You’ve probably noticed that your bank doesn’t allow you to trade crypto or precious metals. At best, they may have a brokerage service for trading stocks.
But if you want to trade crypto, you’ll have to open an account at a cryptocurrency exchange. Also want to trade precious metals? Once again, you’ll probably need to seek out a specialized broker.
That all certainly seems like a lot of work and quite a few logins. It seems like someone would have come up with an easier way to trade all of these asset classes. Actually, someone has, and the company's name is Unifimoney.
In this article, we’ll see how Unifimoney brings together banking, investing, crypto, precious metals, and lending into one platform.
Quick Summary
- All-in-one financial platform
- Earn 0.20% on checking account deposits
- Invest in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and precious metals
Unifimoney Details | |
|---|---|
Product Name | Unifimoney |
Services | Checking, self-directed and robo stock market investing, cryptocurrency and precious metals trading, loans, HSAs, car insurance |
Min Deposit | $100 |
Fees | Vary by services used |
Promotions | Get up to a $5,000 Bitcoin reward |
Who Is Unifimoney?
Unifimoney is an all-in-one financial platform that was started in March 2019 and is based in San Francisco, California. Its founders are Ben Soppitt and Edward Cortis. The company has raised $1.6 million through seed funding. Unifimoney is a licensed New York trust company regulated by the NY Department of Financial Services.
“We believe that for the majority of people, robo financial advice, delivered at very low cost and providing a range of diversified funds is the best investment platform approach,” Soppitt wrote in a blog post, as noted by Fintech Futures.
“With small investments made frequently, spreading market timing risk. Unifimoney does this for you with transaction rounding, cashback, deposit interest and a monthly contribution all being made for you into the investment account.”
What Do They Offer?
Unifimoney targets the mass affluent and wants to provide them with a one-stop financial shop for all of their investing and lending needs. To make this happen, Unifimoney offers all of the following on one platform:
All of these financial products are not creations of Unifimoney. Instead, Unifimoney utilizes a number of third parties, which we’ll discuss shortly.
Given all of its offerings, Unifimoney targets the mass affluent, which is made up of those with $100,000 to $1 million in liquid assets. Below, we take a closer look at just a few its many available products.
Checking
While Unifimoney is not a bank, it's able to provide checking account features through its partnership with UMB Bank (member FDIC). These accounts pay 0.20% APY and come with the following features:
- Visa debit card
- Bill pay
- Free cash withdrawals at Allpoint ATMs
- Remote check deposit
- Checkbook option
The minimum deposit to open a Unifimoney high-yield checking account is $100.
You can avoid paying a monthly fee by direct depositing at least $6,000 into your account per month or keeping a minimum balance of at least $35,000. Unfortunately, Unifimoney doesn't say how much you'll pay per month in fees if you don't meet either of these requirements.
Investing
Unifimoney's investment products include:
For stock market investors, it's important to note that you can't buy or sell mutual funds with Unifimoney. However, it does support fractional share investing starting at just $1.
Precious metals products are available as whole bars and coins. You can buy gold fractionally in dollar increments. Home delivery and secure storage are also available.
Rather than keeping money in cash for relatively low interest, Unifymoney pushes you to invest it. Once on the platform, you are surrounded by options to invest money rather than just keep it in a checking account.
Lending
In addition to investment products, Unifimoney has several lending products, including:
Unifimoney's student loan refinancing product is powered by Lendkey. Customers can refinance up to $250,000 and receive a 1% refinance bonus ($2,500 maximum).
Deposit And Referral Bonuses
Some banks offer a cash bonus for depositing a certain amount within a specific time frame once the account has been opened. But by offering a Bitcoin bonus, Unifimoney provides the opportunity to potentially earn even more for signing up (assuming Bitcoin increases in value).
Here are their current bonus offers:
Deposit | Bitcoin Reward | Holding Period |
|---|---|---|
$1,000 | $25 | 30 days |
$10,000 | $100 | 30 days |
$20,000 | $250 | 90 days |
$50,000 | $500 | 90 days |
$100,000 | $1,000 | 90 days |
$250,000 | $2,500 | 90 days |
$500,000 | $5,000 | 90 days |
You’ll need to deposit these minimums within 14 days of opening the account and maintain it for at least 30 days. You’ll also earn $25 in Bitcoin for each person who you refer to Unifimoney.
