The Gusto spending account is an interest-bearing bank account designed to help employees seamlessly connect payday and banking, so they can access their hard-earned wages confidently and quickly.1
The spending account works like a traditional checking account, but better. If an employee chooses to set up direct deposit to their spending account, they can get paid up to 2 days faster.2 They can also receive incoming ACH deposits (like tax refunds), set up bill pay, link external bank accounts to transfer funds in and out, and even transfer funds instantly from their spending account to one of their personal debit cards.3 And lastly, with an APY4 of 1.00%, employees earn interest on the money kept in their spending account.
Once an employee activates their spending card, they can also access financial wellness tools right from their Gusto account. They can create monthly budgeting goals, have transactions automatically assigned to personalized budgeting categories, and review dynamic spending insights that inform them of their spending habits over time.
Once an employee opens a spending account, they can start using their card immediately by adding it to their Apple Pay® or Google Pay™ mobile wallet.8 Physical Gusto debit cards are mailed via USPS and should be received within 10–14 business days of opening the spending account.
If your team is interested in setting up a Gusto spending account or savings goal,1 follow the steps below to turn on Cash Accounts for employees.1
Turning on Gusto Cash Accounts for your employees does not require any ongoing work, and has no impact on your payroll schedule, bookkeeping, or taxes. Employers are not responsible for anything beyond their normal day-to-day people operations.
Here’s how to activate Cash Accounts, so your team can sign up for the Gusto spending account and debit card:2
The next time your employees sign in to Gusto, they’ll see a new Wallet tab in the left menu. They can follow the steps below to sign up for a Gusto spending account, or sign up to start setting aside money with savings goals.
To be eligible to enroll in Cash Accounts, employees must meet the following eligibility criteria:
For privacy and regulatory reasons, information about an employee’s Cash Accounts eligibility can only be discussed with that employee and cannot be discussed with administrators, employers, or managers within a company.
Employees can follow the steps below to learn how the spending account works and sign up for a Gusto debit card.2
You’ll receive a Gusto debit card to access funds in your spending account. Your Gusto debit card will be mailed to you via USPS within 10–14 business days of opening the spending account.
In the meantime, you can link a virtual debit card to Apple Pay®or Google Pay™3 directly from the Gusto Wallet mobile app. Click into the Spending account from the Wallet mobile app, you can scroll down on that page and click Add Gusto card to Apple/Google Wallet. Once linked, you can use that for purchases with compatible merchants until you receive your physical card in the mail.
You can manage bank accounts, request a new card, access monthly statements, and more from the Wallet tab of your Gusto account or in the Gusto Wallet mobile app.
Once you receive and activate your debit card, you can access financial wellness tools right from Gusto. You can create monthly budgeting goals, have transactions automatically assigned to personalized budgeting categories, and review dynamic spending insights to track your spending habits over time.
Eligibility
To qualify, you must have a Gusto Spending Account and set it as your payment method.4 Savings Goal accounts are not eligible for Early Pay.
How early you can get paid
How early you can receive your paycheck is determined by your employer’s payroll processing speed.2 This speed may vary from payroll to payroll, without notice. Employees cannot modify this setting.
If your employer selects a 4-day payroll processing speed, any funds auto-deposited into your Gusto Spending Account should arrive 2 business days sooner than the scheduled payday. If your employer follows any other payroll processing speed, you may receive your funds up to 1 day early, but it is not guaranteed. Ask your employer if you’d like to know what payroll processing speed they use.
The Gusto spending account does not have account or minimum balance fees, and for standard ACH transfers, there are no transfer fees or restrictions on how often funds can be withdrawn or deposited to an account.6 Eligible employees may instantly transfer funds from their spending account to another debit card, with a small fee and a transfer limit.
Overdraft fee | $0 |
Minimum balance fee | $0 |
Monthly account service fee | $0 |
ACH bank transfer fee | $0 |
ACH withdrawal limit | $5,000/day $25,000/month |
ACH deposit limit | $1,500/day |
New debit card fee | $0 |
Debit card replacement fee | $0 |
Foreign transaction fee | 0%* *Gusto reimburses the 1% transaction fee that is applied to any foreign transactions |
ATM fee (in-network) | $0 |
ATM fee (out-of-network) | $2.50* *Gusto charges a $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee in addition to any fees charged by the ATM or ATM operator. |
ATM withdrawal limit | $510/day |
Daily spend limit | $2,000/day |
Instant Transfer fee | 1.75% fee (min $0.30, max $35.00) deducted from transfer amount Fee not applicable for transfers to savings goals Funds are generally accessible immediately, however, network disruptions may delay availability, typically no longer than 30 minutes. |
Instant Transfer withdrawal limit | $2,000/day $15,000/month 2 withdrawals/day |
New debit card fee | $0 |
Debit card replacement fee | $0 |
Foreign transaction fee | 0%* *Gusto reimburses the 1% transaction fee that is applied to any foreign transactions |
ATM fee (in-network) | $0 |
ATM fee (out-of-network) | $2.50* *Gusto charges a $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee in addition to any fees charged by the ATM or ATM operator. |
ATM withdrawal limit | $510/day |
Daily card spend limit | $2,000/day |
With the Gusto debit card, employees have access to cash withdrawals at over 32,000 fee-free ATMs nationwide.
