Pros
- No minimum balance
- Unlimited transactions
- Free built-in expense tracking, invoicing, & basic tax support
- Freelance-specific tools & features
- Unlimited free ACH transfers
Cons
- No savings account
- APY on the paid plan only
- Some features available only on the paid plan
- No outgoing wire transfers
- Purchase limits apply
What Is Found?
Found is a financial technology company aimed specifically at freelancers and self-employed individuals. Found stands out with little to no fees and built-in “smart banking” that helps with expense tracking, basic bookkeeping, and taxes.
Found’s freelance-specific features are especially compelling. This includes auto-categorizing tax deductions and automatic savings for self-employment taxes. While the company only offers a checking account, the APY is competitive for rewards checking, and the freelance-specific features make Found a top choice on our best bank accounts for freelancers list.
Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. The Found Mastercard Business debit card is issued by Lead Bank pursuant to a license from Mastercard Inc.
Services Offered By Found
Found offers business checking accounts.
Savings accounts are not available. It’s also worth noting that while the free checking account includes some basic bookkeeping features, a subscription to the paid Found Plus plan is required to access all features.
Found Rewards & Perks
Found has unique bookkeeping and tax features designed to help freelancers manage their expenses, invoices, and taxes with ease.
In terms of traditional features, you won’t find quite as many perks with Found as you would with other business checking accounts like Bluevine Checking or Axos. Found does offer up to 1.5% APY with the Found Plus account.
Many business checking accounts don’t offer APY at all. On the other hand, compared to other rewards checking accounts, Found’s APY rate is low, maxes out at $20,000, and can only be earned if you’re on the paid plan.
Found also does not have any welcome bonus offers for new customers.
All-in-all, Found’s rewards are a plus if you want or need its freelance-specific features. If you don’t want the freelance features or are looking specifically to maximize your checking account rewards, alternative fintechs or banks might be a better fit.
Found Fees
You can open a Found account for free, or there’s a paid option available.
| Found Plans |
Price |
When To Use |
| Found Free Plan |
$0/month |
If you want a basic checking account with impressive bookkeeping features but no APY perks |
| Found Plus |
$19.99/month |
If you want more advanced bookkeeping features and automations while unlocking APY earnings |
Found has very few fees, and the company is relatively transparent about its fee schedule. Notably, Found has no ACH fees, overdraft fees, or monthly fees unless you opt for the Found Plus plan.
| Found Category Fees |
Value |
| Monthly Fee Range |
$0 - $19.99/month |
| Monthly Checking Fee |
$0 - $19.99/month |
| Monthly Savings Fee |
N/A |
| ATM Fee |
$0 |
| Overdraft Fee |
$0 |
| ACH Fee |
$0 (1.75% for instant deposit) |
| Incoming Domestic Wire Transfer Fee |
N/A |
| Outgoing Domestic Wire Transfer Fee |
$15 |
| Incoming International Wire Transfer Fee |
N/A |
| Outgoing International Wire Transfer Fee |
$15 |
| Wire Transfer Fee Start Point |
$15 |
| Wire Transfer Fee Range |
$15 |
| Cash Deposit Fee |
$0 |
| Foreign Transaction Fee |
Varies |
| Excessive Transactions Fee |
$0 |
| Stop Payment Fee |
$0 |
The Found free plan offers business checking with an impressive number of free features, including:
- Expense tracking
- Customizable invoicing
- Basic customer management
- Basic tax support
However, there are no APY earnings on your checking account unless you opt for the Found Plus plan.
There is a free 30-day trial of Found Plus. If you decide not to use Found Plus after the trial, don’t forget to cancel because Found will automatically deduct the subscription cost from your balance.
Found uses Stripe for payment processing. If you use the invoicing feature to accept customer payments, you’ll be charged for payment processing.
Found Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for a Found account, you have to be the sole owner of your business, even if you have your business set up as an LLC. Freelancers and self-employed individuals can use Found regardless of their business structure, so long as they are the sole owner. This does limit some businesses from opening a Found account, which impacted our rating.
You’ll also need an SSN and will need to use your legal name for setting up your account. Opening a Found account does not affect your credit score.
Found Application Process
To sign up for a Found account, you’ll need your legal name, address, SSN, and date of birth, plus basic income and tax filing information. You can then sign up for Found from the mobile app or your desktop. Found will walk you through the signup process step by step.
Once you open your Found account, you’ll get a routing number and account number and can start requesting virtual and/or physical cards.
Unfortunately, Found is not completely transparent about the application process upfront and also does not disclose application processing times.
Found Features
Found offers a seriously impressive number of features for freelancers to manage expenses, invoices, and taxes directly from a desktop or the Found mobile app. The depth of the free features is also impressive from an invoicing and bookkeeping perspective.
Some of the checking features are left wanting on the free plan, but the benefit of built-in bookkeeping and tax support may be more than worth it for freelancers looking to manage their self-employed finances in one spot.
Found Checking
- Physical & virtual debit cards
- Pockets to organize funds
- FDIC insurance up to $250k
- Cash deposits
- Mobile check deposits
- Incoming wire transfers
- Unlimited ACH transfers
- Found mobile app
- Payment integrations
- Link card to Apply Pay or Google Pay
You can use your Found debit card anywhere that accepts Mastercard. You can also have your business name displayed on the front of your Found debit card.
