checks to deposit the money into your account. 

Withdrawing Money 

Although the platform doesn’t have brick-and-mortar branches, you can easily withdraw money from your Current Visa card at ATMs - more than 55,000 of them across the US. Of course, stores that accept Visa cards will also accept your Current card. 

Current automatically places some daily limits on your withdrawals: The daily spending limit for purchases is $2,000, while the ATM cash withdrawal limit is $500 per day. However, if you’re worried about security, you can also lower your limits.

Current Customer Support and Security

We agree with you that having fast and reliable customer care should be among each bank’s primary concerns. That’s why we’re happy to report that Current customer support is one of its strongest sides. Agents are available via email, phone, or chat, so you can get help whenever you need it. 

However, we were not equally satisfied with other customer-related aspects of support. Despite its cutting-edge design, the website is somewhat hard to navigate. There’s a knowledge base with answers to the most common questions, but finding what you’re looking for can be tricky. 

When it comes to security, we’ve already mentioned that all Current accounts are insured by the partnered Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured bank, Choice Financial Group.

Current employs industry-standard security features to protect all transactions. Mobile features such as fingerprint or facial recognition, are also available. 

Room for Improvement

Our review highlighted the many strong points of this banking solution, but we also need to mention where it falls short. Regrettably, there are no physical branches, although, to be fair, this drawback is partially compensated with numerous stores where you can deposit cash into your account. 

Moreover, there are no checks and checkbooks, meaning that you cannot write checks from your account. 

What You See Is What You Get 

In our opinion, Current’s offer is refreshingly transparent. It’s an excellent solution for tech-savvy parents and teens who prefer mobile banking. Current account’s mobile deposit functionality is what we liked the most, as it allows you to deposit money to your account faster and without going to a bank branch.

Other app features, like creating diverse savings pods, or providing you with spending insights, are also beneficial and can even compare to top-rated budgeting apps.