Lili Review (2022) | Free Business Checking for Freelancers

Snapshot

Lili was designed to bring business checking to freelancers. It offers a business checking account without fees and tools designed for the solopreneur. Lili makes calculating and saving for estimated taxes a breeze. It also streamlines the process of receiving payment from other online platforms such as Shopify, Cash App, and PayPal.

Editorial Review

Lilac Bar David founded in 2018. Headquartered in New York City, the company has received $25 million in funding. More than 100,000 freelances have opened a Lili account since 2019.

Features

Tax Tools: Lili offers several tools to help freelancers manage taxes. It automatically creates an income and expense report that shows a freelancer net taxable income. It also enables freelancers to track their expenses in real time.

Perhaps most importantly, it has a feature that allows freelancers to automatically set aside a certain percentage of every incoming deposit into a tax bucket. When estimated taxes are due you’ll have the money already saved.

Mobile Banking App: Lili comes with a Visa Debit Card and a mobile banking app. When freelancers set up direct deposit they can get paid up to two days early. You can get push notifications to your phone every time money comes in or goes out of your account. Freelancers can deposit checks by taking a picture with the mobile app. Alternatively, they can deposit cash at more than 90,000 retail locations in the U.S., such as Rite Aid, CVS, and Walmart stores.

The Lili app is rated 4.7 out of 5 for the iPhone and 4.4 out of 5 for Android devices.

Mobile Payments: The Lili Business Debit Card works with both Apple Pay and Google Pay. As such, there’s no need to carry the physical card with you.

Online Payments: Lili works with a number of online payment platforms to have income deposited directly into your account. These platforms include PayPal, Shopify and Cash App.

ATM Withdrawals: You can get cash out of ATMs without paying a fee at more than 38,000 ATMs across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Lili uses the MoneyPass network.

Automatic Savings: Lili comes with a feature that allows freelancers to set aside a certain percentage of every income deposit. This is a great feature to use for saving for estimated tax payments. You can use this feature to save a business emergency fund.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• No account fees
• No minimum balances
• Free checking account
• Visa business debit card
• Expense management
• Excellent mobile banking app
• Expense reports

Cons

• No physical branches
• Deposits don’t earn interest

Bank Accounts

Lili Mobile Banking

APY	0.00%
Min. Opening Deposit	$0.00
Min. Balance Required	$0.00
Monthly Fee	$0.00
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Lili offers just one type of account, a checking account. Included with the account is a business Visa Debit Card and a mobile app. While it doesn’t offer an interest bearing savings account, it can easily connect with an online savings account. In this regard, a freelancer could easily transfer money between the Lili checking account, and an interest paying savings account.

[checkingacct_box child=’review’ post_id=’37268′]

Lili charges virtually no fees. There is no monthly fee, overdraft fee, return item fee or stop payment fee. There are also no ATM fees when withdrawals are made from a MoneyPass network ATM.

Lili does charge a few fees in very unusual circumstances. For example, there is a $2.50 fee for ATM transactions outside of the MoneyPass network. There’s also a $5.00 ATM withdrawal fee when taking money out internationally. A deposited check return fee of $25 is also charged as is an express mail fee.

Mobile App

Freelancers have given Lili’s mobile app high marks. Available on both iPhone and iPaid devices, users have given it a 4.7 out of 5 stars. Android users have likewise given Lili’s app high ratings, with a 4.4 out of 5.

Lili Savings Account

APY	1.00%
Min. Opening Deposit	$0
Learn More

Lili offers a savings account so business owners can save an emergency fund. Set up automatic transfers, monitor savings via the Lili app, and earn interest.

The savings account is one of the features available for Lili Pro members. Pro membership costs $4.99 a month.

Who Lili is best for

Lili is ideal for freelancers looking for a free checking account. The tools help those in the gig economy track and report expenses and set aside money for estimated taxes.

Who would do better with a different bank

Small businesses should look at other options, as should those who want a checking account with a bank that has physical branches.

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