We all know how important it is to save money. But for many people saving money is a bit of a drag. At times it may not seem worth it, since the interest rates on most savings accounts are so low. But the Yotta Savings app has a fun way to save money.
Yotta Savings is high yield savings account with a big twist: You have a chance to win up to $10 million each week. That sounds pretty good, especially if you make frequent purchases of lottery tickets. But you’re probably wondering how exactly Yotta Savings works.
That’s where we come in! In this Yotta Savings review, we’ll cover everything you need to know (the features, pros, cons, cost, etc.) of this app. By the time you finish reading, you’ll know whether or not opening up a Yotta Savings accounts truly worth it.
Ready to learn more about Yotta Savings? Let’s dive right in!
Yotta Savings History
Yotta Savings was founded in 2019 by Adam Moelis and Ben Doyle. The company is a fintech that’s based in New York City and offers a uniquely different interest rate structure on its savings account.
The idea behind Yotta Savings was influenced by the UK’s Premium Bonds program. The UK government started selling bonds in 1956 that did not pay interest. So why would bondholders want to purchase these bonds? Well, they are entered into a system that worked much like the lottery where bondholders had the chance to win cash prizes.
It proved to be successful as well over 23 million have participated in the program. The incentive to win prizes was apparently a huge draw to get people to save! Yotta Savings has taken this idea and run with it. With over $16.6 million raised by the company through Series A round funding, the idea seemed to be a hit for many.
Yotta’s savings account does pay a small amount of interest on its deposit. But otherwise, Yotta Savings follows the Premium Bonds model.
An important note to remember is that Yotta Savings is not to be confused for a bank like other apps, such as Chime Bank. Because of this, the banking services within Yotta Savings are provided by Evolve Bank. Yotta Savings puts its technology on top of the bank to provide its prize-linked savings.
What is Yotta Savings?
A simple way to explain Yotta Savings is that it is a savings app that has elements of the lottery. Yotta Savings account members are entered into a chance to win a $10 million jackpot and other weekly prizes.
Yotta Savings is basically taking a traditional savings account and adding gamification elements into its savings app. Yotta pays a 0.20% interest, plus you can win prizes on top of that, which enables Yotta Savings to be competitive with the high yield savings accounts out there.
The company leverages modern psychology, which shows that people feel more inclined to do things if there’s a possibility of earning an immediate, tangible reward. When it comes to saving more money, many people do not feel like there’s a tangible benefit in the short term – Yotta Savings aims to change that.
Below we will discuss the main features of Yotta Savings.
Savings Accounts
This is a savings app that offers a solid interest rate of 0.2%. Bank accounts offered by traditional banks typically don’t offer that much. When you combine that with the cash bonus prizes, there are some people who have reported earning as much as 5%!
Keep in mind that the average Yotta Savings app holder will see variations in this.
You can make up to 6 withdrawals from your savings account each month, just like with over bank savings accounts. It takes roughly two to three business days to complete a withdrawal. If you win money from one of their weekly drawings, it is deposited at the end of each week.
One of the big ideas behind personal finance and saving is to make it an automatic habit. With your Yotta account, you can make it easier to save by setting up recurring deposits.
These can be set up weekly, every two weeks, or monthly. Daily deposits and withdrawals are limited to $10,000. There is also a $40,000 monthly limit on deposits and withdrawals.
Buckets
To make it easier to keep track of your financial goals, the Yotta Savings app allows you to segment your savings account into separate “buckets.”
These buckets can be customized to whatever you are saving for, such as an emergency fund. You can also set deadlines for when you want to reach your savings goal.
If things change, it’s easy to move your money from different buckets. With the Yotta Savings app, you can keep track of the progress you make towards your goal at any time.
Get Paid Early
With a Yotta account, if you set up direct deposit, you could possibly get your paycheck up to two days early. With the first paycheck that’s direct deposited, you’ll get 20% bonus tickets for the amount that’s deposited.
For example, if you deposit $1,000, that equals 200 bonus tickets.
