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Acorns Grow, Inc. is a personal investment mobile app and website that helps customers invest automatically by using their spare change. The app monitors users' debit and credit cards, rounds up purchase amounts, and uses the difference to invest in a previously chosen portfolio. The app, launched in 2014, now has more than a million accounts and has added several other features, such as a checking account, retirement investment options, and a partnership with major brands that gives consumers reward points they can then turn into investment dollars.
- Invest your spare change easily and automatically
- Partners with major brands to increase your investments
- Offers retirement investment accounts (Acorns Later)
- Paid subscription only $1 per month
- Checking account available
Acorns works is by monitoring the user's purchases and rounding up to the nearest amount, taking the difference and investing it according to a previously designated strategy, which can range from aggressive to conservative depending on the user's preference. Because of its success with its basic services, Acorns has added an Individual Retirement Account and a checking account as well, which does not charge overdraft fees or require a minimum balance.
Another pro on Acorns' column, is its pricing. The prices range from $1 to $3 per month, which includes all three features. One drawback is its F grade from the Better Business Bureau, which lists almost two dozen complaints by customers claiming problems withdrawing money from their accounts and/or poor customer service. Having said that, this number of complaints is very low given the millions of users the app has. Overall, Acorns remains one of the best choices around for beginner investors, making saving seem more like a fun but doable challenge instead of a chore.