Wealthfront Offers Free Same-Day Withdrawals -- What This Means for Wealth Management

If you use a brokerage account or trading platform to invest in stocks and other financial assets, you will usually end up needing to withdraw cash from your brokerage account. This is especially true for people who use their brokerage cash management account as a source of emergency savings or big-ticket spending money.

But despite the recent rise of online brokerages and trading apps to make it easier for people to invest in the markets, getting cash out of your brokerage account is often slow and inconvenient:

• If you request a check, it might take more than a week to arrive (and ideally, it doesn't get lost in the mail).
• Online ACH transfers might take two business days for the money to clear your account and arrive at your bank.
• If you ask for a wire transfer, you will typically have to pay a fee to your bank.

Wealthfront, a leading investment platform and robo-advisor, has introduced a new feature to help improve this situation, by making it easier for people to access cash from their brokerage account. As of Dec. 12, 2023, Wealthfront is allowing customers to make free same-day withdrawals from their Wealthfront Cash Account.

Let's see why same-day withdrawals from your brokerage account are such a helpful perk, and why Wealthfront is offering this new feature.

Why you might want same-day withdrawals from a Wealthfront Cash Account

Not every dollar in your brokerage account has to be locked up for long-term savings goals like an IRA. Brokerage cash management accounts let you hold cash in reserve until you are ready to invest it by buying stocks, bonds, or other financial assets.

The cash management account is like a "waiting room" for your money -- if you're not sure yet where to allocate those dollars, you can keep the funds liquid in cash (and earn interest on that cash) until you're ready to invest. And sometimes, you need to withdraw cash.

The Wealthfront Cash Account pays 5.00% APY and can serve as a savings account or even as a hybrid checking account -- the Wealthfront Cash Account also gives you a debit card, free unlimited transfers, and online bill pay capabilities. With the new same-day withdrawal feature, Wealthfront customers can keep all of their cash in a high-yield savings account, without worrying about having to wait two business days (or more) in case they need money for emergency expenses.

Instead of keeping your extra cash in a typical checking account or a bank savings account that pays very little interest, why not earn 5.00% APY? Wealthfront's free same-day withdrawals are making it an attractive option for customers to keep more of their cash.

Wealthfront Cash Account same-day withdrawals: How they work

Instead of relying on cumbersome paper checks through the postal service, or ACH transfers that take days to arrive, Wealthfront uses the RTP® Network ("Real Time Payments") to send your money faster. The RTP® Network is a group of more than 400 banks and credit unions that use a special real time payments standard to move money between their accounts on the same business day. And Wealthfront doesn't charge any fees for this service.

Major national banks like Bank of America, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo are part of the RTP® Network, as well as regional banks like PNC Bank and Truist Bank, and even some smaller community banks and local credit unions. Check out the list of participating institutions to see if your bank or credit union is part of the new standard for real time payments.

To get same-day withdrawals from your Wealthfront Cash Account, all you have to do is request a withdrawal to an eligible external account by 6 p.m. PT, and voila! You'll get your cash on that same calendar day -- often in a few hours. If you want to withdraw cash on a weekend or holiday, the withdrawal will happen on the next business day. In case your bank is not part of the RTP® Network, your withdrawal will be processed via ACH transfer, which might take one to two business days.

Bottom line: This new same-day withdrawal feature is a valuable benefit for Wealthfront Cash Account customers. It could open up new ways for people to get maximum yield on their cash, while enjoying convenient access to their money. Learn more about this top robo-advisor in our Wealthfront review.