Common questions about Spruce.

Have questions? We have answers. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Spruce.

What is Spruce and why do I need it?

Spruce is a financial technology platform built by H&R Block, which is not a bank. Banking products accessible through Spruce are provided by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC. Spruce helps you stay in control of your money through spending and savings accounts backed with technology that provides you with budgeting tools, automatic saving options and financial insights that help you be good with money. To learn more, please see sprucemoney.com/features.

What is Spruce’s mission?

Our mission is to provide a fair, frank, and progressive financial future for everyone. Why? Because we know you’re more than your finances!

Is Spruce a real bank?

Spruce is not a bank — it is a financial technology platform. Banking products you access through Spruce are provided by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

Spruce provides access to secure banking services like spending & saving accounts, digital and physical debit cards, as well as other non-banking services, like insight into your credit score.

General

When you access bank accounts through Spruce, you get a spending account as well as a savings account established at Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

You can chat with us in the app or call us at (855) 977-7823.

While Spruce accounts are not interest-bearing, our cash back rewards go the extra mile. Earn cash back just by shopping stores you know and love. Spruce Rewards are powered by Dosh. Cash back offers and amounts may vary by user, merchant location and offer period. Check the Spruce app for offer availability. Cash back earned by qualifying purchases will be deposited in your Spruce Savings Account. To learn more, please see sprucemoney.com/features/.

Spruce is not a bank, it’s a modern mobile banking app built by H&R Block — a company with a long history of helping people with their finances. Spruce offers the ability to help you track spending, create Savings goals, earn Cash Rewards, check your credit score and much more! To learn more, please see sprucemoney.com/features/.


Banking products accessed through Spruce are provided by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

Spruce is a financial technology platform built by H&R Block, which is not a bank. Banking products accessed through Spruce are provided by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

Doing your taxes with H&R Block is not a requirement to open a Spruce account (but you are always welcome to do your taxes with H&R Block!) Spruce is for anyone who wants to be good with money! We were built by H&R Block, but being an H&R Block client is not a requirement.

All you need to do now is get the Spruce app or go to SpruceMoney.com to sign up. You’ll need to provide some verification info, create a unique password, and voilà! Your Spruce electronic account will be ready to go. You’ll need to use the email address and phone number you provided while filing your taxes to create your online account if you started your electronic Spruce account in the H&R Block DIY tax experience.


Spruce Spending and Savings Accounts are established at, and the Spruce debit card is issued by, Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

No, opening Spruce bank accounts does not impact your credit or your credit score.


Spruce℠ Spending and Savings Accounts are established at, and the Spruce debit card is issued by, Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

Saving Goals

Science says you should give your saving goal(s) a name and specific value in order to be more successful.


The Spruce℠ Savings Account is established by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.

Round Up is an easy, automatic way to increase your savings — with no extra effort required. If you have turned Round Up on in your Spruce account, each time a Spruce debit card transaction for a purchase or ATM withdrawal settles, we’ll round the transaction up to the nearest whole dollar amount and transfer the difference into your Extra Saving account. Just think of it as saving in autopilot — super easy saving in small amounts that add up over time!


Tip: You’ll know a transaction is settled when you see it in your transaction history and it’s no longer listed as “Pending.”


For example, when your grocery purchase with your Spruce card for $19.49 settles, we will transfer $.51 to your Extra Savings account.


Also, if you make an out-of-network ATM withdrawal, you may get a Round Up. For instance, if you make a $20 withdrawal and the ATM owner charges you $2.50, when the transaction settles, you’ll see a $.50 Round Up transfer to your Extra Savings.

Cash Back Rewards 

Spruce Cash Back Rewards you for using your Spruce card for everyday purchases at select retailers — often at places you already visit.

 

Spruce Rewards are powered by Dosh. Cash back offers and amounts may vary by user, merchant location and offer period. Check the Spruce app for offer availability. Cash back earned by qualifying purchases will be deposited in your Spruce Savings Account.

Good question! By getting a cash back reward, merchants don’t receive any additional information about you from your Spruce card, only that you used your card to pay for your purchase. All of Spruce Cash Back Rewards are aggregated to the merchant for payment, so the merchant doesn’t receive individual information. See Spruce Rewards powered by Dosh Terms for details.

Nope! Earning cash back has never been easier, it happens automatically when you use your Spruce card at participating retailers. There’s no need to remember to select an offer before you spend.

 

Spruce Rewards are powered by Dosh. Cash back offers and amounts may vary by user, merchant location and offer period. Check the Spruce app for offer availability. Cash back earned by qualifying purchases will be deposited in your Spruce Savings Account. See Spruce Rewards powered by Dosh Terms for details.

No Hidden Fees 

Yes, fees apply for certain uses of your account. We believe in no hidden fees, so for the full list of fees, please see SpruceMoney.com/fees.

Early Payday 

First, you need to set up direct deposit to your Spending Account. To be eligible, you must receive $200 in direct in ACH deposited from an employment or benefit payer a month over the last 35 days, not including tax refunds. Once you are successfully setup, the get “paid early” feature will start to kick in. This means that your paycheck will be deposited into your account up to two days sooner than regularly scheduled.

