Gusto savings goals

Gusto savings goals are interest-bearing bank accounts designed to help employees connect payday and savings, making it easier to save for the unexpected and achieve greater financial security.¹

With Gusto savings goals, employees can create up to five different, customized accounts to help them reach their financial targets. Each savings goal has a unique bank account number, making it easy for transfers to external accounts or direct bill pay.

Upon opening a savings goal, employees can choose the amount they’d like to save from each paycheck. On payday, the selected amount is automatically deposited to the applicable savings goal. If an employee has multiple savings goals, they can choose how much they’d like to save to each goal from every paycheck.

Savings goal accounts are similar to standard savings accounts, but better. Since these accounts are demand deposit accounts, employees don’t face the same withdrawal and transfer limits of a typical savings account. With savings goals, employees can make unlimited monthly withdrawals and deposits in and out of their savings goals, for no fee or penalty. Additionally, with an APY of 1.00%, they earn interest on the money kept in their account(s).²

Set up a savings goal

Follow these steps to set up savings goals only, without also setting up a spending account and ordering a debit card.

Sign in to your Gusto employee account.
Go to the Wallet tab.
- If you do not see this, reach out to your employer to request they enable Cash Accounts.
Click Learn more.
Select Create a goal.
- By default, your first savings goal will be labeled "Rainy day fund." After you finish setting it up, you can change the purpose or nickname by clicking the edit icon.
Click Continue.
Choose an amount to save from each paycheck.
Click Continue.
Now, decide how you want to access the money you save. If you get a Gusto spending account, you’ll receive a Gusto debit card and can transfer money instantly. You can also simply link your existing bank account.
Click Continue.
Review your personal info.
- If your name, Social Security number, or date of birth are incorrect, reach out to your employer to correct any of these.
Make sure your mailing address is correct—this is where your new Gusto debit card will be mailed, if you chose to open a Gusto spending account in step 8. Click edit if you need to change your address.
Add your phone number and your current occupation.
Click Update and continue.
Review your account documents, then click the checkboxes to acknowledge that you have read and agree to them.
Click Create my account.

The next time your company runs payroll, the the amount you allocated in the paycheck splitter will route to your savings goal. It may take 1–2 paychecks to show up, depending on when your company processes payroll. It will appear as a line item on your paystub and in the Wallet section of your account.

You can manage your savings goal from the Wallet section of your Gusto account or in the Gusto mobile app.

Account fees and fee schedule

Gusto savings goals do not have account or minimum balance fees. For standard ACH transfers, there are no transfer fees or restrictions on how often funds can be withdrawn or deposited to an account.³ Eligible employees may instantly transfer funds from their savings goal(s) to another debit card, with a small fee and a transfer limit.

The schedule below lists the fees and limits associated with Gusto savings goals:

Fee type	Fee
Overdraft fee	$0
Minimum balance fee	$0
Monthly account service fee	$0
ACH bank transfer fee	$0
ACH withdrawal limit	$5,000/day
ACH deposit limit	$1,500/day
Instant Transfers transfer fee	1.75% fee (min $0.30, max $35.00) deducted from transfer amount Fee not applicable for transfers to savings goals.
Instant Transfers withdrawal limit	$2,000/day $15,000/month 2 withdrawals/day

Annual Percentage Yield (APY) and monthly statements

Gusto savings goals earn interest at a rate of 1.00% APY.² 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 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 will generate a 1099 statement to reflect the amount of interest earned. You can download it from your Gusto mobile app.

Gusto is committed to maximizing the APY offered on Gusto savings goals, but note that the APY can fluctuate as the economy changes.

Transfer limits and timelines

Transfer limits

Gusto's savings goals support inbound and outbound electronic fund transfers and ACH deposits, such as direct deposit payments and income tax refunds. Gusto savings accounts do not support wire transfers.

Here are the daily transfer limits for the Gusto savings goal:

ACH withdrawal limit: $5,000/day
ACH deposit limit: $1,500/day
Instant transfers withdrawal limit: $2,000/day and 2 transfers/day

Transfer timelines

When you request a transfer, here’s when you can expect the money to be available.

Transfers between a Gusto spending account and a Gusto savings goal: Instantly.
Between a Gusto spending account or a Gusto savings account and an external bank account (ACH transfer): In 3-5 business days, depending on the receiving bank.
Instant Transfers: If you’re eligible, you can move funds from your Gusto spending account or a Gusto savings goal to a linked, non-prepaid debit card instantly during banking hours.

Add your bank account or debit card to transfer funds

Link or remove a debit card for Instant Transfers

If eligible, you can instantly transfer funds from your Gusto savings goal to your personal debit card. You can link up to 2 debit cards at a time. Prepaid debit cards are not supported.

Eligible employees can follow these steps to link a debit card to a Gusto savings goal for Instant Transfers:

Add a linked debit card

Sign in to Gusto or open your Gust mobile app.
Go to the Wallet tab.
Choose the savings goal you want to make transfers from.
Select Take money out.
Under “Where should we send it?” choose Link your own debit card.
Enter your card information.
- Remember, prepaid debit cards are not supported for Instant transfers.
Select Add debit card.

