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Home » Banking » Bank Reviews » Yotta Review 2023

Yotta Review 2023

Updated: December 30, 2022 By Robert Farrington

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At The College Investor, we want to help you navigate your finances. To do this, many or all of the products featured here may be from our partners. This doesn’t influence our evaluations or reviews. Our opinions are our own. Any investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. The College Investor does not offer investment advisor or brokerage services, nor does it recommend buying or selling particular stocks, securities, or other investments. Learn more here.Advertiser Disclosure

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Yotta Savings Review

The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that Americans spend over $71 billion per year on lotto tickets for an average expenditure per adult of $285.

And what are the odds of winning? Well, Mega Millions says that the odds of winning its jackpot are just over 1 in 300 million. Meanwhile, your odds of getting struck by lightning this year are "just" 1 in 500,000 according to the CDC.

So, yes, lottery players are much more likely to get struck by lightning this year than to earn a big payday on the $285 they spent on tickets. Instead of throwing that money away, they could have put it into a high-yield savings account. The problem is that saving isn’t nearly as exciting as winning the jackpot.

Yotta may have an answer for those who love the thrill of playing the lottery but are also eager to stop flushing money down the toilet. What if just choosing to save could enter you into a sweepstakes that offers serious cash rewards? That's exactly what Yotta offers. Here's how it works.


Yotta Prize-Linked Savings

Quick Summary

  • No fees and only a $5 minimum balance required
  • 0.20% base rewards rate
  • Can’t-lose sweepstakes to win additional cash prizes
OPEN AN ACCOUNT

Yotta Savings Details

Product Name

Yotta Savings

Min Balance

$5

Base Rewards Rate

0.20%

Weekly Cash Prizes

$0.01 to $10 million

Promotions

100 bonus tickets for each friends you refer

Table of Contents
Who Is Yotta?
What Do They Offer?
Are There Any Fees?
How Do I Open An Account?
Is My Money Safe?
Is It Worth It?

Who Is Yotta?

Yotta is a fintech that offers an alternative interest rate structure on savings. Yotta was founded in October of 2019 by Adam Moelis and Ben Doyle. It's based in New York City. The company has raised $16.6 million through a Series A round.

Yotta's business model was inspired by the UK's Premium Bonds program. In 1956, the UK government started selling bonds that didn't pay any interest. Instead, bondholders were entered into a lottery-like system to win cash prizes. While Yotta follows the Premium Bonds model, it uses a slightly different setup since Yotta does pay a small amount of interest on deposits. 

But, returning to Premium Bonds for a moment, did the potential to win prizes encourage people to save? Actually, yes it did! Over 23 million people so far have participated in savings through the program. To learn more about the success of Premium Bonds, you can check out this Freakonomics podcast episode which highlights the program.

What Do They Offer?

Yotta is not a bank, but a FinTech or neoBank that leverages an underlying bank with their technology on top. In Yotta's case, banking services are provided through Evolve Bank. 

Instead of earning cash interest, savers earn a small amount of interest plus cash-based prizes through Yotta's lottery ticket system. Yotta account holders do everything through the Yotta mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS.

Learn more about prize-linked savings accounts >>>

Earning Tickets

Every $25 deposited up to $10,000 earns one recurring ticket each week. And every $150 above $10,000 earns you a ticket. So someone with a $10,000 balance would earn 400 tickets per week.

If you set up direct deposit, you’ll also get paid up to 2 days early and get 5% bonus tickets on your paychecks. 

Every night at 9PM ET, a number is drawn. At the end of the week, the more numbers you have matched on your tickets, the more you win. It is similar to the powerball, but with Yotta, customers don't lose any money. Picking numbers is done by a third-party insurance company.

Savings Rewards

Multiple outlets have tried to calculate what the "average" person could expect to earn with Yotta in rewards. Some claim it has an "effective savings rate" of 1.5% - 2%.

That doesn’t mean you’ll automatically earn 1.5% - 2% interest on your deposits however. Yotta's base savings reward is 0.20%. Effective rate calculations factor in both the base rewards + prize winnings from lottery tickets.

Yotta's weekly prizes range from $0.10 to $10 million. And that includes partial ticket matches, which do pay out small amounts of money.

Yotta Savings Rewards

Picking Ticket Numbers

Each lottery ticket must be filled in. If you have a lot of tickets, it can take a while to fill them out. As we already mentioned, depositing $10,000 would produce 400 weekly tickets. 

Who has the time to fill out numbers on 400 tickets? Thankfully, Yotta has a simple solution to quickly fill out a lot of tickets. Just select auto fill and all of your tickets will be filled in with random numbers.

Picking Yotta ticket numbers

Partial Matches

It isn’t necessary to match every number on a lottery ticket to win a prize. Partial matches will still earn money and go toward increasing your effective savings rate (i.e., anything above 0.20%). Below are a few examples of the prizes that it offers for partial matches:

Matching Yotta Ball

Matching Numbers

Prize

Odds

Yes

0 of 6

$0.10/ticket

1:110

Yes

1 of 6

$0.15/ ticket

1:181

Yes

2 of 6

$0.75/ticket

1:867

Yes

3 of 6

$10/ticket

1:9,913

No

3 of 6

$0.15/ticket

1:160

No

4 of 6

$7/ticket

1:4,406

No

5 of 6

$3,000

1:346,955

Pool Play

Pool Play allows you to pool tickets together from different people and increase your odds of winning. This is similar to an office lottery pool where employees pool together their tickets in case someone has the winning ticket. They then distribute the winnings to everyone in the pool.

