【2020.10 Update】According to CNBC, many users have been trying to transfer money out of their beam accounts, but their withdrawal requests have remained pending. beam says its partner bank has imposed a daily withdrawal limit and that it is looking for a new partner. Previously, beam’s model was to collect money from users and then transfer it once per day into partner banks (with FDIC protection), allowing it to offer users high interest. beam itself, however, was not FDIC insured. CNBC investigated the 50+ banks previously listed on beam’s website, and more than a dozen said they were no longer working with beam.

At the moment, it is still unclear whether there is any risk of a liquidity problem, but this kind of withdrawal issue is definitely something to watch closely. If you have not transferred money in yet, I would not add more for now. Don’t risk your principal just for extra interest; it’s better to wait and see. If you already have money there, you may want to consider withdrawing in smaller batches. Personally, I think smaller withdrawals may have a better chance of going through in this situation.

About Beam Saving Account

With the stock market swinging lately, some people have probably already moved money into a Saving Account for safety. Recently, U.S. inflation has climbed above 2%, while savings accounts at major U.S. banks such as Chase, BofA, and Citi are offering only 0.0x% interest. In that environment, a high-yield Saving Account becomes an important part of asset allocation.

Common high-yield Saving Account options include Discover Saving and AMEX Saving, with rates around 1.5% at the time, still not enough to beat inflation. Recently, a startup began offering a higher rate: Beam, which is the product introduced in this post. Beam claimed it could offer 2%-4% interest, that it was FDIC insured, and that it charged no management fees.

Beam’s features are as follows:

  • FDIC insured Money should be protected, and even if the company goes bankrupt, funds can be recovered, up to the $250,000 limit
  • No fee No fees at all, and no minimum balance requirement
  • 1.5%-7% interest rate This is where it stood out from other high-yield Saving Account options; the rate was calculated based on different activities
  • Flexible transfers in and out Funds arrived in 1-2 days; I guessed there was still a limit of 6 withdrawals per month, which is usually enough

Sign-up Link

Account registration is now fully open. Click here to sign up.

Usage Tips

Log in daily

Logging in every day gets you a biller, which can be used to boost that day’s interest rate.

The interest boost ranges from 0%-2%, and the maximum daily rate is 7%.

Refer friends

If you refer friends to apply, you can increase your base interest rate, up to 3%.

  • Increase the base rate to up to 2% APY, 2.5% APY or 3% APY In most cases the only real way to increase the base rate is by referring friends

Each referred friend also earns you 3 biller, which can be used to boost your daily rate up to 7%.

Beam FAQs and My Beta-Test Results (2018.4)

Thanks for the support, everyone. I got access to the beta and used the Beam App for a few days. Beam also called me to ask for feedback and answer some of my questions. I’ll share more information here, and if you have more questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

  • At the time, the beta only offered an iOS app experience. There was a transfer limit during beta testing, currently $15,000, with a base interest rate of 2%. It was expected to open to the public in Q4 of that year. Before that, beta invitations were sent out in batches based on ranking.
  • The advertised 2%-4% interest was not based on how much money you deposited. No matter how much you deposited, the base interest rate was 2%. Then you could increase the rate daily through something called BILLIES. Each afternoon, the app would remind you to log in. Logging in would give you 1 BILLY, and using 1 BILLY would randomly add a 0.01%-2% boost to your current base interest rate. Referring 1 person would also earn you 3 BILLIES. You could use up to 4 BILLIES per day to increase that day’s interest rate.
  • Interest was calculated daily based on the BILLIES used, and you could see your account balance increase every day.
  • The 2% base interest rate would increase along with Federal Reserve rate hikes, and if the user base grew, they believed they could negotiate better rates with banks.

After using several Billies today, my interest rate for the day reached 4%.

Sign-up Link

Account registration is now fully open. Click here to sign up.

Everyone is welcome to share your experience and your own Refer link in the comments. I may also choose especially helpful submissions and add those refer links to the blog’s master link collection.