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Although your finances might often be top of mind, finding the right tools to help you manage your money and credit can be a challenge. Few people want to bounce between numerous apps to try to figure out where they stand financially.
Brigit offers a comprehensive view of your spending habits and credit score, while also providing access to small loans and side hustles if you need extra cash. Continue reading to find out whether the Brigit app is the tool you need to stay on top of your finances.
What is Brigit?
Brigit is a personal finance app that offers financial management tools, including account monitoring and budgeting tools. It offers a free version with a scaled-down array of features and a paid version that includes Instant Deposit, Auto Advances, and Credit Protect & Secure.
The company was founded by Zuben Matthews and Hamel Kothari in October 2017. It’s headquartered in New York City, and in 2021 alone, it has raised more than $110 million in capital from investors. Brigit's investors include Community Investment Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Core Innovation Capital, and Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures. NBA Superstar Kevin Durant as well as actor and rapper Will Smith have also signed on as backers of Brigit.
How does Brigit work?
Brigit is a personal finance app that links to your checking account and analyzes your spending to help with budgeting and tracking your bills. It could also provide up to a $250 cash advance if you qualify for instant cash to cover your expenses. And it offers a feature to help you find the best side hustles to earn extra money.
Brigit offers two versions, its free version and Brigit Plus. Here’s what each offers at a glance, plus some more detailed info about specific features.
| Free version | Brigit Plus | |
| Cost | Free | $9.99 per month |
| Features |
|
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Brigit’s features
Both the free and Plus versions of Brigit offer some valuable features for users. Here’s a deeper look at how the different features work:
Insights
Based on your income and spending, Brigit presents personalized content to build your financial knowledge. It also offers valuable tips to guide your finances and help you achieve your goals.
Finance Helper
Brigit's Finance Helper analyzes your bank account history and provides practical information on your past, current, and future deposits and spending. This data can help you create a budget and offer insights into potential overdraft situations in the future. Plus, subscribers can receive automatic advances of up to $250 to cover expenses and avoid overdraft fees charged by their banks.
Brigit Score
Your Brigit Score helps to determine whether you qualify for instant loans and how much you can borrow. Brigit comes up with this score by analyzing your activity across three categories: bank account, spending, and earnings. It tracks your average bank account balance over time, your activity, and any fees you incur. It also looks for a monthly recurring direct deposit and the number and size of those deposits. Additionally, Brigit tracks how much you spend each month and how often you make routine bill payments.
Much like your credit score, your Brigit Score will likely fluctuate. Each time Brigit receives an update from your bank (usually twice a day), your score can change. The scorecard inside the app can provide suggestions on how to improve your Brigit Score.
Instant deposit and auto advances
Subscribers can borrow up to $250 instantly based on their account history to help pay bills or avoid bank overdrafts. Brigit provides these loans at no interest and without any hidden fees. However, you have to sign up for its Plus service with a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 to be eligible. If you take out an advance as a Plus member, you'll receive a reminder two business days before the due date and you can repay the loan at any time before it is due.
Although these loans do not require a credit check or have any effect on your credit score, you do need to have a certain Brigit Score to receive instant cash. You can choose to have advances automatically cover your expenses or you can manually request them. However, you can only have one advance outstanding at a time.
If you need extra time to repay a loan, Brigit offers flexible repayment options without charging a fee.
To qualify for Instant Cash, your checking account should meet the following criteria:
- It is your primary checking account that is used regularly.
- Your checking account must be open for at least 60 days.
- The balance is greater than $0.
- There is a cash cushion on the day you receive your paycheck and the day after.
- You have at least three recurring deposits from the same employer or deposit source.
ATM deposits, paper checks, cash transfers, and paychecks with irregular pay schedules do not count toward these requirements.
Credit Protect & Secure
Brigit’s Credit Protect & Secure feature monitors your VantageScore 3.0 from TransUnion and updates your score every 30 days. It shares the factors that are affecting your score and allows you to download and print your TransUnion credit report whenever you need it. You can also use the score simulator to predict how your score would change based on certain behaviors. Plus, you'll receive $1 million in identity theft insurance to repair and restore your credit if your identity is stolen.
Who is Brigit best for?
U.S. residents 18 years and older can create an account with Brigit, and it’s available in all 50 states. Although you can use some of Brigit's features without a bank account, an active bank account is required to use Finance Helper, and recurring deposits to Brigit are one of the requirements to qualify for Instant Cash.
This app is best for consumers with an eligible checking account who have trouble avoiding bank overdraft fees. Although you need to upgrade to Brigit Plus with a monthly membership fee of $9.99 to gain access to its premium features, this monthly fee is less than the cost of an overdraft fee. In fact, with non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees averaging over $33 per item, if you can avoid four or more overdraft charges a year, you'll come out ahead when subscribing to Brigit's premium features.
How much can you save with Brigit?
Brigit has helped more than 1 million users move closer to financial security by allowing them to keep better track of their money. The app claims that the average user saves $514 per year and that it has saved its members over $250 million in fees since it launched.
As with any app, the amount of money you could save might be much higher or lower, depending on which features you use and your habits. One of the biggest money-saving features of Brigit is its ability to help you avoid overdraft fees. Overdraft fees cost consumers $12.4 billion in 2020, so these fees are a huge moneymaker for banks. With bank overdraft fees averaging over $33 in the U.S., they have the potential to add up quickly.