For every patch that’s directly deposited after that, you’ll get a 5% bonus ticket on the amount that’s deposited.
Tax Refund Early
Another interesting feature of Yotta is its Tax Refund Boost. According to Yotta’s website, $2,900 is the average tax refund of 74% of Americans.
Yotta Savings allows you to unlock this refund throughout the year with each paycheck.
Other Yotta Offerings
Yotta is currently looking to expand its offerings beyond the Yotta Savings account. Below is a look at what’s coming.
Yotta Debit Card
It appears that Yotta will be launching a checking account soon as their website has a waitlist set up for the Yotta debit card.
They are advertising that the Yotta debit card will require no credit check or maintenance, or monthly fees.
We don’t know if there will be a required minimum balance on this account yet.
The interesting thing about this debit card is that you’ll earn a ticket into weekly number drawings for every $10 you spend. That equates to 10% back on your dollar spent.
Plus, you can earn chances to get your purchases for free.
How Does the Yotta Savings Lottery Work?
You’re probably wondering how the Yotta Savings lottery works. Here is the breakdown:
- Yotta contests occur weekly
- For every $25 you save in your account each week, you receive 1 lottery ticket
- You can pick 7 numbers for each ticket you have
- At 6 pm PST, Yotta will draw a random number
- You win more prize money for each number that matches your ticket
So basically, you are “buying lottery tickets” when you deposit money into your account. The more money you deposit, the more tickets you get.
The prizes range quite a bit. You could get $0.10 for no number matches to $10 million for 7 matches. This process repeats each week.
Did you forget to pick out your numbers? That’s ok. The Yotta app will randomly choose them for you, so you don’t miss out on a chance to win.
Other Notes on the Yotta Savings Lottery
Here’s some more information about the Yotta Savings Lottery that you might be wondering:
- Money that you win through the weekly drawing is deposited into your Yotta Savings account. You can transfer the money from there if you wish.
- The numbers selected from each drawing are totally random. A third-party insurance company that works with Yotta Savings is actually the one that draws the numbers. This “A” rated insurance carrier is not affiliated with Yotta, does not see the numbers that users have selected, and uses a state-of-the-art random number generator for every number drawn.
- Tickets to the weekly drawing can be received with a recurring ticket for every $25 that you deposit.
- One ticket can also be obtained with a handwritten request. Here are the guidelines that Yotta Savings has stated in regard to this: ” “You can receive one (1) Ticket by sending a handwritten sheet of paper with your name, address, e-mail, and phone number to: 45 East 22nd St. #26B New York, NY 10010. For each completed sheet of paper, you will receive one (1) Ticket. If you want to select your own numbers you should include those numbers on the sheet of paper. If you do not provide numbers, they will be randomly provided. Limit of one request per envelope. The entry will award a Ticket for the drawing that starts on the next Monday, after the mail in was received (not postmarked). “
What are my Odds of Winning?
Just as if you buy lotto tickets for the lottery, your odds of winning are small. Take, for example, the odds of winning $10 million by matching all 7 numbers. It’s 1:8,260,307,055, which is over 8 billion.
Despite the odds of winning being skimpy, there isn’t any downside for you to lose.
You aren’t going to lose money if you participate in their weekly drawings.
You don’t pay money to earn tickets to play. So there’s no reason that you shouldn’t participate.
Here is a breakdown of what your odds of matching numbers in the weekly number draws are (without matching Yotta ball, which is the final number):
- 0 out of 6 – 1:1
- 1 out of 6 – 1:3
- 2 out of 6 – 1:14
- 3 out of 6 – 1:160
- 4 out of 6 – 1:4,406
- 5 out of 6 – 1:346,955
- 6 out of 6 – 1:133,230,759
With winning the matching Yotta ball, here are the odds of matching numbers:
- 0 out of 6 – 1:110
- 1 out of 6 – 1:181
- 2 out of 6 – 1:867
- 3 out of 6 – 1:9,913
- 4 out 6 – 1:273,158
- 5 out of 6 – 1:21,511,216
- 6 out of 6- 1:8,260,307,055
Is Yotta Savings Safe?
