Lili Overview

Lili, a financial technology company, provides essential online business banking and accounting tools. These include business checking and savings accounts, mobile check deposits, and a Visa debit card. There are no minimum opening deposits or balances. A significant advantage is the availability of ACH transfers two days earlier compared to traditional banks.

Additionally, Lili offers comprehensive online business management services. This includes the ability to attach receipts to transactions, categorize expenses, and generate expense reports.

Lili at a Glance

Who Is Lili Suitable For?

Lili caters to all kinds of businesses, including small business owners and freelancers. The basic business checking plan boasts zero fees, and none of the plans mandate a minimum deposit or balance, making it attractive for new businesses.

However, Lili notably lacks offerings like physical checkbooks, loans, credit cards, IRAs, merchant accounts, and insurance. Additionally, there are limitations on inbound ACH transfers and cash deposits—capped at $1,000 per day and $5,000 per month for transfers, and $9,000 per month for cash deposits. Larger businesses may need to look elsewhere.

Advantages Over Traditional Banks

In contrast to traditional banks, Lili stands out as a financial platform providing small business checking accounts through Choice Financial Group. This unique approach enables Lili to consolidate a variety of services into a single platform.

For instance, Lili facilitates the download of expense reports, automated savings for taxes, and easy categorization of transactions for streamlined bookkeeping. The platform also empowers users to create and send invoices and track unpaid invoices within the same interface.

Users can link their accounts to popular platforms like Paypal, Venmo, or Cash App for money transfers. You also have the option to link your Lili account to QuickBooks and various payroll software, including Gusto, OnPay, Paychex, Rippling, ADP Run, and TriNet.

In addition to not requiring a minimum balance, Lili doesn’t charge fees for incoming domestic wire transactions, foreign transactions, bill pay services, returned items, and stop payments.

A distinctive feature is BalanceUp. Account holders in good standing can apply for this fee-free overdraft, providing a cushion of up to $200. However, you must rectify a negative balance within 30 days to maintain this feature.

Cutting-Edge Banking Services

Lili AI uses predictive transaction categorization. Each time you record a transaction, Lili AI recommends how you can classify that entry, making bookkeeping easier.

In addition to Lili AI, Lili has an app and desktop system that lets you:

• Check your account balance
• Categorize tax write-offs as personal, business, or both
• Connect payment apps
• Send or receive money with ACH transfers
• Set up and manage automatic savings
• Manage your credit, savings, tax bucket, and checking accounts
• Estimate your annual tax savings
• Find retail locations where you can deposit cash into your Lili account
• Send, receive, and manage custom invoices
• Find a nearby ATM

Traditional Banking Services

Lili offers some traditional banking products, including checking and savings accounts and a debit card. Your debit card can be used fee-free at any of the 38,000+ MoneyPass ATMs across the country. There’s a $2.50 fee each time you use your debit card at any other ATM.

However, unlike with traditional banks, you can’t write physical checks and can only deposit checks through mobile check deposits.

Interest Rates and Fees

There are 4 plans available:

To earn the variable 4.15% APY, you must have between $0.01 and $100,000 in savings.

Customer Service and Online Experience

Lili operates without physical branches, but customer support is accessible through phone, email, or the in-app chatbot. The website also hosts a wealth of information, including a Help Center, blog, and FAQs. Lili Academy supplements this with online guides and videos covering essential small business topics like tax filing and marketing.

Anticipated improvements include a live chat feature coming in 2024 and a committed 3-hour response time to email queries during regular business hours.

Customer reviews on Lili's service are varied, with some reporting slow responses and others praising prompt issue resolution. Lili's Trustpilot score stands at 4.7, in contrast to a BBB rating of 1.37, although the latter is based on a limited number of reviews. Lili is not BBB accredited.

Being a digital-only platform, it ensures 24/7 access to accounting features and accounts. However, opening an account involves a detailed application process, requiring ID, a phone number from a major US carrier, and other criteria.

Mobile App

Lili has a mobile app available for iOS and Android devices. It allows you to access the App Center hub, where you can explore integration options, transfer money between accounts, verify your account, look at and share your transaction history, look at your account balance, track expenses, and more.

The app has a clean interface and intuitive design. For example, you can swipe transactions up, to the right, or to the left to indicate whether they’re for business, personal, or mixed use.

Security

Lili accounts are FDIC insured by Choice Financial Group. In the event of a bank failure, customers will get their deposits, up to $250,000, back.

In addition, Lili uses multi-factor authentication for secure sign-in online and through its app. It has a policy to restrict access to your account information and personal data to only those employees who need to have your data to provide products or services.

Lili’s policies state that it complies with federal standards. It also states it uses encryption software and fraud monitoring, but doesn’t specify the specific encryption and safety measures it takes.

Application Process

To qualify for a Lili business checking account, you must be a business in the United States and your organization must be a:

• Single-member or multiple-member LLC
• Sole proprietorship
• General partnership
• S-Corp
• Limited liability partnership

Companies with more than one Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO), need to verify each UBO with at least 25% ownership in the company using the Lili app. Each owner must live in the United States

Here’s how to apply for a Lili account:

• Visit the application page to enter your email and choose a password.
• Enter your name, phone number, social security number, and date of birth.
• Enter your address and business information, including your business address, employer identification number, and entity type.
• Select the plan you’d like.
• Confirm your identity by using your government-issued picture ID.
• Supply additional documentation if required.

It can take up to two weeks to get your physical debit card once you’ve been approved, but you can start using digital banking immediately.

Lili Summary

Lili is a financial services platform for small businesses that do almost all their banking online and need a checking account, debit card, and minimal cash deposits. It’s also a good fit for freelancers and small organizations who have remote teams and who want basic business management services on the same platform as their banking services.

Lili may not be ideal for every business. You can’t go to a branch, apply for loans or mortgages, write checks, get a business credit card, or get insurance. As your business grows and you need more services, you might look for a business bank with a wider range of services. However, Lili can be a good first business account.

Physical Address

PO Box 238

New York, NY 10014

Legal Disclaimer

Lili is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Sunrise Banks N.A., Member FDIC.

The Lili Visa® Debit Card is issued by Sunrise Banks N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

Wire Transfer service provided by Column Bank N.A., Member FDIC. All wires are subject to acceptance criteria and risk-based review and may be rejected at the sole discretion of Column Bank N. A. or Lili App Inc.