To find an in-network ATM, employees can navigate to the MoneyPass network ATM locator and enter their ZIP code. To use an ATM, an employee must have their physical debit card with them—the virtual debit card in Apple Pay® or Google Pay does not provide access to funds at an ATM.
If a Gusto debit card is used at an out-of-network ATM, Gusto will charge the employee a fee of $2.50 in addition to the ATM fee charged by the third-party ATM operator.6
The daily ATM cash withdrawal limit is $510. Note: the Gusto debit card does not support ATM cash deposits.
The Gusto spending account earns interest at a rate of 1.00% APY.5 Earnings are added to the account balance at the end of each calendar month.
Monthly account statements are available to review and download from the Wallet tab of the Gusto employee dashboard or the Gusto Wallet mobile app. Monthly statements are available within 5 business days after the end of each month.
If an employee earns $10 or more of interest in a given tax year, Gusto Wallet will generate a 1099 statement to reflect the amount of interest earned. You can download it from your Wallet app.
Gusto is committed to maximizing the APY offered on the Gusto spending account, but note that the APY can fluctuate as the economy changes.
Transfer limits
Gusto's spending accounts support inbound and outbound electronic fund transfers and ACH deposits, such as direct deposit payments and income tax refunds. Gusto spending accounts do not support wire transfers.
Daily transfer limits for the Gusto spending account:
Transfer timelines
When you request a transfer, here’s when you can expect the money to be available.
Follow these steps to initiate a transfer from the spending account:
Cancel a standard ACH transfer
You can void an ACH transfer before the daily cut-off time at 1pm PT. This means if you initiate a transfer after the 1pm cut-off time Wednesday at 4pm PT, you have until the next day on Thursday at 1pm PT to void it.
Here’s how to void an ACH transfer:
Cancel an Instant Transfer
At this time, Instant Transfers cannot be canceled once they’re initiated.
Employees can link an external bank account to their Gusto spending account to transfer funds between accounts. For security reasons, employees can link one external bank account at a time and can use up to two external bank accounts every 90 days. When applicable, we recommend employees link their external bank account in Gusto Wallet as soon as possible to avoid transfer delays.
When you transfer funds between a Gusto spending account and an external bank account, it can take 3–5 business days for the funds to become available. Exact timing of availability depends on the receiving bank.
Follow these steps to link an external bank account to your Gusto spending account:
If eligible, you can instantly transfer funds from your Gusto spending account to your personal debit card. You can link up to 2 debit cards at a time. Funds transfer from your Gusto spending account to a linked, non-prepaid debit card instantly (prepaid debit cards are not supported).
Funds are generally accessible right away if you request the transfer during banking hours. If network disruptions delay availability, funds are typically still available within 30 minutes.
Eligible employees can follow these steps to link a debit card to a Gusto spending account for Instant Transfers:
Add a linked debit card
Remove a linked debit card
Employees can find the routing and account numbers for their Gusto spending account in the Gusto Wallet app under "Account details."
Gusto spending accounts support inbound and outbound electronic fund transfers and ACH deposits, such as direct deposit payments and income tax refunds. Gusto spending accounts do not support wire transfers.
Add your card to your Apple Pay® or Google Pay™ wallet
Once you open a spending account, you can start using the card immediately by adding it to Apple Pay® or Google Pay™.8
Follow the steps below to add a first-time debit card to your mobile wallet.
Once you add the card to Apple Pay® or Google Pay™,8 you can use it wherever contactless payment is accepted— the physical debit card doesn’t need to be present. The only exception for this is ATM withdrawals,6 where you do need to present the physical debit card.
Activate a physical card
Unlike the virtual card that can be added to Apple Pay® or Google Pay,8 you must activate the physical debit card before you can start using it.
When you first sign up for a spending account or order a replacement card, the debit card will arrive at your mailing address via USPS within 7–10 business days. Once you receive it, follow these steps to activate the card and set the PIN:
A PIN only needs to be set once per card. If you set a PIN while setting up the card in your mobile wallet, you do not need to set a PIN again.
