Zeta Review: Joint Banking For Couples And Families

“Just a natural fact. We come together, cuz opposites attract,” Paula Abdul.

When it comes to love, opposites attract. Unfortunately for most couples, the opposing qualities that brought you together may be the same ones that drive you crazy when it comes to sharing money. 

Even worse, almost every piece of technology that helps with money management is designed for solo use, making it unhelpful for couples. However, a small number of apps, including Zeta Joint Accounts, are starting to make sharing money as a couple and/or family easier.

Should you and your beau start using Zeta to bank together? Here’s what you need to know before you decide.

How Zeta Differs From Other Digital Banking Apps

Like other money management apps, Zeta Joint Accounts has features that make it easy to track income and expenses. Here are some of the other features that make it unique. 

Couple & family focused: Zeta was built and designed with couples and families in mind.

Flexible: Zeta works with your individual accounts or replaces them, so you can manage your shared finances however best suits your needs.

Automation: Zeta’s tools and automation help couples easily set aside money for shared expenses, save for goals and plan out bills. You can let Zeta do more of the work to take the stress out of managing your shared finances.

• Set aside funds for shared expenses with the Bill Reserve, and even let Zeta take care of budgeting for them automatically in the future.
• Save for goals with dedicated subaccounts
• Understand what is remaining after all expenses and goals are planned for with Available to Spend
• Use Spending Trackers to keep tabs on your budget

Communication: In-app messaging allows for seamless communication about specific transactions between partners. The Zeta Concierge is an extra layer of support and educational guidance that’s available around the clock for each and every user. They’ll help you navigate your Zeta account, understand how to leverage new features and products and support you and your team in any and all money moves you make.

Best Features Of Zeta Joint Accounts

While the income and expense tracking features are important, Zeta has a few standout features that make it especially helpful for couples. These are my favorite features as of the time of review.

Free

Zeta costs no money, and right now it’s ad-free.

Bill Reserve

The Bill Reserve is designed to help families keep track of all their bills, when they are due, and functions to budget for them. You can set aside funds for upcoming bills and track which are paid and which are still outstanding. The Bill Reserve uses sub-accounts, like pockets or envelopes, where you can deposit and withdraw funds specifically earmarked for bills. By allocating funds for your bills, Zeta can show you how much money is available to spend once you have paid your bills.

Goals

Goals allow you to divide savings into different buckets within your Zeta Account. Zeta makes it easier to see how you're saving across multiple goals and even help you figure out what you’ll need to save to reach a target date.

Pay Someone

Do you have a large payment to make but aren't sure how? Perhaps you are buying a new car, making a downpayment on a house, or paying the nanny? Zeta has made it easier for users to pay third parties in the app. Send an ACH or check payment for free! You can also send a wire for a small fee.

Cards

Get access to a Zeta Debit Card along with your very own Zeta Virtual Card per user, per account for each Zeta Account! Zeta also supports the Green Dot network of retail stores for cash deposits.

Set Up Budgets

You can set up budgets (both individual and shared budgets) and create goals, a great feature for starting conversations. 

Joint Accounts

This is Zeta's attempt at couples banking. Zeta has partnered with Piermont Bank to offer a joint bank account with two debit cards, that allows each couple to manage their money and goals using Zeta's tools.

With Zeta Joint Cards, couples can merge all or part of their money, irrespective of how they manage things, and split their bills and automate their paychecks toward their goals.

This account provides:

• Two physical and virtual debit cards, one each per account owner
• No monthly account fees or minimums
• Multiplayer functionality, where couples can coordinate and communicate within the app
• Couples can save for goals they share together
• Bill reserve that allows them to track and manage their bills and set money aside
• Fee-free access to over 55,000 ATMs in the Allpoint network

Drawbacks to Zeta Joint Accounts

The biggest drawbacks to Zeta is that it's still a work in progress. New features are being added all the time (which is awesome), but you might not have all the functionality you're looking for to truly make the switch from another platform.

Should You Download Zeta Joint Accounts? 

Managing money as a couple or family can be hard. Zeta does a great job making the difficult job of managing money a little bit easier.

I can recommend Zeta, but before signing up, review all of the features to ensure it has everything you need to manage money on a day-to-day basis.