Editor’s Note: Overdraft Apps provides detailed product reviews and recommendations based upon extensive research and our own hands-on testing. We may earn a referral fee when you sign up for or purchase products mentioned in this article.
Mitchel holds a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from The Goizeta School of Business at Emory University and a Masters of Business Administration from The Haas School of Business at The University of California.
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30-SECOND SUMMARY: Dave pretty much invented no-interest cash advances, and the ability to get up to $500 with just a few taps on your phone remains popular with the company’s millions of users.
We love the $1 membership and impressive borrowing limit (even if you’re a new user). But if you’re looking for more options, check out the following cash advance apps.
Get a cash advance for up to $500 instantly >>> Check out Dave 👈
Why We Love Dave: $500 cash advance with no interest and no credit check
Dave is best known for its no-interest cash advances that enable you to get up to $500 with just a few taps on your phone with no interest and no credit check.
You can request a cash advance for up to $500 as soon as you sign up with Dave, and receive your funds almost instantly (we’re talking under a minute!).
You can have your cash advance sent to a Dave Debit MasterCard with an Express Fee ranging from $3.00 to $25.00 (depending on the size of the advance and whether you use a Dave Spending Account or an external account).
You may avoid the fee by waiting up to three banking days to have the money deposited into your linked bank account. This is great if you want to avoid moving your direct deposit.
Once the money is in your account you can use it on whatever you like, including ATM withdrawals, debit card purchases, bill payments, or transfers through Venmo or Cash App. However, it takes three banking days to receive the funds.
How to learn more:
How much does a Dave cash advance cost?
Dave doesn’t charge interest on cash advances, but there are three fees that you may need to pay.
First, to be eligible for a Dave $500 advance, you’ll need to subscribe to Dave for $1/month. You may cancel this subscription at any time 2
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Next, depending on where you want your cash advance sent and how fast you need the money, you may need to pay an Express Fee:
- If you get your advance on your Dave Spending account, you’ll pay a 3% express fee (with a $3 minimum and a $15 maximum)
- If you use an external account you’ll pay a 5% fee (with a $5 minimum and a $25 maximum).
- If you don’t pay the express fee, your advance funds will take 3-5 business days to reach your account.
Additionally, Dave will ask you to make a tip when you schedule a cash advance.
Tipping is optional and Dave says it helps offer services to other users (and an undisclosed donation is made to the charity Feeding America for each tip). Your ability to borrow from Dave will not be affected whatsoever if you opt out of tipping.
Here’s how those fees can add up:
Let’s say you sign up as a subscriber so that you can get a $100 cash advance for one week. You need your money quickly so you pay the $4.99 express fee and leave a 10% tip of $10. Your no-interest cash advance from Dave has now cost you $16.
BUT, if you skip the tip and and use a Dave RoarMoney account, you’ll pay just a $1 subscription fee and a $3 express fee. With a total cost of $4 in fees, Dave is the cheapest way we’ve found to borrow a quick one hundred bucks!
Your cash advance will be scheduled for repayment on the expected date of your next paycheck. If you need a little extra time, Dave does not charge late fees.
| 🤓 Overdraft Apps Tip: If you’re looking to spread out your payments over a longer period of time, check out these $500 instant loan apps.) |
Get a cash advance for up to $500 instantly >>> Check out Dave
What are the best cash advance apps like Dave?
Dave invented the cash advance app, making it more convenient and less costly to access cash when you need it. With six million users, Dave remains the king of the category.
However, the competition hasn’t been standing still. A number of newer money lending apps offer features that make it faster and easier to borrow when you need it, and with lower fees – in some cases, FREE.
We spoke to Tom Blake, a passive income expert from This Online World who recommends looking for apps that offer more than just a high borrowing limit.
He explains, “Cash advance apps can be quite lucrative if you take advantage of different sign-up bonus offers many apps promote. In the past, apps like Chime, Earnin, and Dave had also offered sign-up bonuses or referral bonuses.
So, do a bit of research before trying out a cash advance app to see if you can earn some bonuses with a simple code or promotion.”
To help you compare your options, here are six instant cash advance apps like Dave.
Get up to $250 instantly with no credit check >>> Get the Albert app 👈
Albert – Zero-interest cash advances for up to $250
You can access Albert cash advances2for up to $2503 with no interest or subscription fees!
