About Wealthfront

Wealthfront is an automated investing service company based in Palo Alto, California. It was founded by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll in 2008. As of Jan. 2019, Wealthfront had more than $11.4 billion in assets under management. We previously introduced their investment account, which is great for beginners who want to start automated investing.

Today we want to talk about their cash management account, which is a great example of a hub account. A hub account can be compared to a hub airport in aviation: you can transfer money in from multiple other accounts, then send it out again. A good hub account should have low sensitivity to cash movements in and out, high transfer limits, decent interest, and the ability to pay credit card bills. The Wealthfront Cash Account checks all these boxes.

Sign-Up and Link

If you register for a Wealthfront Cash account with our referral link now, both sides get an extra +0.5% APY for three months:

When signing up, make sure you choose Cash Account.

Note that opening a Wealthfront account requires a U.S. phone number, address, and SSN. Per the terms, you must currently reside in the U.S. If you are not living in the U.S., you cannot open an account, even if you are a U.S. citizen.

Please note that we require all Wealthfront clients to have a U.S. social security number, a permanent U.S. residential address, and currently reside in the U.S due to financial regulations. We cannot support clients residing outside of the U.S., including U.S. citizens residing abroad.

Core Features

Wealthfront Cash Management Account has several key features, and while it has no physical branches, it includes many common banking features:

  • Earn cash interest: the current rate is 4%, and with a referral-link signup it is 4.5%
  • Supports credit card bill payments, check deposits, and check issuance (with checking account and routing number)
  • Debit card allows free cash withdrawals at 19,000 ATMs (with debit card)
  • Supports direct deposit
  • No monthly fee or overdraft fee
  • Unlimited free transfers

You also get FDIC insurance, up to $800,000 for an individual account and up to $1.6 million for a joint account. After some turbulence in banking, Wealthfront increased these limits several times in 2023 to offer stronger coverage for users holding large cash balances. The mechanism is that your money is spread across 32 partner banks.

Typically, banks provide $250K in FDIC insurance. To provide you with $8 million in FDIC insurance, we automatically allocate your money across up to thirty-two unaffiliated partner banks.

If the Fed raises rates, Wealthfront also raises rates periodically. If the Fed cuts rates, Wealthfront cuts rates as well. The advantage for customers is that they do not need to shop around for the best savings account—they can just enjoy one of the best available rates on the market.

Featured Functions

Easy Account Management

One of the key uses of Wealthfront as a hub is that you can connect all your checking accounts, savings accounts, all credit cards, and even investment accounts, and view everything—balances, details, and updates—in one app. It is very helpful for consolidated account management.

Fast Inflows and Outflows

As a hub, it is often used for deposits, withdrawals, and repayments. In testing, I started transfers in the morning and they arrived by afternoon the same day. I have not seen anything that took longer than one business day.

High Transfer Limits

It offers high limits for inflows and outflows:

  • Using the account and routing number, deposit and withdrawal limits are $50,000 and $250,000, which is enough for most use cases
  • For outbound ACH transfers initiated from web or app, the limit is $250,000, also very high

Low Sensitivity

I’ve used this account for over six months. During that time, it handled transfers from my own other banks, BG transfers, remittances, and gift-card merchant transfers without issues, so it works well as a receiving account for major platforms. Even transferring money to myself through Western Union has worked fine, despite large-bank scrutiny concerns. Use it reasonably and avoid taking unnecessary risks.

Other Suitable Hub Accounts

There are other bank/investment accounts on the market that can also work well as a hub account. Some of the more recommended options are:

  • Fidelity: also offers cash management with high yield, no foreign ATM fees, high transfer limits, and generally low sensitivity
  • Ally
  • Alliant
  • Bank of America Checking: high transfer limits, fast processing, and generally low sensitivity

That said, if you expect to do risky behavior frequently, you might prefer a local credit union. If needed, you can always close it and switch later.

Not recommended as a hub account:

  • Chase: the G metric is particularly low, and even small amounts moving in/out (especially multi-party wires) can trigger account closure, potentially affecting the whole household
  • US Bank: based on my experience, Zelle reviews for larger amounts can take a long time

Sign-Up Link

If you register for a Wealthfront Cash account using our referral link now, both sides get an extra 0.5% APY for three months: