Empower Money Advance App Evaluation 2025

The Empower app stands out within the fintech scene as a sensible answer for gig employees and others who want a versatile method to handle private funds and generally inconsistent earnings.

It’s identified for providing money advances with extra lenient necessities than conventional banks and different related money advance apps. Empower supplies fast entry to money with out the trouble of a credit score test or paying predatory payday lender charges.

This Empower evaluate will cowl how money advances and different Empower app options work. We’ll inform you what that you must learn about this product and customary reader questions — together with different related mortgage merchandise.

What’s the Empower App?

Empower is a cell cash administration app that provides money advances to employees who want a small advance earlier than payday.

The quantities are smaller than what different apps might supply, however Empower is thought for its rapid-fire velocity in getting customers their cash instantly, in addition to its thinner credit score necessities.

Past small money loans, Empower is a flexible fintech cell app. Empower options price range and spend trackers, credit score monitoring, and different instruments to assist customers lower your expenses and handle their funds extra successfully.

Empower will not be a financial institution itself. It does supply some cell banking companies by way of NBKC Financial institution, Member FDIC, and Empower Thrive is supplied by FinWise Financial institution, Member FDIC.

How the Empower App Works

The Empower app provides three (3) major companies:

• Money advances: Get an advance of as much as $250 with no curiosity, no charges, and no credit score test. The money is deposited into the identical checking account the place your paycheck is deposited, or onto your Empower debit card.
• Thrive: A credit score line designed to (re)construct credit score, get a credit score line beginning at $250 that may be raised to $1,000. There’s no minimal credit score rating required for Thrive and on-time cost historical past is reported to Equifax and Experian. Month over month, accountable debtors can entry an more and more greater restrict.
• Debit card: Utilizing the Empower Card means you will get fast entry to money advance funds and receives a commission up two (2) days sooner when you have direct deposit arrange. There are additionally cash-back rewards of as much as 10% for purchases made with the cardboard.

Charges, Withdrawals, Reimbursement

Empower provides customers a free 14-day trial, after which there’s an $8 month-to-month subscription charge to make use of the app. For money advance customers, there are not any further curiosity or late charges.

Curiosity

For the Empower Thrive line of credit score, the APR is 0% in case you repay the road of credit score in full earlier than your subsequent paycheck. In any other case, the APR is 35.99% (besides the place native state legal guidelines require a distinct fee). Missed funds might incur late charges and different fees.

Entry to Funds

If authorised for a money advance, the cash is transferred to your checking account or your Empower debit card. There’s no charge for an everyday ACH switch to your checking account which can take as much as 5 (5) enterprise days to clear. (Some debtors will get the funds inside 1-2 days.)

There may be additionally an prompt supply possibility for funds to be expedited to your common checking account.

On the spot Supply Quantity | Price

• $0-$10.00 | $1.00
• $10.01-$49.99 | $2.00
• $50.00 – $74.99 | $3.00
• $75.00 – $99.99 | $4.00
• $100.00 – $149.99 | $5.00
• $150.00 – $199.99 | $6.00
• $200.00 – $249.99 | $7.00
• $250.00 or extra $8.00

For Empower Thrive, charges are $1 to $8 for as much as $300. After $300, the charge is 3% or $20 — whichever is much less.

Reimbursement

Reimbursement for an Empower Money Advance is mechanically debited out of your checking account on payday or different scheduled date.

For Empower Thrive, you’ll be able to arrange custom-made cost choices.

Eligibility Necessities

Whereas there is no such thing as a credit score test for money advances, the Empower app does think about different info to find out your skill to repay a mortgage. It is going to evaluate info from an externally linked checking account akin to paycheck quantities and spending habits, and determine what quantity you’ll be able to borrow. If authorised, you’ll be able to obtain an advance of $10 to $250.

Moreover, debtors have to be 18 years or older, have a Social Safety quantity, and have a checking account that’s no less than 30 days outdated.

Extra Empower App Options

Past money advances, the Empower app has many different financial savings and budgeting options that will help you monitor your spending habits and credit score rating, construct wealth, and enhance your total monetary wellness.

Credit score Rating Monitoring

Empower app customers can view their credit score scores inside the app. Empowers exhibits an in depth breakdown every month of various elements, akin to invoice cost historical past or credit score utilization, that may influence your rating. The app will supply personalised suggestions to extend your rating.

Budgeting Instruments

Empower can be one of many finest budgeting apps you’ll discover. It displays your month-to-month bills and incoming deposits and provides you an in depth report of the place your cash goes. It may make it easier to set budgets throughout completely different spending classes, and supply alerts or reminders for paycheck deposits, payments, and purchases in sure classes.

This perk is accessible for all Empower customers, even those that are connecting an exterior checking account to the Empower app.

Computerized Financial savings

The app’s autosave characteristic makes it easy so that you can lower your expenses and steadily develop your financial savings account or wet day fund.

Savers can use a handbook or AI possibility. With the handbook possibility, you determine what greenback quantity from every paycheck Empower ought to mechanically put aside in your financial savings.

With the AI mode, you set a weekly financial savings purpose and the app will transfer cash out of your checking to financial savings within the most secure, best means doable. Its purpose is to put aside as a lot as you’ll be able to afford to save lots of with out operating out of cash for different common bills.

Getting Began

If you need a money advance from Empower, right here’s the way to get began.

1. Obtain the free app on Google Play or Apple. Many different apps have related names. Be sure the app developer listed is Empower Finance. Or obtain it from the Empower.me web site.
2. Arrange your account. Present your cellphone quantity and look ahead to Empower to ship you a verification code. Then present the verification code, and enter your identify, e-mail handle, birthday, and set a password.
3. Join an exterior checking account — choose the one you utilize to obtain paycheck deposits.
4. Request a money advance and see what advance quantity, if any, you’re authorised for.
5. Select a supply technique to get your funds. You may choose the moment supply possibility, for a small charge, to get your funds inside an hour.

Empower will withdraw the quantity they’ve superior you, plus any specific supply charges, out of your checking account on the due date.

The account set-up course of usually goes fairly easily, nonetheless, in some situations, chances are you’ll be requested to supply further paperwork to confirm your id akin to a driver’s license or navy identification card.

Options to the Empower App

There are numerous apps just like Empower that may additionally supply a money advance to customers who want a money injection earlier than payday. Three (3) different different apps to think about are Dave, Earnin, and MoneyLion. All if these apps work on iOS or Android units.

Dave

This money advance app will spot you as much as $500 to cowl bills when you wait to your subsequent paycheck.

There’s a $1 month-to-month membership charge and extra charges (of $3 to $25) to get your funds superior on the identical day as a substitute of ready for the traditional processing time of as much as three (3) enterprise days.

Moreover, customers should open an ExtraCash account to be eligible for money advances.

Earnin

One other widespread money advance app, Earnin, will advance you as much as $750 per pay interval (or $100 per day) for hours that you’ve got already labored. Earnin has no credit score test necessities and provides a fee-free, interest-free advance. The advance is mechanically repaid with a debit in your subsequent scheduled payday.

Earnin has no month-to-month subscription charge, however as a substitute, customers tip the corporate no matter they imagine is honest for the service they supply. The app is not going to report these funds to the credit score bureaus, so it is not going to construct (or hurt) your credit score rating.

MoneyLion

Just like different money advance apps, MoneyLion supplies interest-free money advances with no credit score checks. Preliminary money advances, nonetheless, begin out low. First-time debtors will qualify for simply $10. As you construct a historical past of repaying these advances, you’ll be able to unlock greater quantities — as much as $500.

Customers should have a linked, exterior checking account and meet different fundamental eligibility necessities.

MoneyLion additionally provides Credit score Builder Plus, a product just like Empower Thrive. It is a mortgage product that doesn’t require a tough credit score pull. It’s meant as a software for shoppers to ascertain and construct a optimistic credit score historical past. To make use of Credit score Builder Plus, there’s a $19.99 per thirty days charge.

Thus far, Empower has not provided conventional promotions (i.e. coupon code to save lots of 15%) the way in which you would possibly count on with retail apps. Nonetheless, Empower does have its personal bonuses and incentives to encourage customers to attempt to suggest the app.

Free Trial

First-time prospects can get a free 14-day trial. On the finish of the trial, Empower will cost an auto-recurring subscription charge of $8 per thirty days. You can not cancel our membership after which join a brand new free trial after you will have already had 14 days free.

Referral Rewards

Refer mates to the Empower app and also you and your pal will every get a $5 reward. To qualify, the pal should settle for your invite, begin an Empower subscription, and settle for a money advance inside 30 days.

The bonuses are paid out inside two (2) enterprise days after the referred pal accepts their first money advance.

Safety

Empower makes use of trade finest practices to guard your private knowledge from loss, misuse, or unsafe storage or entry. This contains the utilization of multifactor authentication (MFA) strategies and knowledge encryption.

Buyer Help

There are a few methods you’ll be able to attain Empower customer support.

• E-mail: Ship messages to [email protected]
• Cellphone: Name 1 (888) 843-8967. Cellphone traces are open 6 a.m. to three p.m. PST Monday to Friday, besides on holidays.
• Useful resource library: Empower has a strong help heart stuffed with articles and FAQs to troubleshoot points and reply the commonest consumer questions.

Buyer Opinions

Shopper response to the Empower app has been overwhelmingly optimistic. It has extraordinarily excessive scores on Google Play and the Apple App Retailer (4.7 stars and 4.8 stars, respectively, based mostly on over 300,000 whole opinions).

