Current: The fintech company offering a 4.00% bonus on up to $6,000 worth of savings

Editor's Note: This story first published in August 2022.

Some offers mentioned below are no longer available.

With inflation at a record-high level of 8.3%, consumers hoping to earn more on their deposits should consider stowing their money in places besides traditional checking or savings accounts. A financial technology company Current is offering consumers a 4.00% bonus on up to $6,000 worth of savings, surpassing the interest rates offered by many traditional banks.

In contrast, the average annual percentage yield on a traditional savings account is a measly 0.13%, according to Depositaccounts.com. While the Current account bonus doesn't keep pace with the inflation rate, it's still more than 30 times the average APY on traditional savings accounts.

Below, CNBC Select looks into Current's many features to help you figure out whether it's a good fit for your financial needs.

The financial technology company was founded in 2015 by former Morgan Stanley foreign exchange trader Stuart Sopp. Current provides an entirely online banking service, offering several products — a debit card and a bank account in addition to various budgeting tools — through an app, which is available via the App store and Google Play.

The company's primary product, however, is its bank account and savings pods, which are free* for consumers. Note that Current does not perform a credit check when you apply, but instead uses your social security number to verify your identity.

Those who sign up for Current are given an account and access to three virtual savings pods. Each savings pod earns up to a 4.00% bonus and can hold up to $2,000. The bonuses are credited to your savings pods within 48 hours of turning on the feature, and on a daily basis thereafter, as long as your account has accrued a boost bonus of at least $0.01. To earn the bonus, you must have at least one eligible payroll deposit of $200 and have a total sum of eligible payroll deposits of $500 or more over a 35-day period.

If you're interested in maximizing the amount of bonus you can receive from Current, you'll want to deposit $2,000 in each of your savings pods to ensure you earn the $240 over the year.

Even popular high-yield savings accounts don't offer interest rates as high as 4%. For example, Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Ally Online Savings Account, both of which Select ranked among the best high-yield savings accounts, only provide a 3.40% and 3.00% APY respectively, as of press time.

While consumers are typically restricted to making six withdrawals per month or per statement cycle with high-yield saving accounts through Regulation D, the Federal Reserve has temporarily lifted this restriction due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since Current is not technically considered to be a savings account, however, it is not subject to the confines of Regulation D.

With Current, customers only need to transfer money from their savings pods to their spending balance in order to access it. They're also able to make unlimited withdrawals from that balance.

Current is FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Choice Financial Group, Member FDIC.

A number of features, such as round-up, Overdrive™ and faster direct deposit, are available through Current. Round-up works similarly to offerings on apps like Oportun Set & Save or Acorns, which automatically round-up your purchases to the nearest dollar and allocate the difference toward your various savings goals, in this case by placing the money in a savings pod or giving pod.

Current also offers what it calls giving pods through its teen accounts, allowing teens to donate funds to an organization of their choice instead of saving for their individual goals via savings pods. Teen accounts include the app as well as a debit card. Parents can transfer money into these accounts, monitor retailers their teens are shopping with, block certain merchants and set spending limits.

Regular Current accounts also come with a Visa Debit card, which provides rewards — in the form of Current points — with select retailers. You can earn up to 15X Current points at brands such as Family Dollar, 7-11, Subway and KFC, among others. Current points can be redeemed in the Current Shop, although the company does not publicly disclose which items are available through it.

Since Current is an entirely online fintech service, customers won't be able to go into brick-and-mortar locations to withdraw or deposit their money. If you want to withdraw money without paying fees, you'll have to find an Allpoint® ATM — you can use the app to locate available ATMs within your vicinity. If you don't use an Allpoint ATM, you'll have to pay an extra $2.50 in fees in addition to the ATM operator charge.

Current has no overdraft fees**, and you won't need to meet any minimum balance or minimum deposit requirements in order to open an account. 

Another benefit of Current is faster and easier access to liquidity. Current account members can get their direct deposit up to two days earlier, while qualified members are able to overdraft up to $200 without paying overdraft fees — this particular perk starts with users being allowed to overdraft $25 and may be increased based on a variety of factors.

Current is a good choice for consumers looking to earn some extra cash on their deposits. While you're only able to save up to $6,000 in total ($2,000 per savings pod), the 4.00% bonus stands out in comparison to offers from other high-yield savings accounts, traditional savings and checking accounts.

While Current's other offerings, such as its debit card and faster direct deposit feature, can be useful to help you rack up rewards or let you receive your cash earlier, the real value in having an account is the bonus you'll earn from your savings pods. Current doesn't disclose much about which retailers you'll be able to earn points with or what you can redeem points for, so if you're looking to earn rewards, you might be better off opting for a cash-back or travel credit card with a more transparent program.

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*Fees may apply, including out of network cash withdrawal fees, third-party fees, cash load fees, inactivity fees, account closure fees, international transaction fees, replacement card fees, express mail fees and escheatment fees.

**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 Eligible Direct Deposits into your Current Account over the preceding 35-day period and fulfill other requirements subject to Current's discretion. Negative balances must be repaid within 60 days of the first Eligible Transaction that caused the negative balance. For more information, please refer to Fee-free Overdraft Terms and Conditions (https://current.com/overdraft_protection_terms_of_service/). Individual Current Accounts only.