What customers are saying about Brigit
Brigit is a popular personal finance app among those who use it. It has a 4.8 rating in the Apple App Store out of 134,000 reviews, and 4.5 stars out of 46,000 customer reviews on Google Play. App users compliment how Brigit has helped them pay for utilities, groceries, and more without affecting their credit or causing them to get further into credit card debt.
Although the app store reviews are overwhelmingly positive, complaints on Trustpilot and Better Business Bureau tend to center around trying to cancel the premium version of its service. Responses from Brigit indicate that it is not willing or able to refund previous monthly charges and cannot cancel your service if you have an outstanding loan with them.
FAQs about Brigit
Is the Brigit app legit?
Yes, Brigit is a legit app that could help you learn how to manage your money more effectively. It has attracted the backing of financial industry veterans, including former executives of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the National Economic Council, and TransUnion. Additionally, Brigit is backed by NBA superstar Kevin Durant and actor Will Smith.
What are some alternatives to Brigit?
If you're looking for more apps like Brigit, there are many to choose from. Some of our favorites include:
These apps provide attractive benefits like keeping track of your spending, getting paid up to two days early, tracking your credit score, and offering overdraft protection without fees.
Is Brigit a payday loan?
No, Brigit is not a payday lender. Brigit monitors your account balances and activities to provide up to a $250 short-term loan to help protect your bank account balance. It does not require a credit check and there are no fees or interest charges.
Payday loans typically charge high interest rates and fees for a cash advance, and these loans are generally required to be paid off with your next paycheck. If not, the amount rolls over into a new loan with a new set of fees.
How much can you borrow with Brigit?
You can borrow up to $250 from Brigit. When borrowing from Brigit, there is no interest on the loan. And unlike other apps or cash advances, there are no fees.
How does the repayment process work with Brigit?
To repay your Brigit loan, the money is automatically withdrawn from your bank account on the repayment date. When you take out the loan, the repayment date is provided to you so you can plan accordingly. Brigit sends a notification two days before the due date to remind you of the upcoming payment. You can also repay the loan before the due date without penalty.
How to get started with Brigit
If you're ready to sign up for Brigit, start by downloading the app by searching through your device's app store or visiting HelloBrigit.com. It is available for both Apple and Android users. After downloading the app, you'll need to create an account and link your bank account to your profile. Your application will be approved within 20 seconds and there is no credit check or fees to open an account.
Brigit works with over 6,000 banks, however, it does not currently support Chime, Capital One, Net Spend, or Varo. It recently began supporting Walmart Moneycards by Green Dot.
Once you get started and connect a bank account to Brigit, it will begin analyzing your deposits and spending patterns in the background. It will review your transactions and provide updates on upcoming bills and predict whether you'll have enough money to cover those expenses. With Brigit Plus, it will automatically send you an advance if it thinks you'll need it.
The bottom line
Brigit is a powerful personal finance app that analyzes your income and expenses to offer guidance and tips to improve your money situation. Although it offers a free version, the most powerful features are reserved for its premium members who pay $9.99 per month. Premium members receive credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, and the ability to receive instant deposits to cover expenses and avoid overdraft fees.
If you're not sold on giving Brigit a try, competing apps from Chime®, EarnIn, and Rocket Money offer many of the same features.
- Chime provides fee-free overdrafts up to $200 for eligible members,1 <p>SpotMe® for Credit Builder is an optional, no interest/no fee overdraft line of credit tied to the Secured Deposit Account; SpotMe on Debit is an optional, no fee service attached to your Chime Checking Account (individually or collectively, “SpotMe”). Eligibility for SpotMe requires $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to your Chime Checking Account each month. Qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their Chime Checking Account and/or their Secured Deposit Account up to $20 in total, but may be later eligible for a higher combined limit of up to $200 or more based on member’s Chime account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. Your SpotMe Limit will be displayed to you within the Chime mobile app. You will receive notice of any changes to your SpotMe Limit. Your SpotMe Limit may change at any time, at Chime or its banking partners’ discretion. Although there are no overdraft fees, there may be out-of-network or third party fees associated with ATM transactions or OTC cash withdrawal fees at retailers. SpotMe won't cover non card transactions, including ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, or Chime Checkbook transactions. <a href="https://www.chime.com/policies/">SpotMe on Credit Builder Terms and Conditions</a>.</p> paychecks deposits up to two days early with direct deposit,2 <p> Early access to direct deposit funds depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer. We generally make these funds available on the day the payment file is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the scheduled payment date.</p> access to over 60,000 fee-free ATMs,3 <p>Out-of-network ATM withdrawal and over the counter advance fees may apply except at MoneyPass ATMs in a 7-Eleven, or any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM.</p> and a high-yield savings account. Keep in mind that you must have a Chime® Checking Account in order to be eligible for a Chime Savings Account. Learn more in our Chime review.
- EarnIn4 <p>EarnIn is not a bank. Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors. Available in select states. Terms and restrictions apply. Visit <a href="https://www.earnin.com/">EarnIn.com</a> for full details</p> gives eligible users access to up to $150 per day, with a max of $750 between paydays. Get your money in minutes - starting at just $2.99 per transfer to your bank.5 <p>Lightning Speed is an optional service that allows you to expedite the transfer of funds for a fee. Depending on the product, the fee may be charged by EarnIn or its banking partner. See the <a href="https://www.earnin.com/privacyandterms/terms-of-service/fees">LS Fee table</a> for details.</p> Read our EarnIn review.
- Rocket Money provides a breakdown of your finances, tracks your credit score, and identifies bills that can be eliminated or negotiated down to save money each month. Read our Rocket Money review.