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Lili Banking Review

Reviews 3,429
Lili
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Lili
Lili
Excellent
Reviews 3,429
Chris Muller
Oct. 27, 2024
4 min read
Chris
Lili Summary
Lili Banking is ideal for small businesses looking to get a better hold on their finances. Lili makes it easy to set money aside for taxes, organize expenses, and even get early access to direct deposits. The Lili Smart account offers advanced expense management tools and a unlimited invoices and payments. Lili's Standard account is completely free, and their Smart account is just $35 per month.

Pros

  • No starting or maintenance fees on Standard account
  • Automatically set aside money for taxes
  • Get your direct deposit early

Cons

  • Limited withdrawal/deposit opportunities

Lili at a glance

9.2
Editorial score

Fees?

No fees at all
10.0

Security

FDIC insured, SSL/AES encryption and supports 2 factor and biometric authentication
10.0

Customer service

Customer service during extended business hours
6.0

Online experience

Excellent user friendly site with transparency of rates and full online banking capabilities
10.0

Mobile experience

Excellent mobile app with all mobile banking features enabled, including digital check deposits
10.0

Lili Lili Visit Site

Advantages Over Regular Bank

Lili offers online banking accounts that are covered by FDIC through Sunrise Banks, N.A. With online banking, Lili presents some advantages over the typical brick-and-mortar banking model:

Zero fees 

Lili keeps it simple. The company believes that your money should be yours, not theirs. Their Lili Standard account is completely free. That means no fees for card replacement, bill payments, overdrafts, inactivity, or maintenance. The Lili Smart account is only $35/month, with no hidden fees whatsoever. 

Easy tax tools

Lili’s tax tools make it easy to set aside the money you’ll need come tax season. It can be complicated to manage your own tax dollars, but Lili helps with automatic tax buckets that withdraw anytime you receive a paycheck. In addition, the Lili Smart account offers advance expense management, allowing you to customize your expenses buckets for your business needs.

Direct deposit comes early

You can receive your payments early – by up to 2 days – when you set up direct deposit with your frequent clients.

Stay alert

Stay in the loop of all the money coming and going from your account with real-time push notifications on your phone. 

Be your own financial advisor 

Lili lets you track your spending in certain categories to learn more about your spending behavior. 

Free withdrawals 

It’s your money, why should you pay more just to get it? You can get free withdrawals at over 38,000 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Additional features

Cash Deposit

Lili customers can deposit cash to their Lili accounts at 90,000 retail locations across the US.

Emergency Bucket

Set a fixed daily amount, as little as $1 a day, to automatically save towards the unexpected. The Lili Smart account offers 3.65% APY on the Emergency Bucket.

Cutting-Edge Banking Services

For customer support from brick and mortar banks, you have to go in to get service. Online banking like Lili means you can access the same level of customer support no matter where you are! Simply call to contact one of their representatives during business hours. 

Lastly, Lili also allows you to streamline all of your accounts into one. Rather than have your money sit in PayPal or Zelle, you can get those funds deposited into your bank account sooner.

Traditional Banking Services 

Since Lili’s focus is the young entrepreneur, members may notice fewer traditional banking services offered. For example, you cannot deposit any cash funds into your accounts. This means that any money stored in this account must be moved there electronically. If cash payments are something you typically accept, this may be an issue.

Additionally, Lili does not offer any credit cards, IRAs, or wire transfers to its members. It does however include a Visa debit card,¹ and if you sign up for the Lili Smart plan you'll get a number of other exceptional features such as:

  • Manage your business finances and banking on the same platform
  • Transactions are automatically categorized 
  • Get paid faster and keep track of payments more efficiently with Lili's  invoicing tool
  • Generate cash flow statements, profit & loss reports, and expense reports at a fast rate
  • Offers multi-user access and debit cards for businesses with multiple owners

You can enjoy free ATM withdrawals at over 38,000 locations across the US with your Lili Visa debit card.¹

Interest Rates and Fees

Here’s the good news: there are no fees and no interest rates associated with the Lili Standard account. This is great news for people who want to get out of banking that nickels and dimes them for every overdraft or week of inactivity. The bit about interest rates has some drawbacks, however. Since there are no interest rates, there’s no interest to be earned. 


If you are looking to maximize your income, you might want to consider upgrading to a Lili Smart account, which offers an APY of up to 3.65%  on Emergency savings. The Lili Smart account is only $35 per month, and you can cancel any time. 

Lili Lili Visit Site

Lili Customer Service 

Lili offers multiple ways to contact their customer support team. While they are only available during their business hours (9 AM. to 7 PM EST), you can get hold of them during this window in whichever method suits you.

You can:

  • Call them at (855) 545-4380 to speak to someone directly
  • Email support@lili.co for a written response
  • Find their customer service accounts on social media for a quick response

Additionally, there’s a help center on their website that answers many of the most frequently asked questions and conundrums.

Mobile Apps

The Lili mobile app is the equivalent to your brick-and-mortar bank’s lobby in that it holds all the tools and resources you’ll need to manage your bank account. It also serves as the main dashboard for tax features, expense reports, and financial insights.

Security

Since Lili is run on a digital platform, it’s easy to understand why data privacy and security are so important to members. Lili takes these concerns seriously, and while they do collect nonpublic personal data from you, they do not share this information with anyone outside of the Lili banking team and necessary third-party service providers. 

When and if Lili notices any signs of a security breach on your account, they will contact you via the app or email. 

Conclusion 

Lili Banking is a great option for those who are struggling to manage their taxes and prefer digital-interfaced banking to a brick-and-mortar one. With no fees to worry about on the Standard account and no location to tie you down, it makes it easy to travel and work as you please with great banking beside you every step of the way.  The best online banking companies provide these conveniences, making them an attractive option for modern banking needs.

In addition, its well worth upgrading to the Lili Smart account, which at only $35/month offers advance expense tracking, a premium Visa Business Debit Card with cashback rewards,¹ a Savings account with up to 3.65% interest, and the ability to manage your banking and accounting together on the same platform.

Overall, Lili is a smart option for businesses looking for a no-strings-attached banking experience.

Lili Lili Visit Site

Disclaimer:

¹ Lili is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Sunrise Banks N.A., Member FDIC.

² The Lili Visa® Debit Card is issued by Sunrise Banks N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

³ The Annual Percentage Yield (“APY”) for the Lili Savings Account is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed APY is effective as of September 1st, 2023. Must have at least $0.01 in savings to earn interest. The APY applies to balances of up to and including $100,000. Any balance over $100,000 will not earn interest or have a yield. Available to Lili Pro, Lili Smart, and Lili Premium account holders only.


Chris
Written by
Chris Muller
Chris has an MBA with a focus on advanced investments and has been writing about all things personal finance since 2015. He’s also built and ran a digital marketing agency, focusing on content marketing, copywriting, and SEO, since 2016. He writes for BestMoney and enjoys helping readers make sense of the options on the market.‎
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