Hidden charges, unnecessary fees, and not a single chance of getting a waiver from your bank?
We’ve all been there.
If you’re one of the people who have recently found out that you were being charged a monthly maintenance fee on one of your bank accounts that you don’t use or a service you never subscribed to, making a complaint and getting your money back can be a long struggle.
This is where technology has made things easier for us. A popular app, Cushion AI, can help you avoid bank fees on your own. Cushion keeps an eye on your accounts for hidden fees and will contact your bank when they appear.
Do you want to know how the app can help you?
Find out everything you need to know here with a complete Cushion App Review to make an informed decision and save your money from being held by the bank over a pointless case.
Now, let’s not keep those dollars waiting and jump right in!
What is the Cushion AI app?
Paul Kesservani founded cushion to control your financial accounts and remove any unexpected fees or interest. No matter what the fee is, the app will work to get it covered. Run by an AI algorithm, the app saves you the hassle of going in and out of the bank and several tiresome procedures to get back your money.
Cushion reports that 93% of its users have had a bank fee charged to their accounts within the past 90 days. If you’re often hit with unexpected bank fees, this service may be a good fit. With the help of Cushion, you will never have to worry about having to argue with your bank about a fee.
How does the app help you get refunds from the bank?
Since the platform’s launch has helped customers recover over $8 million in banking fees. Although there are advanced algorithms behind the magic of Cushion, you need to be a member to reap the benefits.
Registering on the app is quick and secure. You’ll need to enter your phone number within the mobile app to sign up. Next, you will be asked to connect the bank or credit card accounts you would like Cushion to scan continuously.
The Cushion supports over 15,000 banks and credit unions in the United States. The company has strict security measures to protect your data, and they never sell your personal information.
With Cushion connected, it will monitor your accounts and try to get you the best possible fees. When negotiating a contract, it can take from a couple of days up to a month or more for your bank’s process to complete.
Cushion AI features explained.
In a nutshell, Cushion is an AI bot that fights your refund case in your stead by overseeing your bank fees and keeping tabs on unnecessary subscriptions or charges that pop up uneventfully. Before using this advanced platform, you might want to learn more about its features and what the app offers.
For a free subscription, a free dashboard scans your current accounts and tells you the total fees you have paid in the past 12 months. However, the free plan only scans and reports your fees. You’ll have to become a paid member of Cushion for the main functions.
So let’s find out how the Cushion App functions behind the screen:
1. Fee Genius
The premium service of Cushion, fee Genius is a great tool that costs $4.99 per year. It makes it easy to manage your finances and helps you save money. This report provides an overview of your past 12 billing periods, including a breakdown of each fee you paid.
Fee Genius’s daily transaction scanning feature allows you to see expenses as they are currently being spent, in addition to the history of expenses. Fee alerts let you know when a bank fee is charged. Monitoring your expenses and checking your account balance is an effort to warn you of potential overdraft fees.
2. Fee Negotiation
If you want to take advantage of Cushion’s $4.99 annual membership, you can sign up for Fee Negotiation. This optional add-on allows you to get back the money that was charged unfairly. Fee negotiation is where the true value of Cushion lies, as they do their best to get you back on all the fees you have paid over the past year.
There are some important things to consider before you decide to start using the app. Fee negotiation can result in a 39% cut of any fees successfully negotiated. If you receive a $100 bank fee refund, you will pay Cushion $39.
This fee is charged to your credit card on file, while your financial institution will usually refund your account. You have no say in what fees Cushion negotiates or when they are negotiated. Cushion analyzes the bank and the fee proposal, and if it feels it can successfully negotiate the fee, it begins the process.
The value of using a Fee Negotiator can be highly variable, depending on the inflexible or hard-to-negotiate fee at a particular institution. But you can disable this add-on anytime, so don’t hesitate to use it over time!
Pros and Cons of using Cushion
Cushion can be a useful tool to recover additional fees paid to your bank. And while we’ve discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using the app, let’s go over them again.
Pros:
- A free plan for the fee-tracking software
- Works with most banks and credit cards around the US
- The app saves you time and effort as it negotiates on your behalf
- A small annual fee
Cons:
- The process isn’t guaranteed and can take as long as 90 days
- The 39% commission on every refund is higher than the alternatives
- You can’t choose which fee to negotiate
- You must continue to pay the subscription fee even in unsuccessful cases
Final word
With all cards laid out for you, the final decision is yours to make. You can try out the free version of the app and see how well the algorithm works for you before you start recovering fees from the bank!