Betterment employs a comprehensive suite of security measures to safeguard customer accounts and information:

• Encryption: Betterment utilizes strong encryption protocols to protect customer data during transmission between customer devices (computers, phones) and Betterment's servers. This security measure prevents unauthorized access to data by rendering it unreadable if intercepted.

• Password Security: Customer passwords are secured through a technique called "hashing." This process transforms passwords into unique, irreversible strings of characters, thus protecting them even in the event of a system compromise. Betterment also strongly advises customers to create robust, unique passwords that are not reused across multiple platforms.

• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Betterment requires customers to enable 2FA, adding an additional layer of security to the login process. 2FA necessitates the provision of a verification code (obtained via a mobile authenticator app, SMS text message, or voice call) in addition to the customer's password, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized account access.

• App Passwords: To facilitate secure connections with external services or applications (e.g., tax preparation software), Betterment enables customers to generate app-specific passwords. These passwords provide limited, read-only access, restricting third-party applications from making any modifications to customer accounts.

• Limited Data Access: Internally, Betterment adheres to the principle of "least privilege," granting employees access only to the customer information necessary to fulfill their specific job responsibilities. This practice minimizes the potential for internal data misuse.

• Fraud Protection: Betterment implements robust systems and procedures designed to detect and prevent unauthorized account activity. Customers are strongly encouraged to report any suspicious activity on their accounts promptly, enabling Betterment to initiate timely investigations and remediation efforts.

• Secure Infrastructure: Customer data is stored on servers located in secure facilities, and Betterment employs industry-standard security best practices to protect its infrastructure against unauthorized access and cyber threats.

• Regulatory Oversight and Insurance: Betterment is subject to regulatory oversight by financial authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Furthermore, 1  customer accounts are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which provides insurance coverage against brokerage firm failure (but does not protect against market losses).

For additional information, please review: 

• https://www.betterment.com/legal/security

• https://www.betterment.com/legal

• https://www.betterment.com/help

• https://www.betterment.com/resources

• https://www.betterment.com/employees/resources

Betterment offers several fee plans for our investing services. Below we’ve listed a pricing breakdown according to account type and additional fee information.

Stocks and Bonds Investing Accounts

Betterment’s investment advice is available for 0.25% (25 bps) per year or $4 per month. While it will impact our fees, Betterment does not require you to maintain a minimum balance for your account. We call this our Digital plan because you receive our advice online. The Digital pricing plan for our stocks and bonds investing accounts is determined by your total Betterment investing balance (based on your combined balance across any stocks and bonds investing accounts, Cash Reserve, and cash goals you hold at Betterment) and your recurring deposit setup.

• If your household balance is below $20,000, and you do not have at least $250/mo in recurring deposits enabled across your household’s Betterment account(s), you will be charged $4 per month. 

• If your household balance is equal to or above $20,000, or if you have $250/mo or greater in recurring deposits enabled across your household’s Betterment account(s), you will be charged an annual fee of 0.25% (25 bps).

For 0.65% (65 bps) per year, you can also gain over-the-phone and/or email access to our team of CFP® professionals who can provide in-depth advice on all your investments as well as help you manage your Betterment account by making changes for you, based on your directions. This Premium plan requires a minimum investing balance of $100,000 (based on your combined balance across any taxable stock and bond investing accounts, IRA, HSA accounts you hold at Betterment). Learn more about additional Premium and our pricing.

Balances between $1M & $2M

If the balance of your stocks and bonds investing account(s) is between $1 million and $2 million (excluding cash balances held in Cash Reserve, cash goals, Betterment Checking, HSA balances, and 401(k) balances through Betterment at Work), you will receive a 10 bps discount on the portion of your balance above between $1 million and $2 million: 

Stocks and Bonds Investing Accounts

Digital: 0.15% (15 bps) per year

Premium: 0.55% (55 bps) per year

Balances in excess of $2M

If the balance of your stocks and bonds investing account(s) is in excess of $2 million (excluding cash balances held in Cash Reserve, cash goals, Betterment Checking, HSA balances, and 401(k) balances through Betterment at Work), you will receive an additional 5bps discount on the portion of your balance above $2 million: 

Stocks and Bonds Investing Accounts

Digital: 0.10% (10 bps) per year

Premium: 0.50% (50 bps) per year

Balances are calculated based on household. If you qualify for part of your balance to be managed free and have a balance above $2 million, the dollars managed free will be those with the higher fee.

Calculating Fees

Betterment’s pricing plan fee calculation varies depending on your plan. To read in-depth about this topic, please visit this resource. 

Your total fees can be found on “Activity“, filtered by “Fees”, for a customizable time frame. You can then download a CSV statement to quickly total your fees.

What does the fee get you?

For traditional securities investing accounts, Betterment’s fee covers the investment advice you receive, your portfolio management, all trading and custody fees associated with your account, transfers, and all other account administration. 

Are there any transaction fees?

We do not charge you additional transaction fees to buy and sell securities within your stocks and bonds portfolios. Any fund held in this type of portfolio at Betterment will assess fund-level fees, called expense ratios, but Betterment aims to keep these costs low, and we receive no part of these fees. Learn more about each fund fee here. 

In the event you transfer your account to another provider, Betterment charges a flat fee of $75 to process the transfer of each account being sent to another company. Please note that the receiving firm may also have their own transactional fees. Feel free to refer to our FAQs and disclosures for additional information about outbound transfers.

Fees on Cash Accounts

Finally, Betterment does not charge any account fees for Betterment Checking or Cash Reserve. In regards to Cash Reserve, Betterment LLC only receives compensation from our program banks.

No. Since Betterment does not lend out money, the only check we do is an identification (ID) verification as required by law. We do not pull your credit score or act in any way which would impact your credit rating.

As a Customer Service Associate, you may be asked the same questions over and over again. Instead of typing out the same answer every single time, wouldn't it be great to have a way to send that answer instantly? And that's where chat macros come in!

Pre-written Responses: Macros are pre-written responses to common questions or situations. They're like templates that you can quickly insert into a chat.   

Automated Actions: Some of Betterment's macros can even do more than just send text. They can also automate other actions within the chat system, like:

• Assigning the chat to a different department

• Adding a tag to the conversation   

You'll be able to find a list of our Macros here.