If you are looking for a financial institution that offers high-yield, climate-focused savings accounts, then this Atmos Financial review is for you.
Generally speaking, people deposit money into savings accounts just for the sake of having a safe place to keep their money.
In fact, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Survey of Household Use of Banking and Financial Services, which was conducted in June 2019, “nearly 95 percent of U.S. households (approximately 124 million households) were banked (i.e., had a bank or credit union account).”
There are several factors that people consider when choosing a bank or any financial institution for that matter.
One factor is the stability of a bank.
Based on a report by The Ascent, 51.76% of people use only physical banks, 25.18% use only online banks, while the remaining 23.06% use both.
Another factor depositors take into consideration is the interest rate. Some people prefer shopping for the highest interest rate available to be able to earn more from what they have.
Ideally, it would best if a customer gets to have both stability and a high interest rate. It’s a win-win situation, definitely.
But, here’s some good news. While there are lots of financial institutions out there that offer both stability and a high interest rate, only a few offer climate-focused accounts, which is what Atmos Financial is all about.
Atmos Financial is a financial technology (fintech) that specifically loans its deposits to green initiatives.
The company provides “banking that reverses climate change.” Definitely something not very common among banks and credit unions out there.
Imagine, with Atmos Financial, you can bank, earn high interest, at the same time, be able to help protect and preserve our planet.
Now, if you are interested to know more about what Atmos Financial is all about and what it offers, then, you should continue reading this in-depth Atmos Financial review.
In the next few sections, we are going to specifically tackle some of the most important information customers need to know about this fintech company. This includes:
- What is Atmos Financial?
- Who is Atmos Financial best for?
- What does RoosterMoney offer?
- How does Atmos Financial work?
- Are there fees involved?
- How to open an account with Atmos Financial?
- Is Atmos Financial safe?
- What are the upsides of Atmos Financial?
- What are the downsides of Atmos Financial?
WHAT IS ATMOS FINANCIAL?
Atmos Financial is a fintech company that was founded in January 2020 by Ravi Mikkelsen.
Technically speaking, Atmos Financial is not a bank. However, the company can offer banking services through Evolve Bank & Trust, its bank partner, a member of the FDIC.
Atmos Financial is not your typical fintech company.
While it does work on providing consumers a place to save and earn from their money, it also allows them to contribute to making the world a better place to live in.
Atmos Financial’s goal is “to provide permanent positive environmental and societal impact by shifting money away from activities that directly harm our planet and towards those that help preserve it.“
To achieve this goal, the company pledges “to only lend to sectors that help to rapidly accelerate our transition towards a clean, fair, and transformed economy.”
Furthermore, the company hopes to “flatten financial barriers so that everyone can participate in and benefit from a carbon-free future.”
Atmos Financial’s Ravi Mikkelsen & Pete Hellwig made it clear that what the company is doing is not a charity. Rather, it is on a mission “to develop the best technology solutions and banking experience available so that you never again have to give up convenience or yield for doing the right thing.“
While all these may sound idealistic, Atmos Financial assures you they can be realistically done. In fact, they’ve already started doing it.
Atmos Financial “utilizes various banking partners to offer FDIC-insured deposit products like our AtmosACTION Savings Accounts.”
AtmosACTION Savings Accounts is the “first high-performance savings account engineered to reverse the climate crisis.” Know more about this product as we go along this review.
WHO IS ATMOS FINANCIAL BEST FOR?
Atmos Financial is a company that aims to create environmental impact through the things it does.
Thus, it should appeal to consumers who want to take part in making an environmental impact.
Atmos Financial should also be an ideal choice for people who want to open a high-yield savings account with no monthly fees, as well as no minimum account requirements.
Unfortunately, ATM transactions are not supported by Atmos Financial. So, unless you are good with that, Atmos Financial should work for you.
Also, if you want to earn the best annual percentage yield possible, you should be willing to have recurring donations.
WHAT DO ATMOS FINANCIAL OFFER?
Atmos Financial offers AtmosACTION Savings Account.
As stated on its website, AtmosACTION Savings Account is “the first high-performance savings account engineered to reverse the climate crisis.”
AtmosACTION offers up to 0.51% annual percentage yield (APY), which is a fairly competitive rate.
This savings account “high-performance savings rate from clean energy investments.”