Remove a linked debit card

Sign in to Gusto or open your Gusto mobile app.
Go to the Wallet tab.
Choose the savings goal that you've added your debit card to.
Select Take money out.
Under “Where should we send it?” select the option listed below.
Choose Manage bank accounts.
Select the debit card you’d like to remove.
Choose Remove debit card.

Link an external bank account for ACH transfers

Transferring funds between a Gusto savings goal and an external bank account can take 3–5 business days for the funds to become available. Exact timing of availability depends on the receiving bank.

Employees can link an external bank account to their Gusto savings goal to transfer funds between accounts. For security reasons, you can link one external bank account at a time and use up to two external bank accounts every 90 days. We recommend you link your external bank account as soon as possible to avoid transfer delays.

Follow these steps to link an external bank account to your Gusto savings goal:

Sign in to Gusto or open your Gusto mobile app.
Go to the Wallet tab.
Choose the savings goal you want to link a bank account to.
Select Take money out.
Choose 1–3 Biz days then select Add a different bank.
Click Link bank account.
Follow the steps to securely enter your external bank account details using the Plaid connection. We partner with Plaid to verify and link external bank accounts.
- If your bank cannot be verified through Plaid, or you don't see your bank in the list, select Don't see your institution? Search instead. Follow the steps to look up your bank and verify your account manually. In 1-3 business days, you'll see a $0.01 transaction show up in the non-Gusto bank account you're attempting to link. From your non-Gusto bank account, copy the deposit's 3-letter code. Return to your Gusto Wallet section and enter the code to finish manually verifying your bank.

Troubleshoot adding an external linked account

Most external bank accounts can be linked to Gusto Wallet to transfer funds, however, some financial institutions are not supported and cannot be linked to your Gusto Wallet account to perform ACH transfers.

If you're having issues linking your external account, or your account isn't currently supported, try logging into the external account and transferring the money from there. To do this, you may need your account number and routing number, which you can find in the Gusto Wallet app under Account details.

If these options do not resolve the issue, try using a different external bank account to complete your transfer. Note that you can only link up to two external bank accounts every 90 days.

Transfer funds or cancel a transfer

Transfer funds

Follow these steps to move funds from a spending account to a savings goal account:

Sign in to Gusto or open your Gusto mobile app.
Go to the Wallet tab.
Choose the savings goal you want to make transfers from.
Choose either Put money in or Take money out.
Select Instant to transfer funds to a personal debit card for a small fee, or 1-3 biz days to transfer funds to a non-Gusto bank account for free.
Follow the instructions until the transfer is complete.

Cancel a standard ACH transfer

You can void an ACH transfer before the daily cut-off time of 1pm PT. Ex: If you initiate a transfer at 4pm PT on a Wednesday, you have until 1pm PT on Thursday to void it.

Here’s how to void an ACH transfer:

Sign in to Gusto or open your Gusto mobile app.
Go to the Wallet tab.
Select the bank account you initiated the transfer from.
Under "Recent transactions," pick the transfer you want to void.
Click Cancel transaction.
- If you don’t see this option, the cutoff time has passed and the transfer cannot be canceled. If you need access to your funds as soon as possible, the quickest way is to let the transfer finish processing, which takes 3–5 business days. If funds landing in that account is an issue, you can ask your receiving bank if they can stop the incoming transfer, but the funds will take longer than 3–5 days to return to Gusto.

Cancel an Instant Transfer

At this time, Instant Transfers cannot be canceled once they’re initiated.

Account and routing numbers

Employees can find the routing and account numbers for each of their Gusto savings goals in the Gusto mobile app under "Account details" for the applicable savings goal.

Gusto savings goals support inbound and outbound electronic fund transfers and ACH deposits, such as direct deposit payments and income tax refunds. Gusto savings goals do not support wire transfers.

Download a 1099-INT form

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:

Sign in to your Gusto mobile app.
Go to Account Details.
Choose Monthly Statements & Tax Documents.

If you have any questions or need help accessing your form, reach out to us at [email protected].

Lifetime access

Employees who have opened Gusto savings goal account(s) can maintain access to the account(s) even if they’re no longer paid through Gusto.⁴ As long as the accounts are not closed and remain in good standing, the employee can continue to access the account(s) through the Gusto mobile app or their Gusto profile.

Mobile app

Gusto savings goals can be managed on-the-go from the Gusto mobile app, available in the App Store® and Google Play® store.⁵ Employees can review payday insights, check their account balances, review transactions, initiate a transfer, request a Cashout, route funds using the paycheck splitter, and more.

Close a savings goal

^{1. The Gusto Cash Account, savings goals, spending account, and debit card are issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC.}

^{2. 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/.}

^{3. Some fees, such as out-of-network ATM fees, may apply. Please review the terms and conditions carefully.}

^{4. Gusto is a payroll services company, not a bank. Banking services provided by nbkc bank, Member FDIC.}

^{5. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Google Play is a trademark of Google LLC.}