Modern banking for the modern world — That’s Current’s main selling point and motto.
Current is a mobile financial banking app with a Visa debit card. Current offers some very unique features compared to its competitor, including instant credit for gas, special accounts for parents and teens, financial goal orientation, and fast direct deposits. In this article, we’re going to give you all the data you might need when it comes to Current.
Including if Current is a real bank? Is Current safe to use? And what exactly is Current bank?
What is Current?
Current was created by its CEO Stuart Sopp with the belief that banking should be simple, affordable, and easy to use. It should be a tool everyone can have access to. Current at its core is built on key fintech solutions and cutting-edge custom-built banking technology. The platform makes it simple for people to have more control over their finances, including greater stability, instant access to their money, and a more efficient banking model with fewer fees.
Current’s main focus group is teens and parents. The company was created by Stuart Sopp, in June 2015 and is based in the Greater New York area — currently, Current, has managed to raise over $220 million in funding. It has a couple of notable investors, including popular YouTuber, Mr. Beats.
Is Current a Bank?
Current isn’t actually a bank, per se. Current is instead a financial technology company that is associated with a bank. It offers various banking services and financial tools through its partnership with the Choice Financial Group and the Metropolitan Commercial Bank, both members of the FDIC.
Meanwhile, the Current Visa Debit Card is issued by those same groups and licensed by Visa U.S.A. Inc — and can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
What does Current offer?
Current’s main appeal is that it is an easy, intuitive financial service that offers great money management for teens. It has a couple of really interesting features but at its roots, Current is simply a quick banking solution that’s great for teens. Sure, as adults you can sign up for Current, but it's main demographic is teens and families.
Current offers a convenient way of handling their debit card payments, purchases and have more comprehensive control over them. It gives teens the ability to have a modicum of freedom; what to spend and where, while also giving total parental control to parents. Current gifts families with that.
Current provides a banking account that is visible to parents and that can keep up with a teen’s hectic pace. Giving both parties spending limits, merchant blocking, spending notifications, instant transfer, full transparency, and many more options.
Allowing teens to set their financial goals, and understand their spending habits, has shown to teach them key concepts about money management. It teaches them critical facts about creating a budget, what liabilities are, and what assets they have. It teaches them how to manage their economy and adapt their lifestyles to said amount. Teens can learn these traits through Current -- with the knowledge that their parents are keeping an eye on them and helping out whenever they need a hand.
Current even gives parents the ability to set up automated allowance payments — and even the functionality to release those funds only after a set of chores, pre-configured by the parents, have been completed.
Types of Account offered at Current
Right now, as of November 2021, Current offers 2 types of plans. Both of these plants don’t have the ability to gain interest but do offer great tools.
Current Basic
Current Basic is the company's free plan and it offers:
- No minimum balance.
- Cash withdrawal from ATMs.
- Tools for money management.
- Send and receive money for free.
- 24/7 member support.
Current Premium
Current premium is the company’s main service and you can get it at $4.99 a month. It offers everything the Basic plan has, plus:
- Fee-free overdrafts for up to $100.
- Faster direct deposits.
- Gas hold instantly refunded.
- The ability to earn points for unlimited cash back at participating retailers.
Other features of Current
Aside from the features described above, Current also includes such benefits as:
- Saving Pods: similar to a saving account but with no interest. You are given, depending on your plan (Basics has 1/Premium has 3), sectioned off accounts teens can label. These serve as goals. For example, an account could be named “for Holidays”. Teens can later make automatic deposits, move money directly to these accounts, or even set up round-ups each time they use the Current Visa Card -- funding the goal little by little.
- Rewards: Current has a reward program for all its customers. Points are credited instantly after purchase and then can be redeemed into dollars inside the Current app. It is estimated that premium members can actually earn up to $165 cashback per year just by using their Current Visa Card at participating gas stations.
Is Current safe?
Each Current Visa debit card has an EMV chip and the latest technology. Users can pause and even put a block on their card right from the app. Also, Current’s parent bank is a Member of the FDIC, which means that all accounts are secured up to $250,000 dollars.
