As a creator, once you start earning income from various sources, you'll need a bank account to collect payments. You'll likely want something built for you as a single entrepreneur creator, not a clunky, unintuitive old-school banking product.
You'll want to check out Lil, a banking product for creators and freelancers.
Lili offers a complete business checking account and virtual banking experience with various built-in tools to make your operations as a creator easier. Creators, including freelancers and other solopreneurs, deal with tax obligations, fluctuating earnings, and many other issues.
Luckily, Lili offers unique banking features and business solutions designed according to the creator's lifestyle. It is an all-in-one money management tool that helps creators manage expenses and make taxes easier to save time and money.
In this article, we'll explore Lili in detail, and you will learn all you need to know about this banking product, so you can decide if it's the right fit for your business. Let's begin.
What is Lili?
Lili is a digital, fee-free bank account created in November 2018 by Lilac Bar David. Bar David designed Lili as a banking solution for creators, freelancers, and side hustlers. He launched it with the mission to empower freelancers to boost their work, life, and balance.
After the launch of Lili, the pandemic hit, and many people turned to freelance business from corporate jobs. It benefited the company in a significant way. To date, the company has already raised over $80 million.
Lili has no bank branch locations: it's a digital bank, and you can do all banking via its mobile app. In addition, the fintech company has partnered with Choice Financial Group, so your funds are FDIC insured, which means they are safe & secure.
Lili works for freelancers, solopreneurs, and single-member LLCs, but it also is a robust fit solution for creators. It allows you, as a creator, to use one account to manage all of your finances. It's a hybrid business and personal account which enables you to sort your personal and business expenses with this checking account. Moreover, if you're running a company with its own EIN and partnership, you're not allowed to open a Lili account. The company is genuinely built for creators and freelancers and not larger businesses.
Furthermore, Lili offers a 100% free checking account with no monthly fees, no minimum deposit, no overdraft fee, and no ATM withdrawal fee, which makes it worth noting.
Lili Top Features and Benefits
Lili's checking account offers notable features that distinguish it from other digital banks for entrepreneurs. Below we break down some of its unique features.
Visa Business Debit Card and Free in-network ATMs
After opening a business checking account with Lili, you'll get a free virtual Visa business debit card. You'll get the physical Visa card within ten business days: you can track the shipping status via the app.
Lili's Visa debit card can be used for business and personal finances and is accepted everywhere. One of the great things about this debit card is that it has no foreign transaction fees or overdraft fees. Also, you can connect the debit card to several third-party payment applications like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, and Cash Pay.
Moreover, you can use it for purchases plus ATM withdrawals. You can withdraw funds with no fee at more than 38,000 MoneyPass ATMs. You can find the free ATM near your location using the Lili app. Moreover, if you use US-based out-of-network ATMs, you will have to pay a $2.50 fee and a $5 fee for international ATMs outside the US.
Automatic Tax Savings
Another feature of this online banking app is automatic tax savings. Once you become self-employed and start making money, you must pay quarterly payments to the IRS. Mostly, creators forget that they are responsible for paying taxes on their net earnings.
Lili's automatic tax savings feature saves a percentage of each deposit in tax buckets, so your funds are protected from being accidentally spent.
You can set the manual tax percentage, or Lili will automatically save it according to your income percentage. You can access this bucket when you need it to pay your taxes after moving the funds to your primary account. Lili's tax savings feature is beneficial, making it a worthwhile bank for creators and freelancers.
Income & Expense Tracking and Reporting
It is to run a business without understanding your income and expenses. For your convenience, Lili lets you keep track of your expenses by category. You can find the graph of the yearly income in the app. The chart shows your net earnings for each month with a month-by-month analysis.
In addition to the income and expense tracking tool, Lili automatically generates yearly & quarterly expenses reports and sends you a notification every time money leaves your account.
Emergency Bucket Savings
Recently, Lili added a valuable feature: an emergency bucket, which allows you to save money for financial emergencies. You can set the daily saving percentage just like a tax bucket. Cash in your emergency savings is kept separate from the entire balance in your checking account, and you can get these funds back from your primary account when you need them.
Early Payments
Another dynamic feature of Lili which sets it apart from many fintech banks is its advance payment. So, if you set up direct deposit, you can get your payments up to two days earlier than with a traditional bank account.
Also, outside of your creative efforts working with brands or selling directly to your fans, if you earn from online platforms like Uber, Upwork, Lyft, Shopify, or Etsy, you can get payments two days earlier. Not all creators utilize gig economy platforms for additional income, but some might, so this could be helpful. Therefore, it's a nice perk if you're making money in the gig economy or with an online business.
