Many people do not know that there are still cash advance apps that don’t use plaid. The truth is that if you have been around for a couple of years, you will recall that there were times when some physical shops offered something called payday loans.
These companies usually work as intermediaries between lenders and shops that are offering the service of early wage access. They would offer you a portion of your upcoming salary and charge you crazy interest rates but would give you cash upfront when needed. The catch was that they’d use your upcoming paycheck as collateral so you wouldn’t be able to escape.
Even though it was meant to be an unsecured loan, it’s not possible to say that because your earning would be used to secure the loan. The good news is that these companies never discriminated whether you have an existing bank account or not.
It could help you take care of the most pressing needs in your life by paying for the small bills that could have been a lot of headache for you such as rent, medical bills, or paying a mortgage, etc.
Read Also:
According to Gobank, these companies that provided those services even though it was made available for both banked and unbanked, came at a great cost of high-interest rates. As reported, the “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the average payday loan is $320, but the average interest for that loan is $520”.
So these companies offered these services in the pre-digital era when it wasn’t possible to pick up your smartphone and download a mobile app from an app store, sign up, and request for a loan. The loans were called “Payday Loans“. However, the reverse is the case now. Today there have been a thousand cash advance apps that offer the same services in a robust way in almost all the continents in the world.
Cash advances have penetrated different markets and disrupted traditional loans by simplifying how fast people get access to their wages.
What Is Plaid All About?
In a general context, Plaid is a company that provides financial encryption, and syncing technology services to financial technology companies in real-time. It basically acts as a middleman between fintech apps that need access to your bank account information and your actual bank. They help make payday loans simplified from the traditional means to a digital transformation.
So let’s say you download a cash advance app that obviously needs to know your account balance or your transaction history so as to ascertain your creditworthiness. Instead of you having to log into your bank and give the app your login details for them to check your transaction history, Plaid handles it all for you and serves as an intermediary between the end user, the fintech company, and the bank.
You will need to give the app permission to connect to Plaid, and then Plaid connects to your bank on your behalf to get the info the app needs. Many apps use this same technology to hold your salary as collateral when taking a loan.
Plaid makes this process easier and more secure for everyone involved. You don’t have to worry about giving out your bank login details to every app you use, and the app developers don’t have to worry about storing that sensitive information. Plus, Plaid has extra security measures in place to protect your data from being hacked or stolen.
Some cash advance apps use Plaid to verify your income before granting you access to their unsecured loan. By connecting to your bank account, Plaid can see how much money you’re making and confirm that you’re employed. This helps cash advance app providers decide whether to approve your loan request and how much to lend you.
Many people are not too comfortable with using Plaid. they are scared of the security of their account and so always resolved to the alternative of cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid. This is the reason we are making this post today to handpick some of them that don’t.
Top 5 Cash Advance Apps That Don’t Use Plaid
Below are the best-trusted cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid to provide loans. They don’t require you to link to plaid before they can give you a loan.
1. Venmo
Venmo is currently one of the best cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid. Not like Venmo doesn’t support Plaid, but if your bank does not support Plaid, then you can still use Venmo to take cash advance loans or do other transactions.
With your account and routing number, you can complete the manual verification on Venmo to start using Venmo for transactions. The app would make you complete two micro transfers which enable them to verify your account and so you would not need to link Venmo to the Plaid app anymore.
Although Venmo is not a primary cash advance app, it would help you through your credit card to use other banking services before the expiration of your card.
2. MoneyLion
Currently, MoneyLion is another cash advance app that doesn’t use Plaid. It launches its own platform called RoarMoney which allows funding your wallet using different means.
MoneyLion connects directly to your employer’s payroll system to verify your income and your earning thereby preapproving your loan requests without the need to link your bank and the app to the Plaid app.
3. Cash App
The truth is that Cash App actually works well with Plaid, but if you don’t want to use Plaid with Cash App, you can still use the app for your transaction by using manual verification with your account number, routing number, or ATM card.
With Cash App, you can bypass the Plaid requirement by using manual means to link your bank account directly to Cash App or by using your ATM card. With this, you can also get the Cash App ATM which you can use to withdraw money from any ATM that is dispensing cash.
4. CashMaster
CashMaster is another loan app that doesn’t use Plaid to verify your income or bank account. CashMaster works as a traditional loan app and only operates on the Google Play store for Android users and charges really high administrative fees with high late repayment fees. However, the app uses a different method to confirm your eligibility for a loan and does not require Plaid.
When you apply for a loan with CashMaster, you’ll need to provide some basic information about yourself and your employment status. You’ll also need to link your checking account so that the app can deposit your loan funds and withdraw your repayments.
While some people may prefer the convenience of Plaid, others may be more comfortable with loan apps like CashMaster that don’t use it.
5. B9 Advance
B9 Advance is a cash advance app that doesn’t use Plaid. The company suggests that users of B9 Advance would require a checking account that can receive direct deposits from their employer.
You can connect your B9 Advance to Argyle Systems instead of Plaid only when your employer is linked to Argyle System. If your Employer does not support Argyle, then if you must use the B9 Advance cash advance app, you must use Plaid.