Atmos Financial funds innovative technologies as well as infrastructure that helps combat the global climate crisis.
The AtmosACTION Savings Account has no minimum balance requirement. However, when you get to see the impact you can have by depositing more, Atmos thinks you would probably want to go all-in.
AtmosACTION Savings Account also does not require a minimum deposit. Furthermore, it does not charge a monthly service fee and any other fees for that matter.
Interest Rate
As mentioned, Atmos stands out from other banks and financial institutions by loaning its deposits to clean energy initiatives. The fintech company makes money through the loan as well as the interest paid out to its customers.
AtmosACTION offers a high-interest rate. However, this varies depending on the amount deposited in your account.
For your reference, for balances of $9,999.99 and below, the rate is 0.41% APY; for balances amounting between $10,000.00 and $24,999.99, the rate is 0.46% APY; while for balances of more than $25,000.00, the rate is 0.51% APY.
It is important to know, however, that the savings rate includes a 0.11% increase if you link it to automatic monthly recurring nonprofit donations.
Initiatives
To realize its mission to help address the climate crisis, Atmos Financial ensures it only supports companies that do and believes the same thing.
Atmos Financial supports companies with projects under:
- Renewable Energy
- Regenerative Agriculture
- Electric Transportation
- Weather Resilience
- Building Electrification
- Energy Efficiency Overhauls
Meanwhile, the company does not loan money to companies with programs on:
- Fossil Fuel Extraction
- Clean energy projects that displace Black, Indigenous, or other Frontline Communities.
- Fast Fashion Clothing
- Industrial Agriculture
- Industrial Livestock Production
- Generic Real Estate
- …and everything else
Climate Impact Measurements
Now, to get an idea of how customers’ deposits positively impact the climate, Atmos Financial measures impact in tons of carbon dioxide removed annually.
The table below shows how much CO2 customers can remove in a year based on deposits:
| Deposited Amount | Tons of CO2 Removed | Equivalent Number Of Miles Not Driven Per Year |
| $1,00 | 1 | 2,634 |
| $2,500 | 3 | 6,585 |
| $5,000 | 6 | 13,169 |
| $10,000 | 12 | 26,338 |
| $20,000 | 23 | 52,676 |
As mentioned, Atmos Financial does not have a minimum deposit or minimum balance requirement. It’s all up to you. If you want to create climate impact, then, the table above should help you with that.
As you can see, the higher your deposited amount is, the bigger the impact will be.
Now, to compare, the average American contributes 16 tons of CO2 every year, which is one of the highest CO2 contributions of just one person in the world.
Future Plans
As stated on its website, Atmos Financial is refining and launching additional products such as a debit card account to better serve its customers.
Furthermore, the company will also be launching a few climate-positive loan products.
Atmos Financial banking apps will directly link deposits to all the good things that the company is doing in the world. Atmos will pay higher rates and rewards for the privilege of using customers’ money to be able to accomplish its goals.
HOW DOES ATMOS FINANCIAL WORK?
Atmos Financial is an online-only financial platform that offers AtmosACTION, “the first high-performance savings account engineered to reverse the climate crisis.”
The said savings account allows depositors to hit two birds with one stone – earn high interest on a savings account, at the same time, be able to help address the climate crisis as Atmos Financial deposits specifically fund innovative technologies as well as infrastructure that help in combating the said environmental concern.
As mentioned in the earlier section, Atmos Financial measures the impact of customers’ deposits in tons of carbon dioxide removed annually.
While the company does not require account holders a minimum deposit or maintain a minimum balance, depositing more to your account results in a bigger climate impact.
Atmos Financial pays high interest on its savings accounts at the same time helps address the climate crisis by loaning money to companies with projects related to renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, electric transportation, weather resilience, building electrification, as well as energy efficiency overhauls.
ARE THERE FEES INVOLVED?
Given the work that Atmos Financial has, by now, you are probably wondering already about the costs involved.
So, in this part of our Atmos Financial review, we are going to talk about how much does Atmos Financial costs.
Atmos Financial does not charge a monthly service fee as other fintech companies do. In fact, Atmos did not mention on their website any fees that they charge.
Furthermore, the company does not require a minimum balance, which means you can keep whatever amount of money you want in your account.
Unfortunately, the AtmosACTION does not seem to include a debit card. In fact, there is no mention of ATMs and ATM fees on its website.