Other Perks
After knowing the helpful features of Lili, let's take a closer look at some of its other perks.
- Lili's checking account charges no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements that will protect your budget.
- The application process is easy. You can open an account within 3 minutes.
- The mobile app is beautifully designed with an easy-to-use interface.
- Lili has a good referral program.
Pricing and Fees of Lili
Lili has Standard and Pro plans. Let's take a look at their fees and features.
Standard Plan
The standard plan is free whether you've $10,000 in your checking account or $10. The definitive version offers the following features.
- Debit Card
- Automatically save money for taxes
- Financial insights
- Check deposits via the app
Pro Plan
The Pro Plan costs $4.99 per month. Also, it gives a 30-day free trial. The Pro account gives you access to all features from the Standard version and these additional features.
- Premium Visa debit card with higher limits and cashback rewards
- Savings account with 1 percent annual interest
- Fee-free overdraft
- Unlimited invoicing capabilities
- Advances expense tracking
Other Lili Fees
Lili charges some other fees, but it is possible to avoid them. Here is the list of additional costs:
- $20 Express Mail Fee
- $25 Invalid Check Deposit Fee
- $5 card replacement fee on the second time
Comparing Lili to Competitors
Some other banks can work great for freelancers and sole proprietors and operate like Lili. So, if you're not sure that Lili is the ideal banking for your business, here are some of our favorite products that are similar to Lili.
Novo
Novo is another top choice in the business banking sector. Just like Lili, this fintech operation offers fee-free checking accounts. Here are the attractive features of the Novo Business checking account.
- No monthly fees
- No minimum balance requirements
- $50 minimum deposit to open an account
One benefit of Novo is that it refunds all ATM fees without limit. Also, it offers fee-free mailed checks and small business tools like Quickbooks. Another perk of this banking is that it can integrate with third-party business services; you can integrate with Xero, Square, Stripe, Shopify, and more.
Novo does not offer a savings account, but it allows you to add up to 5 reserves to save money for taxes and emergencies. If we talk about transaction limits, Novo is more generous than Lili, and it has a $1,000 ATM withdrawal limit and a check deposit limit of $20,000 per day and $40,000 per month.
NorthOne
NorthOne is another fintech company that offers several benefits to freelancers, entrepreneurs, and business owners. The deposit accounts of NorthOne are FDIC insured and partnered with LendingClub Bank.
Like Lili, NorthOne is also a digital bank. NorthOne integrates with many third-party services like Gusto, Wave, Quickbooks, Freshbooks, Xero, and more. Here is the summary of its account features:
- Unlimited banking with a $10 monthly fee
- No minimum balance requirements
- $50 account opening deposit
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals at over 300,000 in-network ATMs
Where NorthOne shines is its feature to accept free cash deposits, offering unlimited debit card transactions. Besides, the bank provides sub-accounts for your primary checking account where you can set aside money for taxes, emergencies, and more.
Bluevine
Bluevine is another excellent online banking platform that stands out from the crowd in the business financing space. The checking account of Bluevine is an ideal solution for freelancers and small business owners to perform their daily business operations.
The biggest perk of its business checking account is paying substantial interest on customers' deposits. Here is the list of the impressive features you expect from a top business bank.
- No monthly fees
- No minimum balance requirements
- Interest-bearing checking
- No minimum opening deposit requirement
- No ATM fees for out-of-network ATMs
Bluevine offers 1.5% interest on your account balances of up to $100,000. In addition, it gives two free checkbooks and unlimited monthly transactions with 0 fees. Another perk of Bluevine is its ability to pay vendors through various payment types. You can make payments through wire transfer, ACH, and check as a freelancer. Lastly, this financial company provides paycheck protection loans and a line of credit.
Final Thoughts on Lili
In a nutshell, Lili is an excellent banking account for creators. It's a good way to manage finances for self-employed, small business owners, or freelancers. As a creator, Lili is worth considering if you want to keep your business & personal accounts together in one checking account.
However, Lili won't be the right fit if you want an account that offers rewards and pays interest. If you get extra features like competitive APY on your savings account and cashback rewards, you'll have to buy Lili's Pro plan, which costs a $4.99 fee, which is reasonable according to these benefits.
For creators, Lili makes managing your money easier in more ways. Its income tracking and automatic tax savings feature make it a real winner. It'll save time and keep you more organized to focus on growing your income.
Lili Recap
Free Business digital banking account for freelancers and small business owners.
No monthly fees, no monthly balance requirements
Lots of integrated tools for taxes & expenses and an attractive referral program
Extensive Free ATM access and Automatic savings bucket
Great banking option for independent contractors who want to manage their finances and save time & money.
%2520(7).png)