With B9 Advance you’ll need to pay a membership fee that starts from $9.99 to $19.99 depending on your membership level and what you require to do on the app. For example, a $9.99 plan would allow you to withdraw up to $300 instantly in every pay cycle.
6. Line
Line is also a cash advance app that don’t use Chime. Line offers you instant access to your paycheck before payday. The amount depends on the plan you choose. The good thing is that Line will grant you access to cash advances with no credit check and zero interest rate.
Line is available only in the United States for Android and Apple iOS. With Line, you can access cash advances from $20 to $1000 pending on the plan that you pick. The most basic plan which is around $1.97 per month can give you a cash advance loan of up to $100 in every wage cycle without Plaid.
Unlike other cash advance apps, Line would grant you the option to collect information through a payment processor for bank transfers or via a third-party secure access tool.
7. BranchApp
Branch is one of the best cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid. BranchApp is a Pay Advance app that helps you to take cash advances on the wages you have earned before your actual payday. With BranchApp, your company would need to be integrated before you can take a loan with them.
If your employer is not currently using it you can suggest it to your boss for consideration. When you take a cash advance on Branch, you’ll not be asked to pay any interest or hidden fees. However, when paying back, you might be prompted to tip them at your own wish. When they provide you with the advances, the money would be deposited in your Branch digital wallet.
Branch would provide you with rewards every time you use the wallet to purchase fuel, food, and other groceries.
8. Grid Money
Another instant cash advance app that don’t use Plaid is Grid Money. Grid Money provides three major service offerings which include the Grid Tax, Grid Card, and Grid Advance.
The Grid Advance just like the name implies helps you to take cash advances of up to $200 before your scheduled payday. The Grid card helps you to link your debit card to your Grid account which will in turn allows them to spot your purchases and report transactions to the credit bureau to help improve your credit score.
The Grid Tax on the other hand is a free tool that helps to track your payments and optimize your tax return withholding amount. Grid money charges a monthly fee of $10/month to enable you use their services.
9. DailyPay
With many top companies like McDonald’s, Dollar Tree, Six Flags, T-Mobile, and Kroger using DailyPay, it is one of the best cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid you can trust. With DailyPay, you don’t have to link your bank account to Plaid to use it. However, your company needs to be using it before you can take a loan from them.
When you take a cash advance with DailyPay, you would need to pay a small fee and the money would be disbursed into your account instantly. DailyPay also has great features that make it very interesting to use such as the referral program. With the DailyPay referral program, you can refer your colleagues and co-workers to start using DailyPay and you’ll earn commissions of up to $5 every time they sign up and use the app to receive their pay.
Other great features of DailyPay include your ability to build your financial portfolio through its AutoSave feature which allows you to build and manage an emergency saving portfolio without necessarily relying on cash advance apps all the time. It does this through its three main saving features called DirectSAVE, AutoSAVE, and RoundupSAVE tools. They both provide different capacities respectively.
10. Dave
It is true that Dave is one of the best cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid. As stated on their privacy policy, Dave uses both Plaid and Galileo to transfer and receive information about your financial service providers. You can choose to use Plaid or Galileo for whichever you choose which makes Dave a great cash advance app that you don’t necessarily have to use Plaid.
Dave is a great app and with its ExtraCash account, you can access cash advances up to $500 and pay back on your next payday or the nearest Friday. The downside is that the money would not be disbursed instantly into your account but can take up to 1-3 business days.
However, if you need it instantly, you might have to pick a plan which costs around $0.99-$11.99 and the money can be paid directly to an external account too.
Can I Use Cash App Without Plaid?
Yes, you can use Cash App without Plaid. Cash App uses Plaid to transfer data between your financial institution, however, if you are not comfortable with it, you can bypass using Plaid to verify Cash App by leveraging manual verification which requires your account number, routing number, and link your debit card.
Cash App would give you a debit card that you can later use to withdraw your money, shop online and offline, and so on with your Cash App card.
Does Chime Use Plaid?
Yes, Chime uses a third-party service called Plaid to connect users’ bank accounts to its apps in order to verify their financial information. This is basically to transfer information from the financial institution to Plaid and from Plaid to Chime in order to make financial lending decisions.
Plaid helps Chime to provide features such as early direct deposit, instant transaction alerts, and other personalized financial services to its users.
How Can I Get A Cash Advance Without Plaid?
You can get a cash advance without Plaid by using an app that doesn’t use Plaid. There are many cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid which include Dave, DailyPay, BranchApp, Grid Money, Cash Master, Line, Venmo, and MoneyLion. All these apps either don’t use Plaid at all or support different options.
Does MoneyLion use Plaid?
Yes, MoneyLion users can link their RoarMoney account to Plaid which gives you access to many other financial services through Plaid’s data exchange solutions.
How do you bypass Plaid?
You can bypass Plaid by using an app that doesn’t use it. There are many cash advance apps that don’t use Plaid which include Dave, DailyPay, BranchApp, Grid Money, Cash Master, Line, Venmo, and MoneyLion. All these apps either don’t use Plaid at all or support different options.