You can request money with just a few taps in the app, and have it sent to an Albert account in about ten minutes or to your bank account in three days with no fee. (You can have the funds sent to your bank account right away for a $6.99 express fee.)
Albert doesn’t perform a credit check or require you to move your direct deposit. You can qualify for up to three cash advances per pay period. Your repayment is automatically set to the date of your next paycheck, but you can easily move this with no late fees.
Get up to $250 instantly with no credit check >>> Get the Albert app 👈
MoneyLion – Borrow up to $250 with absolutely no credit check
MoneyLion cash advances, which are properly named Instacash, start at just $54 and can go up to a whopping $1,000 if you have a RoarMoney account and meet their qualifications5.
RoarMoney is MoneyLion’s checking account service, which charges a monthly fee of just $1.00. This fee not only lets you increase your borrowing limit but also reduces the costs of your turbo delivery fees.
Speaking of turbo delivery fees, the cost of these varies depending on the size of the cash advance. A $5 advance costs as little as $0.49 if you have RoarMoney, but the same advance costs $2.99 to an external account. Likewise, a $100 cash advance costs $6.99 with RoarMoney and $8.99 without it.
Although MoneyLion has a pretty hefty cash advance limit, there is a catch. You can only borrow $100 per day. If you want to borrow anything more than that, you’re gonna have to make multiple advances across multiple days and pay the turbo fee for each.
If you don’t want to pay a Turbo fee, you’ll get your funds in 12-48 hours (for MoneyLion customers) or 3-5 days (for external bank accounts).
MoneyLion will ask you if you’d like to provide a tip, but there’s no punishment for keeping your money to yourself so you don’t need to shell out extra if you don’t want to.
Get cash advances up to $250 with no interest >>> Check out MoneyLion
PockBox – Qualify for quick cash easier than with Dave
Dave offers cash advances of up to $250. But for many users (especially new ones) Dave only provides $25. And sometimes you may not be eligible at all.
If Dave can’t get you the cash that you need, the PockBox app could be a good solution. It allows you to get a personal loan as soon as tomorrow in some cases, for up to $2,500 (or borrow as little as $100).
Answer just a few quick questions, and PockBox will quickly seek offers from more than 50 online and offline lenders. This means that the chances of being approved for a loan is higher than individual lending apps. You can qualify for a loan even if you have some problems with your credit history. You may even have several offers to choose from!
Get up to $2,500 >> See what you qualify for in minutes at PockBox 👈
Current – Overdraft your debit card by up to $200
Dave’s cash advances come in handy when you know you’re going to need some extra cash over the next few days6. But what about that nerve-wracking feeling when you go to pay with your debit card and are unsure if the charge is going to go through?
Dave doesn’t let you overdraft your debit card. Fortunately, there’s Current, which offers many of the same great features that Dave does.
Plus, the ability to overdraft your debit card by up to $200 with no fees7.
Like Dave, Current has partnered with a bank to offer convenient banking features right from your phone. You can access cash from nearly 40,000 fee-free ATMs, cash checks right in the Current app, and use your Current debit card with the millions of merchants that accept MasterCard.
Current also offers a slew of cashback offers at local and national retailers, restaurants and gas stations. (It’s tough to find cashback offers on a debit card, and many of Current offers are quite generous, including 4% back at heaps of restaurants and 2% back from brand name gas stations!)
Set up direct deposit with your Current account and you can access your paycheck two days early (same as Dave) and gain access to no-fee overdrafts for up to $200, so you can still use your debit card if your balance is temporarily below $0. You won’t pay a monthly or minimum balance fee, either.Sign up for Current for free >> Get up to $200 in fee-free overdrafts with Current 👈
Earnin – Cash out your wages early
You’ve worked hard for your money, so why shouldn’t you access it when you need it?
Earnin lets you get paid early any time you have earnings.
You can access a cash advance for up to $100 through Earnin and have your bank account in under 30 minutes.
You can qualify for cash advances of up to $100 per day and borrow up to $500 per pay period! Your advance will be automatically repaid when you receive your next paycheck. You can then use Earnin to cash out again whenever you need to.
Earnin connects to your existing account (same as Dave) so you don’t need to go through the hassle of moving your direct deposit. It also means that you can use your money however you like, including ATM withdrawals and bill payments.
Earnin offers true no-cost cashouts.
