Is Acorns Safe?
If you have any doubts about how safe Acorns is, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered the key information you need, and here are the details:
Is Acorns Legitimate?
Acorns’ investment business is regulated by both the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These two organizations are America’s securities watchdogs. They oversee securities firms like Acorns and can take action when rules are broken.
Acorns’ FINRA membership ID is 168172 as a broker-dealer. It also has registration as an investment-advisory firm. That ID is 165926. The company’s SEC ID is 8-69294 as a brokerage firm, and its investment-advisory ID is 801-78602.
Acorns is registered in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. It has been registered since 2013 for investment-advisory services and 2014 for brokerage activity.
Bank products offered through Acorns are provided by Lincoln Savings Bank and nbkc bank, both of which are overseen by multiple federal banking regulators.
Is Acorns Insured?
Investment accounts at Acorns are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
This entity provides $500,000 of protection in each separate capacity, which is generally based on the customer’s registration type rather than each individual account.
Bank accounts at Acorns are
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This government agency provides $250,000 of protection on cash balances. Like SIPC coverage, it may be possible to increase this maximum through certain ownership structures, such as joint and retirement accounts.
Acorns Promotion
Get $20 when you open an Acorns account with this referral link.
Acorns Better Business Bureau Ratings
In addition to insurance and regulation, there are consumer watchdog groups that try to evaluate how
companies operate. One of them is the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This organization has a
profile for Acorns that shows an average customer review of 1 out of 5 possible stars. Although that score is low, the number of reviews is limited.
In addition to collecting customer reviews, BBB also gives its own opinion on how a company is
run. In putting together this rating, BBB considers several factors, including the size of the
business, how well the company has handled complaints, and how long it has been operating.
On BBB’s profile for Acorns, we found a grade of A-, a very high score.
Is Acorns Safe Verdict
Acorns accounts are covered under FDIC and SIPC rules, and there
are multiple regulators watching the firm.
Acorns Review
Now that we’ve established Acorns is not a scam, we can look more closely at its financial services.
Investing
Acorns offers automated investing in a limited lineup of exchange-traded funds that hold stocks and bonds. For most customers, there are no other investment products at the firm, although ESG and bitcoin-related options are available. Here are some examples of standard ETFs used in accounts:
- iShares Core US Aggregate Bond Fund (AGG)
- Vanguard S&P 500 Fund (VOO)
- iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock Fund (IXUS)
A computer program decides which specific ETFs an account will hold, so this is a very hands-off investment firm. Some customers, but not all, can add individual stocks to a sub-account that makes up as much as 30% of the total portfolio.
Robo accounts, like other accounts, must be opened with some kind of tax structure. Acorns offers individual taxable accounts, custodial accounts, and retirement accounts. It does not offer other registrations, including joint accounts.
Banking
Although the first category was a bit limited, Acorns does much better when it comes to cash management. Every investing account is eligible to open a linked checking account that comes with FDIC protection and a metal debit card. It can be used fee-free at an ATM network with roughly 55,000 machines.
Acorns also offers round-ups with the card that use spare change to make extra investments in the
linked robo account. And
Acorns Earn can be used to earn bonus investments simply by shopping with more than 15,000 participating retailers.
Although there is no physical checkbook with Acorns’ cash account, digital checks are available. A
final feature we really like is paycheck splitting, which sends part of a direct deposit into the linked investing account.
Although the checking account is quite strong, Acorns offers still another feature. It has something called
the Emergency Fund. It is basically a savings account that pays a higher rate of interest. Right now, that’s
3.35% APY
compared to the checking account’s 2.57%, at least for some customers.
Pricing
Notice that we’ve been saying for some customers. There is one very important requirement at Acorns: there’s a monthly fee to sign up for the company’s hybrid investing-banking service. There are three packages available:
Bronze: $3 per month
Silver: $6 per month
Gold: $12 per month
The interest rate on the savings accounts noted in the previous section are
only available on Silver and Gold subscriptions, as is the Emergency Fund itself. Bronze plan includes Acorns Checking. The Gold
plan is the only one that includes stock investing in the sub-account.
All three subscriptions include IRAs, taxable investing accounts, and checking accounts. There is no additional annual percentage-based fee for the robo service, which is unusual in the industry.
Silver and Gold subscribers receive matches from Acorns, up to 50%, on their bonus investments through Acorns Earn. They also get live question-and-answer sessions with investing experts.
Gold clients receive life insurance and a free last will and testament at no added charge. The Gold plan also includes children’s accounts, including custodial investing accounts and a debit card for kids.
Mobile App
The Acorns mobile app is where nearly everything happens, and there isn’t a lot of activity because, as already mentioned, this is mainly a robo firm. Even so, the app does include some useful tools. During our review, we found a large amount of educational content in the app by tapping the Learning tab in the bottom menu. There is also another area for Earning. There, it is easy to browse tiles showing all sorts of bonus investments for shopping with participating companies. Here are some example offers we found:
H&R Block (up to 5% back)
Blue Apron ($40 back)
Adidas (5% back)
Throughout the Acorns app, there are many ads for other services the company offers. We found tiles for round-ups, features for children, and milestones to help track an account’s financial journey at Acorns.
Website
Acorns’ website mostly mirrors the tools on the mobile app. In fact, the site has the same menu options. One feature found on both platforms that is a little easier to use on the website is the View Potential tool. This feature shows in graphic form whether an account is on track for retirement based on recurring investments.
Additional Services
Extended Hours: Trades inside robo accounts at Acorns are placed during the regular market session.
Fractional-share Trading: Acorns does use fractional shares in its automated accounts.
IRA Service: SEP, Roth, and Traditional accounts are available at Acorns with any monthly subscription.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: Acorns includes a DRIP in its investing service.
Awards
Acorns Review Judgment
Despite the flat monthly fee, larger accounts can still get good value at Acorns.
Visit Acorns
Visit Acorns Website
Updated on 3/25/2026.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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