Are you looking to get some fast cash but payday is still away? You don't want to pay interest on short-term loans? If this is the case, Earnin app may help! To learn more about the app, check out our in-depth Earnin app review.
Earnin App Review 2021: Get Paid for Work Now
We get it. We’ve all been there. As much as we try to save every dollar and make that paycheck last till the very end, things don’t always turn out the way we want.
There’s always a sudden new expense. Sometimes it’s the car that needs urgent repair or perhaps a bill that’s gone past its due date.
Regardless of what it is, there’s always something looming on top of your head. More importantly, you usually have to take care of it right away.
Well, at times like this, when you’re desperately in need of some cash right away and the next paycheck is still far away, what do you do?
Did your mind also instantly go toward another loan? Yeah, we thought so.
But hold up.
What we’ve got for you today is something way better than a loan. We can’t promise you any solution for those unexpected and unavoidable expenses. However, we can show you an easy way to get some quick cash without all the enormous interest and extra fees.
Sounds too good to be true? Trust us, it is true, with the Earnin app. In this Earnin app review, we’ll tell you everything – how it works, its conditions, pros, cons, and more. Keep reading!
Table of Contents
What is Earnin
Typically, when you’re pressed for cash, your first (and sometimes only) option is to go for a payday loan. This is an unsecured loan of a small amount.
You can get it quickly, but there’s a catch. You’ll be paying it back with hefty amounts of interest and fee charges.
Simply put, you pay back a lot more than what you borrowed. This puts further strain on your pocket.
Caught in a vicious cycle, you’re forced to borrow again and again. This is where Earnin proves to be an inexpensive alternative to conventional payday loans.
Founded in 2012 and previously known as Activehours, Earnin is an app that believes in paying you for your work today. Using this app, you can get quick cash ahead of your actual payday.
You don’t even have to borrow anyone else’s money as essentially, Earnin pays you your very own hard-earned money.
Now you can probably understand why this app has more than five million installs on the Google Play Store and a 4.7-star rating on the iTunes Store. The community-supported app aims to build a better and fairer financial system for people who are living paycheck to paycheck.
Consequently, there aren’t any exorbitant Earnin app fees or high-rate interest that would put an extra burden on you. Instead, it leaves it all up to you. You can pay whatever you think is fair or what you can afford.
How Does Earnin Work
By this point in time, you’re probably wondering how to sign up for Earnin so that you can quickly start taking advantage of this brilliant app. It’s either that, or you might be thinking if Earnin is legit or scam.
Regardless, this Earnin review will take care of all your questions and doubts, so just keep on reading.
As we mentioned before, Earnin pays you what you earn. So, obviously, it needs some verification related to your work and how you get paid. After it has done that and everything is in order, you can proceed to set up your account on the app.
Then, all that’s left to do is start entering in your earnings. There are two ways:
- Manual entry – by adding in your electronic timesheet information
- Auto entry – by letting the app do it for you via automatic earnings feature
Now anytime you’re in a fix and payday is still far away, you can use this app to retrieve some of your earnings and get paid instantly. Moreover, you can choose to pay a tip to the app or pay it forward for someone else.
When you eventually do get your pay, Earnin will simply deduct that amount plus any tip from your bank account. That’s it. It’s that simple.
How Much Can You Withdraw Using the Earnin App
Coming to the real question, how much cash can you withdraw using the Earnin app? After all, it’s not possible that you’d have access to unlimited funds.
Key question, what’s the limit on Earnin? There are two aspects to this: your daily limit and the pay-period limit.
In a single day, you can withdraw up to $100. This remains fixed throughout and is the same for everyone.
However, it’s a little different from the pay-period limit. The pay-period limit is the total amount you can withdraw between your two paydays.
For instance, if you get paid every two weeks, there’s a limit on how much you can cash out during those two weeks. When you sign up on Earnin, your starting limit is $100.
However, over time, considering your pay and how quickly you’ve been paying Earnin back, this maximum limit can go to $500.
You can check what your maximum limit is by going on the Max Info tab on the home screen of your app.
Who Can Use Earnin
While anyone can download this free app, not everyone can use it to reap its benefits. There are a few conditions to it. To be more precise, you have to meet three basic requirements before using Earnin.
- A checking account with direct deposit from your employer
- A fixed pay schedule
- An online timesheet or fixed-job location
You need to have some sort of checking account set up, and your employer should be sending over half of the direct deposit into it. Currently, Earnin doesn’t pay out to saving or prepaid accounts. Moreover, it doesn’t consider disability, SSI, or unemployment pay.