Reset the PIN
Follow these steps to change or reset the PIN:
PIN resets can take up to 24 hours to take effect.
Replace a lost or stolen card
If a debit card is lost or stolen, follow the steps below to request a new one. The card will be deactivated immediately—new debit card purchases or ATM withdrawals will be blocked.
To dispute a transaction you believe is fraudulent, head to the "Dispute a transaction" section below.
Cards typically arrive within 7–10 business days after reordering.
You can start using your card immediately through Apple Pay® or Google Pay™.
Lock a misplaced card
If you've misplaced your card but don't want to order a replacement yet, you can lock and unlock it anytime from your Wallet dashboard. Locking the card immediately prevents new debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals.
Replace a damaged card
If a Gusto debit card is damaged or defective, employees can order a replacement card at no cost.
Cards typically arrive within 7–10 business days after reordering.
You can start using your card immediately through Apple Pay® or Google Pay™.
Replace an expiring or expired card
If a Gusto debit card is expiring soon (within the next 2 months) or has expired, employees can order a replacement card at no cost.
Cards typically arrive within 7–10 business days after reordering.
You can start using your card immediately through Apple Pay® or Google Pay™.
Replace a card locked for fraud
If a Gusto debit card is locked due to fraud, a replacement card can be ordered in Gusto Wallet.
Cards typically arrive within 7–10 business days after reordering.
You can start using your card immediately through Apple Pay® or Google Pay™ by setting it up through the Gusto Wallet mobile app. Follow the steps at the beginning of this section, under "Add your card to your Apple Pay® or Google Pay™ wallet."
If you do not recognize a transaction on your account, head to the "Dispute a transaction" section below for next steps.
Close an account
Employees can follow these steps to close a Gusto spending account:
The Gusto spending account and debit card can be managed on-the-go from the Gusto Wallet mobile app, available in the App Store® and Google Play® store.7 Employees can review payday insights, check their account balances, review transactions, initiate a transfer, route funds using the paycheck splitter, and more.
If you do not recognize a transaction on your account, send us the transaction details so we can investigate. A transaction must be settled, not pending, before you can dispute it.
Send an email to [email protected]. Copy and paste this template into your email and fill it out:
If you reported that the transaction was fraudulent, your card will immediately be locked. We'll send a new card to your mailing address.
You will receive a status email 6 business days after you submit the dispute. If approved, credit may be granted to your account in the amount you're disputing. Additional time may be required to complete the investigation and make a final determination on the dispute claim.
If you are eligible to receive a 1099-INT form, your form will be available to download and print from your Gusto account by January 31st of the following year.
You’ll be issued a 1099-INT form based on the interest you earned from your Gusto Spending account and/or Savings goals1 or any other account you may have with nbkc bank throughout the tax year. If you earned $10 or more in interest from these accounts throughout the tax year, you will be issued a 1099-INT form.
When 1099-INT forms are ready, you will receive an email from Gusto to notify you. Once generated, here’s where to find the form:
If you have any questions or need help accessing your form, reach out to us at [email protected].
Employees with a Gusto spending account can maintain access to the account and card even if they’re no longer paid through Gusto. As long as the spending account is not closed and remains in good standing, the employee can continue to access their Gusto Wallet account(s) using the mobile app or their Gusto profile.
Contact us from the Support section of your Gusto account to close your spending account.
1. The Gusto Cash Account, savings goals, spending account, and debit card program is issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. The Gusto Debit Card is issued by nbkc bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.
2. Early access to direct deposit funds depends on the timing of payer’s submission of deposits. We generally make these funds available on the day the payment file is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the scheduled payment date.
3. Funds are generally accessible immediately, however, network disruptions may delay availability, typically no longer than 30 minutes.
4. A Gusto Spending Account is required for early access to your paycheck, terms and conditions apply. The Gusto Cash Account (savings goals and spending account) are issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Gusto is a payroll services company, not a bank. Banking services provided by nbkc bank, Member FDIC
5. Cash Account Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as of 1/26/2023 is 1.00%. APY is variable and subject to change at our discretion, without prior notice. No minimum balance required. Based on the FDIC savings rate as of 1/17/2023 available at fdic.gov/regulations/resources/rates/.
6. There are no account or overdraft fees associated with the Gusto Cash Account spending account. The Gusto debit card can be used for free at over 37,000 ATMs in the MoneyPass Network. Gusto charges $2.50 when you use an out-of-network ATM in addition to any fees charged by the ATM or ATM operator. Review the terms and conditions carefully.
7. App Store is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Google Play is a trademark of Google LLC.
8. Apple, Apple Pay, the Apple Logo, iPhone and App Store are registered trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Google Pay™, Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.