It only takes a few minutes to create and verify a new Earnin account, and you can request your first cash out right away.
Read our full Earnin review
💰 Need to borrow more than $500? Check out these $1,000 instant loan apps.
Should you keep using Dave or move to a different app?
Dave is the OG of cash advance apps and still remains one of the least costly options to borrow $100 among the cash advance apps we’ve tested. Nevertheless, despite being one of the most user-friendly options, its scope is fairly limited.
With MoneyLion you’ll be able to borrow higher amounts and access a wider variety of services, whereas Current will let you overdraw your card on purchases and PockBox will let you search alternatives with easier qualifying requirements.
Dave is undoubtedly a great option, but it’s worth considering other ones that might better accommodate to your needs.
How we picked these loan apps like Dave
To come up with this list of cash advance apps, we selected more than a dozen of the most popular loan apps like Dave, downloaded them and got to work testing them out. We considered features including fees (upfront or hidden), eligibility, borrowing limits, and interest rates. We also looked for additional features that might benefit you when looking for interest-free cash advances. We may receive a referral fee if you purchase or use some of the products described in this article.
WAIT! Why borrow quick cash when you can earn it?!
Cash advance apps can be a great tool for getting a little extra cash when you need it, but you’ll need to repay it – plus fees – wihtin a week or two. Did you know there’s an easy way to earn extra cash that’s yours to keep?
KashKick is a wildly popular service that lets you earn money for playing games, completing surveys, signing up for trial offers and more. (You’ll even earn cash for just completing your profile!) You can earn cash today and withdraw your earnings through PayPal once you’ve reached $10. You can earn over $100/month with KashKick – and you don’t need to spend a dime or take out your credit card to do it.
There are dozens of high-paying offers available on KashKick, and if you’re into playing new games on your phone, you can earn some serious cash for doing what you love. Though offers change regularly, there are currently1 more than three dozen offers available where you can earn cash – sometimes over $100 – just by downloading and playing popular games like Coin Master, Monoply Go, Bingo Blitz, and more. These games are all free to download, and no in-app purchases are required to earn with KashKick.
Get paid to play on your phone >>> Check out KashKick
Mitchel holds a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from The Goizeta School of Business at Emory University and a Masters of Business Administration from The Haas School of Business at The University of California.
- EarnIn App Review: The Easy Way to Get Cash Before Payday - December 12, 2024
- Best Cash Advance Apps of 2024: Fast and Easy Ways to Top Up Your Bank Account - October 17, 2024
- GO2bank App Review: Overdrafts up to $200 + 7% Cash Back Offers - October 11, 2024
- As of February 13, 2024. Offers may change and may not be available to all users. Eligibity requirements apply. See KashKick's Terms of Service for full details.
- ExtraCash™ is a DDA account with overdraft utility, advances are subject to eligibility requirements and identity verification. Taking an ExtraCash™ advance will make your account balance negative. Express delivery fees apply to instant transfers. As of January 18, 2023, most customers receive an advance of $160 or more. See the ExtraCash™ Account Agreement for more details.
- With Instant overdraft coverage, eligible members can overdraw their Albert Cash account for ACH transfers, ATM withdrawals, debit card purchases, and other electronic transfers. Overdraft limits range from $25 to $250. The average approved overdraft limit is approximately $80 as of 11/1/23. Genius is required to access Instant overdrafts but you may cancel any time. Not all Genius customers will qualify for Instant overdrafts. Fast transfer, ATM, and other applicable fees may apply. See the app for details.
- Turbo Fees vary based on the advance amount and disbursement account you choose
- The $5 Instacash Boost will increase your Instacash advance limit for the calendar month in which it is received and can only be utilized by users with maintained Instacash eligibility. The $5 Instacash Boost can only be used once. You may only receive one Boost from up to 5 friends per month.
- Faster access to funds is based on comparison of traditional banking policies and deposit of paper checks from employers and government agencies versus deposits made electronically. Direct deposit and earlier availability of funds is subject to timing of payer’s submission of deposits.
- Actual overdraft amount may vary and is subject to change at any time, at Current’s sole discretion. In order to qualify and enroll in the Fee-Free Overdraft feature, you must receive $500 or more in Qualifying Deposits into your Current Account over the preceding 30-day period. For more information, please refer to Fee-free Overdraft Terms and Conditions. Individual Current Accounts only.