Besides that, you also need to have a fixed payment schedule. This could be monthly, fortnightly, weekly, or even twice a week.
Lastly, you should be working at a fixed location, or there should be an online timekeeping system at your work so that Earnin can track your hours. The app can’t process paper timesheets, pay stubs, or PDFs.
If you’re a salaried worker, Earnin can simply track your location to verify your hours. For on-demand or hourly-pay workers, they can add their online timesheet.
How Earnin Makes Money
Another critical question that must be popping up in everyone’s mind: how does Earnin make money among all this? There aren’t any Earnin app fees, and it doesn’t charge any interest on the cash paid out either. Then, how are the people over at Earnin making money?
The answer is simple: your tips. Earnin is a venture capital-funded company that has received investments, even from celebrities such as Nas. However, at its very core, the app runs on its users’ tips and community support.
The tipping amount on the app is usually set to 10%, but you can bring it down to even zero if you want. The whole point is that Earnin will not charge you anything forcefully.
You can add a tip of a maximum of $15 if you find that fair. Any excess on your part will go on to cover for someone else who’s short.
Consequently, someday, you might receive a tip from someone else, which then, you can pay forward. This way, the Earnin community members have paid tips more than fifteen million times, and that’s how Earnin makes money.
Earnin Pros
- Quick cash ahead of your payday
- No hidden charges or fees
- Can tip according to your choice
Earnin Cons
- Not everyone can use it
- Doesn’t support all banks
How to Sign Up for Earnin
A review of the Earnin app would be incomplete without a proper guide on how to sign up on it. The app is available for Android and iOS users both, so no one’s going to be left out.
Before you even download the app, make sure you meet the requirements we mentioned above. Otherwise, this app will be useless for you.
If you fulfill all the criteria, you can go ahead and download the app for free from the app store, and then follow these steps.
Step 1: Set up your profile
When you open the app for the first time, you’ll see a ‘Get Started’ button at the bottom. Tap on that. The app will ask for your email address, which you’ll have to enter and verify. Then you’ll have to set up your password.
Step 2: Enter your payment information
Next, you’ll have to enter your work payment information. The app will ask about your work hours and pay schedule. When you’ve filled in all the necessary information, tap on next.
Step 3: Connect your bank account
After this, the app will ask you to connect your bank account. From the available list of banks, choose yours. If you can’t find your bank on the list, it means Earnin doesn’t support it yet.
After selecting your bank, enter your username and password, which you use to login to that bank’s app or website.
Once you’ve logged in, the bank account will be linked, and you can continue to the next step.
Step 4: Select your employer
Next, you’ll see a list of employers from which you need to choose your own. If you can’t find your employer on the list, you’ll have to add him through the new employer option.
Step 5: Add your work location
The last step is to add your work location. The app will lead you to a map where you can point the location.
Here, one important thing to remember is, when your phone asks you whether it should allow Earnin access to your location, make sure you select the ‘Always Allow’ option. This step is critical to let the Earnin app track your hours.
After all this, you’ll have to wait a couple of days while Earnin verifies all your information. After complete verification, you’ll receive a notification, and you’re good to go.
Additional Features
The Earnin app also has a bunch of other features that make it a fantastic app. These will answer some of your questions like, ‘is Earnin safe’ or ‘how fast can you get cash through Earnin.’
Lightning Speed
Normally, whenever you try to take out cash from the app, it’ll take you a day or two to actually get the money. However, with this feature, you can get the money in seconds.
Keep in mind that this feature isn’t available with all banks currently. So, better confirm with your bank first.
Balance Shield
Enabling the Balance Shield Alerts on the app, you’ll get immediate notifications when your bank account balance falls below a certain amount. You can then deposit more money to avoid any trouble.
Moreover, this feature also allows you to set up a system where the app automatically sends $100 to your account when the balance drops below $100. This way, you can avoid any overdraft fees. The $100 is counted in your daily and pay-period limit as well.
See Related: Earny App Review
Security
The Earnin app uses 256-bit data encryption to make sure all your data is secure. It complies with all privacy and data security laws, so you don’t have to worry about your information falling into the wrong hands.
See Related: Why Personal Finance is Important
Conclusion on Earnin Review
Finally, it’s important to remember what exactly Earnin is. Earnin app is an emergency option for when you urgently need cash. It is in no way an alternate source of money. As with all things in life, if you start relying on it too much, it can end up costing you more.
With that said, you should try to manage your expenses in such a way that you don’t spend more than you make.
Moreover, you should look for other ways to make money on the side, for instance, through gig economy jobs, to maintain an emergency fund.