Opinions on the Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB) web page are extra essential. Complaints focus on prospects sad with the $8 month-to-month subscription charge (for not canceling their free trial in time). Additionally, many customers go away destructive opinions for Empower Retirement Planning, a totally completely different entity owned by the Empower Annuity Insurance coverage Firm of America, on the flawed web page.

Listed here are some related opinions from actual customers of the Empower Finance (money advance) app:

This app is unbelievable, to say the least. $200 immediately despatched to you, a $7 prompt switch charge, pay the $207 again in your subsequent paycheck. After efficiently paying again an advance, you’ll be able to unlock the power to get Thrive which reviews to the credit score bureaus, builds credit score historical past, helps your credit score rating climb, and permits for greater advances as much as $1,000. the ONLY factor that will make Empower higher is in case you might do break up funds (ie: borrow $1000 and pay again over time.) In any other case it is excellent!

I am a journey journalist. I wanted cash as a result of financially the automobile repairs cleaned out my meager checking account. I learn the opinions and selected Empower, they’re precisely as marketed… No surprises OR hidden charges. I took a leap of religion. Empower most undoubtedly got here by way of for me. Completely, & with out reservation, I’d select them. They are a Firm…not simply an app!

One of many ONLY mortgage apps that’s HONEST! I’ve been utilizing the app “Empower” now for a couple of month and to this point so good, I mainly have zero complaints apart from one. After I first obtained provided a money advance it was $10 which is comprehensible since I used to be a first-time buyer. I repaid on time and obtained provided one other money advance for $25 which actually helped me…however now I’m on my 4th advance with Empower they usually nonetheless haven’t provided me greater than $25 though my account is in good standing…

Professionals and Cons

We rapidly addressed among the execs and cons of utilizing the Empower app in our intro, however right here’s a deeper look.

Professionals

• Flexibility eligible standards with no credit score test: There’s no credit score pull, exhausting or mushy, to get an advance. The platform is extra involved with incoming earnings and a confirmed skill to repay the quantity.
• Advances are funded inside in the future: Empower debit card holders can get the funds inside an hour. Different prospects pays an extra charge to get the funds right away.
• Gig employees and freelancers might also qualify. These less-traditional employees are often not capable of entry loans and related monetary merchandise with favorable client phrases.
• Budgeting and credit-building options. Many instruments inside the app promote monetary wellness and higher cash administration.
• Significantly better different to payday Payday mortgage merchandise are notoriously predatory, and cost rates of interest as excessive as 456% in some states.
• Refunds customers if the app causes an overdraft charge.

Cons

• Loans are smaller than different money advance apps. Different related apps like Dave, MoneyLion, or Earnin, will advance as much as $500 to $750.
• Month-to-month subscription charges of $8. Nonetheless, that is less expensive than the curiosity you’ll be charged for a payday
• An empower card is required without cost, fast money advances. In any other case, you have to to pay a charge to get the advance funds on the identical day requested.
• No consumer notifications earlier than reimbursement Funds are withdrawn on the pre-agreed-upon date (payday), however there is no such thing as a reminder or alert earlier than this occurs. You’ll must set your personal calendar alert.
• Can take some time for Empower to extend your authorised money advance quantities. Within the app opinions, some customers state they can not get authorised for greater than $25 after repaying 4 (4) or extra cash advances in a well timed method.

Often Requested Questions

Listed here are among the commonest FAQs that readers have about utilizing the Empower app for money advances.

Can You Belief the Empower App?

Sure, Empower is a legit and protected app that has glorious scores within the Google Play and Apple app shops. You may learn opinions from hundreds of subscribers who’re proud of the service that Empower supplies.

Moreover, Empower is a US-based firm (headquarters in California) with US cellphone and e-mail help.

How Lengthy Does It Take to Get an Advance from Empower?

In line with Empower’s web site, 98% of prompt money advances arrive inside quarter-hour, usually sooner.

They do warning that it might take as much as two (2) hours to obtain an prompt fund request.

For the standard money advance, it could possibly take as much as 5 (5) enterprise days nonetheless most debtors will get their funds inside one (1) enterprise day.

How A lot Will I Qualify for with Empower?

At current, the common borrower qualifies for a money advance quantity of $140. Advance quantities vary from $10 to $250 based mostly on Empower’s eligibility standards.

Why Did Empower Decrease My Money Advance?

Empower can change or decrease your typical money advance quantities based mostly on any modifications (they predict) in your skill to repay the advance. They’ll look over your checking account transaction historical past, reimbursement exercise, drops in earnings, or will increase in spending.

How Do I Use Empower With Money App?

You should utilize Empower with Money App and different digital wallets and cell cost platforms like Venmo.

• Log into your cell cost service account.
• Hyperlink your Empower account through the use of your cellphone quantity and passcode.