【10.06 Update】Drop has increased its cashback to $100, so the total stackable bonus is now $200. HT: WeChat reader Kozzz

This post was also co-authored by KUKU

About Lili Bank

The Lili debit card is designed for freelancers, but anyone with an SSN can apply (no credit check). There is currently a $100 bonus for new accounts, which requires $250+ in spending within 45 days. This can be stacked with Drop app’s $70100 offer, which requires a deposit of $200+ within 45 days. The Terms state that anyone who currently has or previously had a Lili account is not eligible for the signup bonus.

Lili also has the following features:

  • Free ATM withdrawals at more than 38,000 ATMs
  • No overdraft fee for up to $200
  • Cashback at select merchants
  • Get paid up to 2 days early
  • FDIC insurance provided through Choice Financial Group
  • Provides a Choice bank checking account (business checking, Rout: 091302966)

Potential risks:

  • During the application process, the account appears to come with a Visa Business debit card, so this is likely a business checking account. However, the application only requires your SSN and does not ask for any business information. Readers should evaluate the relevant risks based on their own tax-filing status.
  • Lili accounts do not currently support EIN applications, though EIN applications may be available in the future, as shown below:

Account Summary

  • Bonus: $100 (can be stacked with drop’s $70100)
  • Availability: Nationwide
  • Direct deposit requirement: None
  • Other requirements: None
  • SSN/ITIN/EIN support: Currently SSN only
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
  • ChexSystems inquiry: No
  • Credit card funding: No
  • Monthly fee: None
  • Early account termination fee: Unknown
  • Phone number: Cannot be a VoIP number such as Google Voice; must be a real mobile number

Steps

The signup bonus has two parts: $100 from Lili (requires $250+ in spending within 45 days) and $70100 from Drop (requires a deposit of $200+ within 45 days). So after opening the account, depositing $250+ and then completing the spending should trigger both parts of the bonus. If you do not have the Drop app, first click here to register, or enter referral code: 2n6ws (for a detailed introduction to Drop, see this article).

The specific steps are as follows:

  • Open the Drop app, search for Lili, and find the relevant offer (if this is your first application and you deposit $200 within 45 days, you can get $70), as shown below.
  • On the page shown above, scroll to the bottom and click "sign up" to apply. The entire application process will be completed inside the Drop app. Note: at the step shown below, click “Add a referral code” and enter referral code: YuanzhiChen (Y,C capitalized) or TianfuLi (T,L capitalized).
  • To receive the referral $100 bonus, you need to spend $250 within 45 days.
  • Note: at the "Select a plan" step, choose the 0 monthly fee plan, as shown below (you can see it says Visa Business Debit Card).
  • After applying through Drop, you will be asked to download the Lili app. Log in to the app with the username and password you registered earlier, then choose how to fund the account. The author chose a $100 debit card load and a $175 bank account transfer. This is because the two requirements above are to deposit $200+ and spend $250+ within 45 days.

Identity Verification

There is a chance that opening a Lili account will trigger ID verification. Lili will send a link to your phone number, and you must open the verification page from that link on your phone.

  • Verify your passport or driver’s license by taking a photo (Chinese passports are supported)
  • Take a live selfie
  • Wait for customer service review; once approved, you will receive another text message and can then log in to the account in the app

About the $250 Spending Requirement

The Terms clearly state that P2P payments such as sending money to other people via Venmo or Cash App will not qualify. The Terms also say the bonus will be deposited into the account within 5 days after completing the requirements. The detailed Terms are here:

You can simply use the debit card for purchases as if it were a credit card. If you do not want to go out and carry the card, you can directly reload a $250 Amazon gift card. In short, you just need to complete the spending requirement. In addition, based on prior data points in the comments of the corresponding DOC post, $250+ in spending can also be triggered by purchasing a $251 money order.

Other Notes

SB and MyPoints also frequently have Lili signup bonuses, and those can also be stacked with the referral bonus. If there is a better concurrent signup offer, we will update this post.

Summary

Overall, the account opening process is very simple (SSN required, but no credit check), and the bonus requirements are also easy to meet. Another feature is that both sides of the referral can receive $100. So after signing up, readers can also invite friends to join, and both sides can get a $100 bonus. If you use the application link in this post and successfully receive the $170 bonus, feel free to come back and share your data points in the comments (for example, how you completed the $250+ spending requirement and how many days it took to receive the bonus after meeting the requirements), along with your own referral link/code. (If you only share a referral link without sharing any data points, that referral link will be deleted so priority can be given to referral links from readers who contribute useful data points for this blog’s audience.)

（HT: DOC）

Open an Account

  • Open the Drop app, search for Lili, and find the relevant offer (if this is your first application and you deposit $200 within 45 days, you can get $70100)
  • Scroll to the bottom and click "sign up" to apply. The entire application process will be completed inside the Drop app. Note: at the step shown below, click “Add a referral code” and enter referral code: YuanzhiChen (Y,C capitalized) or TianfuLi (T,L capitalized).
  • Spend $250 within 45 days (you will need to deposit $250, which will trigger the Drop $70100 bonus), and at the same time receive the Lili $100 bonus, for a total of $170 200