HOW TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH ATMOS FINANCIAL?
If you are convinced with what Atmos Financial has to offer, then, let’s proceed to talk about the process of signing up for an account.
To get started, interested individuals may visit the Atmos Financial website.
Primarily, you will be asked to provide your first and last name, as well as your email address.
As you continue with the account application process, you will also be asked to provide your address and phone number. After which, you will be asked to verify the information you provided.
Similar to other financial institutions, make sure to keep a valid government-issued identification like a passport or driver’s license handy for verification purposes.
The whole process is simple and easy it should only take about a few minutes to finish.
Meanwhile, if you have a few more questions about how the company works and you’d want these questions answered before opening an account, you may do so by booking a 15-minute video conference meeting with a member of the Atmos Financial team.
IS ATMOS FINANCIAL SAFE?
Security features one of the major concerns among consumers especially when it comes to online-only banks or fintech companies like Atmos Financial.
Thus, it is just right that in this review on Atmos Financial, we also look into this.
Atmos fully understands how valuable your personal data is, which is why the company’s online platform is protected by state-of-the-art encryption techniques.
Your money is equally important. So, to ensure that whatever happens your account is secured, the AtmosACTION savings account is secured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) through its partner bank, Evolve Bank & Trust. All AtmosACTION accounts are insured for up to $250,000 per depositor in case of a bank failure.
With all these in place, is Atmos Financial safe? Definitely, yes, it is.
WHAT ARE THE UPSIDES OF ATMOS FINANCIAL?
This Atmos Financial review will not be complete without a list of the things to like and not to like about this fintech company.
To start with, here are some of the upsides of Atmos Financial.
- High-Yield Savings Account – One of the things that would make people choose Atmos Financial is that it offers a high-yield savings account. The rate varies depending on account balances. For balances of $9,999.99 and below, the rate is 0.41% APY; for balances amounting between $10,000.00 and $24,999.99, the rate is 0.46% APY; while for balances of more than $25,000.00, the rate is 0.51% APY.
- Helps Address Climate Crisis – Atmos Financial is a fintech company that helps address the climate crisis by helping lessen the carbon dioxide releases of its customers, at the same time, by loaning money only with companies with projects supporting the same cause.
- No Monthly Fees – Atmos Financial does not charge monthly fees and any other fees that banks and other financial institutions usually charge. This makes it an ideal choice for people who want high-yield savings account without having to worry about monthly charges.
- No Account Minimums Required – Similarly, Atmos does not have account minimum requirements set as well. Although, the company encourages you to deposit more if you want a bigger impact on its environmental causes.
- FDIC Insured – Although Atmos Financial is technically not a bank, it does offer deposit products through its bank partner Evolve Bank & Trust. With the partnership, all Atmos deposits are insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per depositor in case of a bank failure.
WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES OF ATMOS FINANCIAL?
In the previous section, we’ve given you a list of the advantages of using Atmos Financial. This time, here’s a list of some of the downsides of the said fintech company:
- ATM Transactions May Not Be Supported – Based on the information on its website, it is unclear whether or not ATM transactions are supported or not.
- Recurring Donations – Best annual percentage yield is available but requires recurring donations, which could be quite a lot for some depositors.
- Online-Only – Similar to the majority of fintech companies, Atmos Financial is only available online, which means it does not have physical branch locations like what traditional banks have.
- Lacks Information – Perhaps it’s because the company is relatively new, thus, if you visit its website, the FAQ page, in particular, is not as thorough as how FAQ pages of similar companies usually have. There is also a lot of missing information including how to deposit and withdraw money from your Atmos account.
- Limited Products – Although Atmos Financial has lots of plans when it comes to product offerings, currently, it is only limited to the AtmosACTION savings account. The company has definitely had a lot of work to do.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON ATMOS FINANCIAL
Atmos Financial is a fintech company that focuses on making a mark in addressing the climate crisis. To do so, Atmos only focuses on providing loans to companies that have green initiatives, particularly those with projects related to renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, electric transportation, weather resilience, building electrification, as well as energy efficiency overhauls.
What Atmos Financial offers is definitely one-of-a-kind. While it understands the importance of saving money, it also makes sure it can help address environmental concerns, particularly climate crises.
Given the information we provided and what Atmos does, do you consider opening an account with them soon?