Found Bookkeeping & Tax Support
For all Found accounts, you’ll find these tax and bookkeeping benefits:
- Expense management
- Automatic expense categorization
- Customizable invoicing
- Accepting invoice payments from customers’ bank accounts, Cash App, PayPal, Zelle, or Venmo accounts
- Saving items & invoices
- Saving customer information
- Scheduling recurring invoices
- Automatic payment reminders
- Auto-savings for taxes
- Tax estimates
- Tax deduction tracking
- Reporting
- Accounting integrations
If you opt for the Found Plus account, you’ll also get access to these features:
- Custom expense categorization rules, categories, & tags
- Automatic receipt capture with mobile app
- Bank, Credit card, Venmo, & PayPal activity importing
- Auto-generated Schedule C forms
You’ll also get Priority support and APY earning options with Found Plus.
Noticeably missing from both accounts are checks, international wire transfers, and outgoing wire transfers.
Transaction Limits
Found’s transaction limits are as follows:
| Transaction Type |
Transaction Limit |
| ACH |
Unlimited |
| ATM Withdrawal |
$550/day |
| Domestic Incoming Wire Transfer |
Unlimited |
| Domestic Outgoing Wire Transfer |
Not available |
| International Incoming Wire Transfer |
Not available |
| International Outgoing Wire Transfer |
Not available |
| Check Deposit |
$3,000/week |
| Cash Deposit |
$2,000/day ($4k/month cap) |
While Found has “unlimited” transactions, there is a card purchase and transfer limit of $4,000. For a freelancer, this limit might not be a dealbreaker, but for self-employed individuals needing a larger purchase maximum, this could be a problem.
Found does allow you to request limit increases.
Transaction Processing Times
| Transaction Type |
Processing Time |
| Cash Deposits |
1-2 days for first $225 |
| ACH Transfers |
Up to business 5 days |
| Mobile Check Deposits |
Up to 5 business days |
Payments from one Found holder to another are instant and don’t cost anything.
Found Sales & Advertising Transparency
Found provides plenty of information on its website to give prospective customers an idea of what to expect after signing up for an account. In addition to its website, Found is also active on social media and provides plenty of useful information for current and prospective account holders.
There is a lack of transparency in some areas, such as the application process, application processing timeline, and eligibility requirements. Overall, the company is fairly transparent and provides plenty of information without misleading advertising or spam.
Found Customer Service
Found has a detailed Help Center that answers many FAQs about getting started with and using Found. When you need to talk to a customer support rep, there are several avenues available.
| Found Customer Service |
Availability |
| Phone Support |
|
| Email Support |
|
| Support Tickets |
|
| Live Chat |
|
| Dedicated Support Representative |
|
| Knowledge Base or Help Center |
|
| Videos & Tutorials |
|
| Company Blog |
|
| Social Media |
|
Existing customers report overwhelmingly positive customer service experiences. Found Plus users get priority customer support, which means shorter phone wait times.
Found doesn’t have extended support hours, and there are no dedicated account reps available.
Found Reviews
While Found was only founded in 2019, the company has already gained a loyal following and a large number of happy customers based on its reviews.
Found receives 4.5/5 stars on Trustpilot with 82% of reviewers giving a 5-star rating. Found also receives 4.5/5 stars on the Google Play Store based on 10,000+ ratings and 4.8/5 on the Apple Store based on 15,000+ ratings.
Negative Found Reviews & Complaints
- A couple of reports of freezing accounts with money still in them
- One report where Found wouldn’t refund an unauthorized transaction
- The inability to write checks
Positive Found Reviews
- Great mobile app
- Easy to use
- Simple setup process
- Freelance-specific tax tools & features
- The convenience of having everything in one place
Is Found Safe?
Found uses industry-standard security methods, including data encryption and two-factor authentication. Found also has 24/7 fraud monitoring.
Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. The funds in your account are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor for each account ownership category. FDIC insurance only covers the failure of an FDIC-insured depository institution.
The Found Mastercard Business debit card is issued by Lead Bank pursuant to a license from Mastercard Inc.
How Does Found Compare To Other Alternatives?
While Found’s checking features aren’t quite as built out as other competitors, the company’s freelance-specific features are almost unmatched. While many other cards include invoicing and bookkeeping, Found’s freelance tax support features make Found stand out.
While we would like to see Found have a lower monthly fee for the APY rewards and a higher max, it’s worth noting that the Found monthly subscription would be tax-deductible.
The Bottom Line: Is Found Worth It?
For freelancers, Found is worth looking into. Found’s built-in bookkeeping and tax support is a huge plus and makes tracking expenses, taking deductions, and filing self-employed taxes much easier. Found is great for freelancers, sole proprietors, and micro-businesses.
For small business owners, you’ll likely find better rewards checking options elsewhere.
For self-employed individuals who are looking to grow their business, Found might also not be the best fit, as it won’t scale alongside your business. Check out our top online business bank accounts to see all of your best banking options.