Lili Bank Account Review [2024]: One-Stop Shop for Small Business Banking Needs

How Lili works for business finances

Lili is an all-in-one financial platform designed with small businesses in mind. With the Lili app and website, you can organize and manage all of the ins and outs of your freelance or small-business finances in one place.

You can get a business checking account, savings account, and debit card, and you can also get guidance and learn processes to streamline things when it’s time to file taxes. Managing invoices and expenses is a big part of what Lili can offer — which can play a major role in determining your small business’s success.

Lili is designed for self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs, so its services and features align well with those needs. As a freelancer, I appreciate the safeguards and benefits a Lili bank account can provide.

Lili at a glance

APY (annual percentage yield)	4.15% (as of Oct. 11, 2023)2 on Lili's Automatic Savings Account
Minimum balance for APY	None
Minimum deposit to open account	None
Monthly maintenance fees	$0: Lili Basic account with debit card, fee-free ATM withdrawals, automatic savings, and ability to get paid up to 2 days early $9/month for 3 months (then $15/month): Lili Pro, which includes everything in Lili Basic, as well as a Lili Visa® Debit Card with cashback rewards (Lili card)3 and automatic savings with a 4.15% (as of Oct. 11, 2023) APY, and fee-free overdrafts up to $200 $21/month for 3 months (then $35/month): Lili Smart, which includes everything in Lili Pro, as well as smart bookkeeping, financial reports, tax reports, and unlimited invoices and payments $33/month for 3 months (then $55/month): Lily Premium, which includes everything in Lili Smart, as well as dedicated account specialists and priority customer support
ATM access	Fee-free ATM withdrawals from more than 38,000 ATMS
Transactions per month	Maximum deposits: ACH inbound direct deposit, one-time or recurring: Unlimited Domestic wire transfer: Unlimited Cash deposit: $1,500 per day; $3,500 per week; $5,000 per month ACH inbound linked transfer: $2,000 per day; $5,000 per month Check deposit (mailed or mobile): $10,000 per day (potentially $20,000 with special approval); $50,000 per month Maximum withdrawals: ACH Outbound: $20,000 per day (two-factor authentication required for $3,000 and up); $100,000 per month Debit card purchases: $10,000 per day; no monthly limit ATM withdrawals: $1,000 per day
Member FDIC	Lili's partners, Sunrise Banks and Choice Financial Group, are FDIC-insured
	Visit Lili

Lili’s top features and benefits

Lili Visa® Debit Card

The debit card you receive as a Lili customer is fee-free and you can use it for purchases anywhere that Visa is accepted. Plus, you get digital debit card access immediately after you complete the application process, which makes it available right away for mobile and online spending.

Fee-free ATM withdrawals

All levels of Lili banking customers can use ATMs to withdraw business funds at over 38,000 locations with zero fees. The maximum is $1,000 per 24-hour period and $9,000 per month.

Lack of fees

Lili accounts offer a lot of services without a fee. There’s no fee for incoming domestic wire payments, stop payment orders, or ACH transfers. In addition, you get up to $200 in monthly overdrafts without fees if you’re on a paid plan.

Cashback rewards for Lili Pro customers

If you opt for the paid Lili Pro tier of membership or higher, you receive a Lili Card that makes you eligible to earn cashback rewards on spending with certain merchants through the Visa SavingsEdge program.

Invoicing software

You need a Lili Smart or Lili Premium membership to qualify, but the invoicing software available allows you to customize and manage invoices easily. You can choose up to three payment apps for clients to use:

• Debit or credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
• ACH
• Venmo
• Cash App
• PayPal
• Check

Clients can also pay you directly using your Lili bank account and routing number.

Tax preparation tools

As a Lili customer, you have access to tax preparation tools, although you’ll need to pay more for the greatest number of tax features.

You can get automatic Tax Bucket savings with Lili Pro (the lowest paid tier), which allows you to set aside funds to ensure you’re able to pay taxes when the time comes. With Lili Smart or Lili Premium, you also get pre-filled business tax forms and can sort your transactions by tax categories to maximize deductions.

As a freelancer who would rather not spend a great deal of time on administrative tasks like tax planning, I’d say that paying a bit for a Lili account might be worth it just for the tax assistance.

Main downsides to consider

Lack of features in Basic Business checking

In general, Lili's main downside is its Basic checking plan. It’s simply not very robust in terms of benefits offered to customers. This isn’t to knock the free plan but rather to note that if you’re seeking better features, you can look toward the paid tiers of Lili bank accounts.

The lowest tier of Lili account holders receive a nice basic bank account, but its features are fairly minimal. The free account offers basic checking with a debit card, automatic savings, and free ATM withdrawals, and for some freelancers, that might be adequate.

But if you’re looking for a broader range of features, you’ll need to pay, and paid plans start at $9 per month. Lili has great benefits like invoicing and accounting software, tax planning, bill management, and a 4.15% (as of Oct. 11, 2023) APY on savings, which you won’t get with the Basic Lili plan.

Low monthly deposit limits

You can only deposit up to $1,500 per day and $5,000 per month using cash deposits, and your location options are somewhat limited since your deposits need to go through the Green Dot network. That said, there are over 90,000 retail spots where Green Dot is located, and you can deposit cash into your Lili account, including stores like Walmart and CVS.

So it really depends on what’s most convenient for your business, but if a deposit location isn’t nearby or you’re operating with a lot of cash, you might look elsewhere for banking.

