Dave App Review: Cash Advances And More

Dave is a fintech app that features a spending account, a debit card, access to early direct deposit, and more. 

Everybody hates seeing their spending account inch towards $0 as they approach their next pay day. Not only does it mean discretionary expenses are out the window, but the ever-decreasing balance might also cause some financial anxiety.

Will a forgotten subscription suddenly lead to insufficient funds? Will you have to put just $5.00 worth of gas in my car to get to and from work one more day? If you're someone who could benefit from more of a cash cushion, the Dave app could be a good fit. 

What Is the Dave App?

Dave is a fintech app that features a spending account as well as up to $500 in interest-free cash advances if you qualify. There are no hidden fees. All you do have to pay is a small monthly membership fee.

In addition, when you connect your external debit card to the Dave app, it will automatically create a budget for you. The budget can help you predict whether you’ll run short on cash before your next payday.

What Does It Offer? 

Dave is a fintech app featuring banking services with no hidden fees. The core product is the Dave Spending Account, which is a non-interest-bearing demand deposit account you can use to hold deposits and make payments and transfers between accounts. 

The Dave ExtraCash™ Account allows members to build an emergency fund up to $500, and when needed,  take their account negative up to $500 by taking an ExtraCash™ advance, if you qualify.

Many don’t need to look too far into the past to remember a day when they couldn’t afford the gas in their car to get to work. Maybe you had a credit card to rely on. But many low-income Americans don’t have access to credit, so a $500 cash advance could be the difference between getting to work and losing their job.

The Best Features in Dave

Dave’s ExtraCash™ advance feature is its best feature if you qualify. However, the automatic budgeting feature is a close second.

Unfortunately, if you’ve got irregular pay periods, Dave may not do a great job predicting your account balance. But people with predictable pay schedules can benefit from Dave’s budgeting feature. The prediction feature can help you figure out when you’ll run out of money. Ideally, that will give you a little bit of extra time to make some extra cash.

How Much Does Dave Cost?

Dave costs $1 per month, which entitles you to up to a $500 cash advance if you qualify. If you want the cash advance to be delivered within eight hours, you’ll have to pay an express fee based on your advance amount.

Where Dave Doesn’t Shine

The one area where Dave doesn’t shine is in its pricing structure. The $1/month fee might not be worth it if you never need the cash advance feature. However, by connecting your debit card to Dave, you may be able to eliminate your $1 fee by shopping at preferred merchants.

If you’re a frequent user of overdraft at your current bank, the fees for which can be more than $30, Dave's $1/month fee will help you avoid these fees. You can use the money you once spent on overdraft fees to build an emergency fund. 

Note that Dave is a mediocre substitute for an emergency fund or a credit card. A credit card allows you to float expenses for up to 30 days, which could give you an opportunity to “borrow” money without paying any interest (provided you pay your card in full each month).

Dave Alternatives

In the last few years, Dave has faced competitors in the digital banking and cash advance space. All of the different options offer variations of banking and cash advance services - many for a monthly fee.

See how Dave compares with Empower and Earnin below:

Why Should You Trust Us?

We have been following the growing space of cash advance apps since they first emerged about 5 years ago. Since then, we've reviewed and tested many of the cash advance apps in the marketplace - as well as followed the news and controversies that have surrounded several of these products.

Along with cash advance apps, we've also reviewed and compared many of the alternatives, including personal loans and tax advance loans.

Furthermore, our compliance team regularly reviews the companies in this comparison to ensure that all rates and terms are accurate. 

Should You Download Dave?

If you anticipate needing a cash advance, it makes sense to download Dave. It costs $1/month, which is where my hesitation comes in. Then again, if you’re frequently using overdraft fees of $30 or more to cover budget shortfalls, Dave makes perfect sense for you.