 

Early access to funds depends on the timing of the payer’s submission of the payment. These funds are generally made available to you the day the payment instruction is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the payer’s scheduled payment date.

Courtesy Coverage 

We know these moments happen and we got you covered! Courtesy Coverage allows you to make debit card purchase transactions, ATM withdrawals, and over-the-counter withdrawals using your Spruce Debit card that overdraw your Spending Account up to $20 with no overdraft fee, giving you support when money’s tight. It is not an extension of credit; it is an optional courtesy exercised at our discretion that should be used on those rare occasions as you have bumps in the road.

 

To get access to Courtesy Coverage, you must receive $200 in qualifying deposits over the relevant 35-day time period and opt in. These deposits can come from an employer or payroll provider, or government benefits payer, and must be deposited into your Spending Account as an automated clearing house (ACH) transfer. Tax refunds do not count. You must also have a positive Spending Account balance and turn on the functionality in the app or online. To keep using Courtesy Coverage after that, you need to continue to receive cumulative direct deposits of at least $200 every month and pay it back within 30 days. To learn more, please see sprucemoney.com/features/.

Courtesy Coverage covers debit card purchases and cash withdrawals only. ACH transfers, check transactions and other transactions are not covered.

Your Spruce account

Right away! As soon as your accounts have been created, you can load funding and access your digital Spruce debit card info in the Spruce app or at www.SpruceMoney.com. You can use your digital Spruce debit card for electronic or online spending until your physical card arrives in the mail and is activated. Data rates may apply.

Managing your money is important. Spruce offers the ability to help you track spending, create saving goals, check your credit score, and much more!

Can’t find what you’re looking for?

Check out the Help Center for additional support, including more FAQs, how-to guides, account troubleshooting, product assistance, and more.

Visit the Spruce Help Center

Spruce fintech platform is built by H&R Block, which is not a bank. Spruce℠ Spending and Savings Accounts established at, and debit card issued by, Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard®. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated.

Apple and the Apple Logo are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC. Message and data rates may apply.

  1. Spruce Rewards are powered by Dosh. Cash back offers and amounts may vary by user, merchant location and offer period. Check the Spruce app for offer availability. Cash back earned by qualifying purchases will be deposited in your Spruce Savings Account. See Spruce Rewards powered by Dosh Terms for details.
  2. Early access depends on when payment is submitted. Funds are generally made available when payment instruction is received, which may be earlier than scheduled payment date. Requires $200 in direct deposits over prior 35-day period, not including tax refunds.
  3. Other fees apply for certain uses of your Spruce debit card and Accounts. See www.SpruceMoney.com/fees/ for details.
  4. No fee to withdraw money at Allpoint® ATMs. $3 fee at other ATMs, plus any ATM operator fee.
  5. Credit score is FICO® Score 8 based on Experian data. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO Score than FICO Score 8, or another type of credit score altogether. FICO® is a trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation. This is a separate service from your Spruce bank accounts, provided by Pathward, N.A.

  6. Courtesy Coverage is only available for purchase transactions, ATM withdrawals, and over-the-counter withdrawals using your Spruce debit card. It is not an extension of credit; it is a courtesy exercised at our discretion. To be eligible, you must receive $200 in qualifying deposits over the relevant 35-day time period and opt in. Negative balances are limited to $20 and must be repaid within 30 days. See Spending Account Agreement for details.

  7. Does not change IRS refund processing speed. Claim is based on making federal refunds available when payment instruction is received, which may be earlier than scheduled payment date. Depends on timing of the IRS’s payment file. Available only for federal refunds. May be changed or discontinued at any time.

  8. Under Mastercard’s Zero Liability Policy, your liability for unauthorized transactions using your Card is $0 if you notify us promptly upon becoming aware of the loss or theft, and you exercise reasonable care in safeguarding your Card from loss, theft, or unauthorized use. These provisions limiting your liability do not apply to debit transactions not processed by Mastercard. Please see Spruce Spending Account Agreement the for additional terms and restrictions that may apply.

  9. The speed at which the IRS will process your refund will not change. The “5 days early” claim is limited to Federal refunds and is based on a comparison of the Spruce policy of making federal refunds available upon receipt of payment instruction versus the typical banking practice of making funds available at settlement. This early access requires deposit of your federal refund into your Spruce Spending Account and depends on the timing of the IRS’s submission of the payment. Not available for state refunds. This program may be changed or discontinued at any time.
  10. Offer from H&R Block. Requires 1) opening of new Spruce Accounts between 1/1/23 and 6/30/23; and 2) $200 in qualifying direct deposits within 45 days of opening. Qualifying direct deposits are ACH credits, including direct deposits (but not tax refunds). Deposits that do not qualify are mobile check deposits, internal transfers, transfers within Spruce from external accounts, or cash transfers. $50 will be deposited within 14 business days after completing all requirements. Spruce Accounts may not be closed or restricted at payout. You are responsible for tax treatment of funds. Limit one per customer. May be modified or discontinued at any time.
  11. This is a separate and optional service provided by Atomic (not Pathward, which provides your Spruce Spending and Savings accounts).