Yotta Savings isn’t a bank itself. Evolve Bank is the financial institution that actually holds your deposits.
Evolve Bank is FDIC insured for up to $250,000 per account. A Yotta Savings account is also a bank account with Evolve, so you get the security of being FDIC insured.
Yotta doesn’t actually hold your money either. So if the company goes bankrupt, their creditors can’t receive compensation by going after your funds.
In addition, Yotta uses bank-grade encryption to protect your personal data. They use secure SSL channels to transfer your information. This means that hackers have very little chance of hacking into your account.
How to Sign up for Yotta Savings
Like other online banks, Yotta does not have any physical locations that you can open an account.
You can sign up for a Yotta bank account by visiting their webpage, www.withyotta.com. You will need to provide some basic financial information, including your:
- Name
- Birthdate
- Address
- Phone Number
- Social Security
Yotta does not pull your credit as a credit card issuer does. Hence you shouldn’t see an impact on your credit score.
After creating your account, you will need to enter your bank account information. You must have a US-based bank account to make use of Yotta.
You don’t have any restrictions on the bank accounts that can be connected other than it has to be a US-based bank for a regular checking account.
Yotta Savings Pricing
So you get interest rates that are above the national average and the chance to win a lump sum payment. And you get the security of having your money in an FDIC-insured prize-linked savings account.
It is surprising that Yotta Savings is absolutely free to use.
There are no account minimums, minimum deposit requirements, and no monthly fees. You won’t get charged fees for making deposits or withdrawals either.
Yotta Savings Pros
Solid Savings Account
Saving money is made easier with Yotta because you get a good interest rate on your balance.
The minimum rate you’ll get is 0.20%, and then when you tack on the weekly cash bonuses, it’s possible to earn even higher interest rates.
Gamification Elements make it Unique
How many other bank accounts have the gamification aspects offered by Yotta?
They have leveraged the human psyche to help people save money. It is a unique element that you won’t see with other competitors.
Referral Code Bonus
There’s an easy way to improve your numbers. Yotta Savings members can get 100 lottery tickets for free when they refer a friend.
All you have to do is to share your referral code with your friends and family. Although it’s not going to increase the chances of winning the weekly bonuses, it’s a nice incentive to spread the word to your friends.
So if you sign up for Yotta Savings, go ahead and share that referral code and take advantage of the bonuses.
Mobile Access
We are all so busy and on the go these days. To keep up with our personal finances, it is a necessity to have access to your mobile device.
Yotta Savings is a mobile app that’s available for iOS and Android devices. So you can make withdrawals and deposits from the comfort of your fingertips.
No Fees
Having an account that has no fees is especially critical when choosing a savings accounts. You don’t have to worry about a minimum balance, monthly fees, etc.
A Yotta Savings account is completely free, which is nice considering all the fine print attached to a regular banking account.
Yotta Savings Cons
Only Has Mobile
Having a mobile app is a necessity these days. However, lacking a desktop version is a big miss.
Their app works great, so luckily you shouldn’t have any problems using it on a regular basis. But lacking a desktop version means that some people can’t take advantage of opening an account with them.
Doesn’t have a lot of Features
Yotta only offers a saving, so you can’t do other banking services with them.
Checking accounts, CDs, retirement accounts, etc., are currently not offered by Yotta. You’ll have to go somewhere to get these products.
Risk of Interest Rate Drop
Since Yotta Savings is so new to the industry, there is a risk that their model could be changed in the future.
As Yotta Savings gains investors, the lottery rewards potential could change. So interest rates could drop in the long run.
Final Thoughts: Yotta Savings
Yotta Savings offers a truly unique twist to saving money. You’ll earn a decent interest rate on your money, plus a fun enticement to increase your savings.
If the desire to win more money is motivation to kickstart your savings goal, Yotta Savings could be the right account for you. However, if that’s not enough to get you interested or you want access to more services like retirement/investing, then consider other options.