Types of Lili accounts

Account	Monthly fees	Minimum deposit	Plan highlights
Lili Basic	$0	$0	Business checking account Visa debit card Fee-free ATM withdrawals at 38,000 locations Get paid up to two days early Receive domestic wire transfers Automatic savings
Lili Pro	$9/month for first 3 months, then $15/month	$0	Everything in Lili Basic Advanced business checking account Visa debit card with cashback rewards Automatic tax savings Fee-free overdraft up to $200 4.15% (as of Oct. 11, 2023) APY on savings Expense management tools and reports: organize expense transactions into tax categories, attach receipts to expenses, generate quarterly and annual expense reports
Lili Smart	$21/month for 3 months, then $35/month afterward	$0	Everything in Lili Pro Advanced accounting software: organize transactions, automate bookkeeping, on-demand profit and loss statements, cash flow statements Automatic bill management Unlimited invoices and payments Tax savings Instant sorting of tax deductions Pre-filled business tax forms
Lili Premium	$33/month for the first 3 months, then $55/month	$0	Everything in Lili Smart Dedicated account specialists Priority customer support

What Lili can do for freelancers

As a freelancer or small business owner, you should have a separate bank account for your business. With four plans to choose from, Lili can provide nearly any financial tool you can think of to help your small business thrive.

A simple free business checking account and debit card are a great start for freelancers who want to manage their business finances responsibly. For example, getting your paycheck up to two days early can be a lifesaver for a freelancer whose income might fluctuate from month to month.

If you upgrade to the paid tiers, Lili bank accounts offer a ton of perks. When you consider the options for expense management, tax preparation, invoicing services, and more, you get a pretty good deal for a relatively low monthly fee.

How to open a Lili account

You can open a Lili account in less than three minutes. The account can be opened online or via the mobile app after you've downloaded the Lili app on your Android or iOS device.

To open a Lili account, you will need to provide:

• Your contact details
• Your address
• Your occupation
• The type of account you wish to open

You are eligible as long as you are 18 or older and have a valid U.S. Social Security number. Because the account is designed for freelancers, Lili indicates you should have at least some income that doesn't come from a traditional employer, such as freelancing income, small business income, or income from gig work.

Lili Savings Account vs. traditional savings account

Lili's APY of 4.15% (as of Oct. 11, 2023) means you can earn more with a Lili automatic savings account than you could with a traditional savings account, which only offers 0.45% (as of 7/22/24) APY.

While it might not seem like much of a difference, opening a high-yield savings account can result in significant earnings over time. The table below compares a traditional savings account to a hypothetical high-yield savings account to show the difference in interest earnings.

Keep in mind that Lili Basic customers do not earn APY on their savings. You need to register for one of the paid tiers starting at $9 per month.

Depositing or withdrawing money from your Lili account

You can deposit funds into a Lili account from an external bank account by using mobile check deposit or by using a service like PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo.

You can also make cash deposits by visiting a Green Dot retailer location, but you can’t deposit cash at an ATM. The retailer may charge a fee for depositing cash, and you can deposit up to $1,500 in cash per 24-hour period, $3,500 per week, and $5,000 per month. Lili also supports domestic wire transfers.

Fee-free withdrawals are available at the network of more than 38,000 ATMs. You may also transfer funds to a linked external account.

Lili customer service

Since Lili is a digital financial platform, you need to know how to access help when needed. Here’s how to reach customer service if the website FAQs or chatbot don’t answer your questions:

• Email support@lilibanking.com every day from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm EST.
• Phone (855) 545-4380 Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm EST.

Alternatives to Lili

While Lili is a robust banking solution for freelancers, it’s not the only option for running a small business or earning freelance income.

Bluevine

Bluevine offers a business bank account that you can use if you’re a freelancer. Both Lili and Bluevine offer a free basic business checking account. Like Lili, with Bluevine, you don’t need to worry about ACH fees, in-network ATM fees, or a minimum balance, and your deposits are FDIC-insured.

With Bluevine, you can earn up to 2.00% APY on your business checking balance of up to $250,000, provided that you either:

• Receive $2,500 in monthly customer payments or
• Spend $500 monthly on your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® or Bluevine Business Cashback Mastercard

Bluevine also offers a couple of paid customer tiers that are priced a bit higher than Lili’s at $30 or $95 per month. However, Bluevine isn’t exactly tailored to freelancer banking, and its business checking doesn’t have any of the services to streamline taxes, invoicing, or accounting the way Lili does.

Novo

Another alternative to Lili is Novo, which offers business owners money management and banking tools. Novo offers free online business checking accounts with no minimum balance. You can quickly manage your business budgets, access payments through ACH and Stripe, and get a free Novo debit card.

Novo can connect to a range of other apps and services, like Stripe and Paypal. You can also create unlimited customizable invoices for free (whereas with Lili, you need a paid subscription to access invoicing tools).

FAQs about Lili

Bottom line

Lili can be a great choice if you want the features it offers for independent contractors and small business owners, such as business expense reports. The extra features like high-earning savings accounts, invoicing and accounting help, and tax preparation are excellent as long as you don’t mind paying the monthly fee to access them.

Given the transaction limits, especially when it comes to cash deposits, Lili may be better for truly small businesses or sole proprietors with lower cash operations, not for larger businesses or those that rely heavily on cash transactions.

You can try out Lili’s paid tiers free for 30 days. If you decide to use Lili for your business banking needs, be sure to check out our guide on how to switch banks so you can move your money over effortlessly with nothing falling through the cracks. If you want to see how Lili stacks up against other options, learn more about the best banks.