Yotta Pool Play

Debit Card

Yotta has a Mastercard debit card. And, you guessed it, you’ll earn tickets for using it. For every $10 spent, you’ll earn one ticket towards the next week’s drawing.

You’ll also have up to a 1 in 100 chance to win the item you just bought for free. If you can spend $2,000 in the first four months of opening an account, you’ll also earn 1,000 bonus tickets.

Cardholders will also be automatically upgraded to a premium metal card once they've made 10 referrals. Customers can use the Yotta Debit Card today in the mobile app.

Yotta debit card

Withdrawal Limits

You’re limited to six withdrawals during a statement period. This limit is standard across banks. Additionally, the following dollar limits apply:

  • $10,000 per day
  • $40,000 per month
  • $100,000 per year

Referral Program

Yotta customers can use their referral code to earn an extra 100 bonus tickets. The person you are referring will also earn 100 bonus tickets.

Are There Any Fees?

Yotta does not charge a monthly service fee. There are also no minimum deposit or overdraft fees but there is a minimum balance requirement of $5 at the end of each month.

Yotta also has a network of ATMs that you can see within the app that allow for free withdrawals.

Header
Yotta Savings Comparison
Yotta Savings Comparison: CIT Bank
Yotta Savings Comparison: Axos Bank

Rating

Interest Rate

0.20%

4.05%

Up to 0.61%

Monthly Fees

$0

$0

$0

Min Deposit

$0

$100

$250

ATM Access

55,000 Fee-Free ATMs

Fee Refunds

(Up to $30/month)

Fee Refunds

(Unlimited)

FDIC Insured

Cell
OPEN ACCOUNT
READ THE REVIEW
READ THE REVIEW

How Do I Open An Account?

You can visit the Yotta website to open an account. You'll need your date of birth, phone number, street address, and social security number. The information requested by Yotta is similar to what you'll find on most banking applications.

Is My Money Safe?

Yes — deposited funds have “pass-through” FDIC insurance up to $250,000. Pass-through FDIC insurance is not technically the same as direct FDIC insurance that depositors get at most large banks. For practical purposes, though, they are basically the same.

As long as Yotta continues to meet the pass-through requirements, depositors will be protected. Yotta uses Plaid to link your bank account to the app which is an industry-standard service.

Is It Worth It?

Yes, the base rewards rate at Yotta is already nearly 3x higher than the national average interest rate on savings accounts. Plus, those who can deposit several thousand dollars will earn quite a few lottery tickets which could lead to a much higher effective rewards rate. 

But perhaps the biggest potential benefit of Yotta is that it could simply make the act of savings fun. And if the potential to earn prizes would motivate you to increase your savings rate, that's a huge win in and of itself.

There really isn't any major drawback to using Yotta. There are no account minimums or fees. But if if participating in weekly drawings doesn't sound like your thing, you may be better off looking for a traditional savings account that offers a higher base interest rate. See our favorite high-yield savings accounts >>>

Account Types

Savings

Minimum Deposit

$0

Base Rewards Rate

0.20%

Weekly Prizes

$0.01 to $10 million

Tickets Earned Per Dollar Saved

Up to $10,000: One weekly ticket per $25 

Above $10,000: One weekly ticket per $150

Tickets Earned Per Dollar Spent (Using the Yotta Debit Card)

1 ticket per $10

Maintenance Fees

None

Overdraft Fees

None

Withdrawal Frequency Limit

6 times per month

Withdrawal Amount Limit

  • $10,000 per day
  • $40,000 per month
  • $100,000 per year

Branches

None (online-only)

ATM Availability

55,000 Fee-Free ATMs

Customer Service Number

(844) 945-3449

Customer Service Email

support@withyotta.com

Mobile App Availability

iOS and Android

FDIC Certificate

1299 (through Evolve Bank & Trust)

Promotions

100 bonus tickets for each friend you refer

Yotta Review
  • Rewards Rate
  • Fees and Charges
  • Customer Service
  • Ease of Use
  • Tools and Resources
  • Products and Services
Overall
4

Summary

Yotta is a mobile app that pays monthly savings rewards to its customers and also gives them the chance to win weekly prizes.

Pros

  • No monthly fees or account minimums
  • Free weekly lottery to win prizes
  • Always pays a 0.20% base rewards rate

Cons

  • The base rate isn’t the highest available
  • Doesn’t offer desktop account access (coming soon)
  • Open An Account
Robert Farrington
Robert Farrington

Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page, or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.

He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.

He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.

Yotta Review 2023

Editor: Clint Proctor Reviewed by: Claire Tak

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Comment Policy: We invite readers to respond with questions or comments. Comments may be held for moderation and are subject to approval. Comments are solely the opinions of their authors'. The responses in the comments below are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any company. It is not anyone's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
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