Third-Party Services
Connections to your bank are made through Plaid, which is an industry-standard. Investment advisory services are provided by Unifimoney RIA, Inc., an SEC-registered investment advisor. DriveWealth, LLC provides brokerage services. DriveWealth is a registered broker-dealer, member of FINRA and SIPC.
Automated/robo investing is made possible by TenjinAI. TenjinAI is a robo-advisory product offered by QuantelAI, Inc. QuantelAI is not an SEC-registered investment advisor, nor a registered broker-dealer. Cryptocurrency investing is powered by Gemini.
Are There Any Fees?
Yes - there are fees for robo-investing (0.15% to 0.30% advisory fee), trading cryptocurrencies, and precious metals. Self-directed stock and ETF trades are commission-free.
We were disappointed to find a general lack of transparency regarding Unifimoney's pricing. For precious metals trading, it simply says that "Trading fees are already embedded in the price." And its cryptocurrencies page doesn't even mention fees at all.
As we previously mentioned, checking account customers are also charged a fee if they don't meet the minimum balance or activity requirements. Again, this fee doesn't appear to be publicly disclosed.
How Do I Open An Account?
You can visit the Unifimoney website to get started with Unifimoney. Once there, you'll directed to download the company's iPhone app. Unfortunately, an Android app hasn't been developed yet and there's no way to sign up online either. This means that currently only iPhone owners can open a Unifimoney account.
Header | |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
Rating | |||
Min Deposit | $100 | $0 | $0 |
Cash Accounts | |||
Stocks and ETFs | |||
Mutual Funds | |||
Cryptocurrency | |||
Precious Metals | |||
Cell |
Is My Money Safe?
Yes, Unifimoney's checking accounts are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per account through UMB Bank. It's SIPC protected (through DriveWealth) for up to $500,000, with a limit of $250,000 for cash.
Is It Worth It?
If you trade equities, crypto, and precious metals and want to do so on the same platform as your banking, Unifimoney may be what you’re looking for. And if you're a believer in cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin reward bonus could also be a big draw.
But you can't use Unifimoney yet if you're an Android user. And even if you have an iPhone, you'll want to get more clarity on the company's fees before making it the one-stop-shop for your finances.
If it turns out that the fees are high, you might be better off keeping your investing and banking accounts separate. Below you'll find lists of some of our favorite account options in a few categories.
Unifimoney Features
Services | Checking, self-directed and robo stock market investing, cryptocurrency and precious metals trading, loans, HSAs, car insurance |
Minimum Deposit | $100 |
APY | 0.20% |
Requirement To Waive Checking Account Monthly Fee |
|
Monthly Fee On Checking Accounts | Unclear |
Branches | None (online-only accounts) |
Debit Card Access | Yes |
ATM Availability | 55,000+ fee-free ATMs nationwide within the Allpoint ATM network |
Remote Check Deposits | Yes |
Bill Pay | Yes |
Robo-Advisory Fee |
|
Trade Commissions |
|
Supported Cryptocurrencies | 30+ |
Precious Metals Available To Trade |
|
Customer Service Number | 415-964-5877 |
Customer Service Email | info@unifi.money |
Mobile App Availability | iOS |
Desktop Access | No |
FDIC Certificate | 4580 (through UMB Bank) |
Promotions | Get up to a $5,000 Bitcoin reward |
Unifimoney Review
-
Commissions and Fees
-
APY On Deposits
-
Products and Services
-
Investment Options
-
Customer Service
Overall
Summary
Unifimoney is an all-in-one financial platform that offers high-yield checking, a wide variety of investments, loan products, and more.
Pros
- Save, invest, and spend in the same app
- Checking account pays interest
- Diversified menu of investments
- Large fee-free ATM network
Cons
- Not the most transparent about fees
- $100 minimum deposit
- Doesn’t offer mutual fund trading
- Not available to Android users
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.
Editor: Clint Proctor