Betterment

Broker or investment firm · New York, United States

Betterment is a New York company founded in 2008 that runs automated investment portfolios for individuals, administers 401(k) retirement plans for employers and offers a high-yield cash account. Its own legal page states that no Betterment entity is a bank: advisory comes from an SEC-registered investment adviser, trading from an SEC and FINRA-registered broker-dealer, checking from nbkc bank and cash deposits from a network of FDIC-insured program banks. For a business the product on offer is a retirement plan, not banking. Betterment at Work states more than USD 25 billion of retirement assets under management, integrates with over 350 payroll providers and points employers to up to USD 15,000 of tax credits over the first three years.

Legal name: Betterment LLC
Regulated by: SEC (Betterment LLC, registered investment adviser), SEC and FINRA (Betterment Securities, broker-dealer, SIPC member), FDIC (deposit insurance at nbkc bank and other program banks)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 2008
Website: www.betterment.com

Scores, 0 to 10

5.5Lowest fees

Cash Reserve has no account fees and a USD 10 minimum, and the employer 401(k) is sold as all-in pricing with no hidden fees, but the employer pricing table itself is not published on the page. · source

5.5Financial strength & stability

Running since 2008 with more than USD 25 billion of retirement assets under management and SEC and FINRA registrations, but privately held with no published accounts, no bank charter and no credit rating. · source

4.5Best interest on business balances

The 3.25 percent APY as of 12 December 2025 plus a 0.75 percent new-customer boost is attractive, but the Cash Reserve page describes individual and joint accounts only, so it is not a yield product for company operating balances. · source

4.0Fast digital onboarding

Employers open a plan online with integration to more than 350 payroll providers, but no time to set up a plan is published and there is no business account to open at all. · source

4.0Bitcoin

Betterment's managed Crypto ETF portfolio holds bitcoin and ether ETFs, and its 2026 update raised the bitcoin share; this is price exposure only, and while Betterment opens investing accounts for single- and multi-member LLCs, it does not say the crypto portfolio is open to them. · source

4.0Ethereum

Ether exposure comes only through the ether ETFs in Betterment's Crypto ETF portfolio, cut in the January 2026 update to match market weight, with no spot ether or staking. · source

3.5United States

Every entity is US-regulated, but none is a bank: checking is issued by nbkc bank, cash sits at program banks and the only business-facing product is 401(k) administration, not an account with ACH and Fedwire. · source

3.5Startups & VC-backed companies

Betterment at Work targets small and mid-market businesses and offers a solo 401(k) plus up to USD 15,000 of tax credits over three years, but nothing for a pre-revenue company that needs banking or credit. · source

3.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Betterment publishes no acceptable-use or prohibited-activities policy on gambling, cannabis, adult or forex clients, because it offers no business banking or acquiring to apply one to. · source

2.0Crypto-friendly bank

Betterment holds no bank charter and offers no fiat account to crypto businesses; its entities are an investment adviser, a broker-dealer and a 401(k) administrator. · source

2.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

Cash Reserve, checking and portfolios are all USD products; there is no foreign-currency account and no cross-border payment service. USD only, no multi-currency accounts, no cash pooling and no host-to-host connectivity; the platform manages retirement assets rather than corporate cash. · source

2.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

No acquiring, collection accounts or marketplace payouts; the products are investment portfolios, a cash account and 401(k) administration. No receiving accounts, no accounting or payment API and no revenue-based financing; a software company can only buy a 401(k) plan here. · source

2.0Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot rates Betterment 1.3 out of 5, in its Bad band. · source

2.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

The only card sits behind a checking account provided and issued by nbkc bank for individuals; no business debit or credit card is offered on the employer product page. · source

2.0Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

Every named entity is a US regulated firm and every product is US-domestic, so a foreign-incorporated company or a non-resident owner has nothing to apply for. · source

1.5Fintech companies that need a partner bank

No safeguarding accounts, BIN sponsorship or correspondent banking; Betterment is itself a customer of partner banks rather than a provider of rails. · source

1.0Trade, manufacturing & import-export

No letters of credit, guarantees, documentary collections or supply-chain finance appear anywhere in the entity list or the employer product page. · source

1.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Betterment closed its direct crypto portfolios, custodied at Gemini, in November 2024 and now offers crypto only through ETFs, so it holds no coins for any client. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

Betterment is an investment adviser and broker with no merchant products, so there is no crypto acceptance, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

Betterment offers no stablecoin holding, payouts or conversion; its crypto offering is limited to bitcoin and ether ETFs, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.