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How To Dispute Bank And Credit Card Fees: Cushion App Review (2023)

Have you heard of the Cushion App? Are you sick of paying bank fees? Looking for an honest Cushion App review of the service? You’ve come to the right place.

A while back, I heard the Cushion App had a solution to those pesky bank fees. I had to take a look at it, and point certain clients to try it out and save them some money.

When you link Cushion to your accounts, it uses its AI system to scan them for different fees and interest rates. Once fees have been identified, it will negotiate on your behalf to have them minimized or eliminated. For each of the following fees, cushions are scanned:

  • Overdraft fees, ATM fees, monthly service fees, wire transfer fees
  • Credit card interest charges, late fees, foreign transaction fees
  • And more

What Is Cushion, a Review?

According to Cushion, over 90% of its clients have paid bank fees in the last three months. Think about it this way – when you sign up for Cushion they can generally check back three months of your bank and credit account statements to review for fees.  If their statement is accurate, that would mean 90% of people would benefit from Cushion on day one!!

When Cushion App discovers fees, they will alert you.  You can either try to negotiate the fee on your own, or ask Cushion to negotiate on your behalf (for a fee of course).  The Cushion App bot immediately starts working to have them eliminated via secure email, online chat, or regular mail.

You don’t have to be involved in the process at all, if you don’t want to be.  For a small fee you can have Cushion AI search, find and negotiate all of your fees for you!

  • Cushion is an Artificial Intelligence AI, digital solution to annoying bank fees – Cushion App and Cushion AIs are a fee fighter that help consumers automatically dispute and reduce bank account and get a credit card fee refund.
  • Cushion is the leader in detecting bank fees and charges on credit card accounts, predicting when a checking account overdraft fees are about to happen, and knowing which fees are negotiable or not. 
  • They offer a free basic plan that is an excellent service called Cushion which can scan your bank and credit card statements to search your financial accounts for service charges, credit card interest rates, and other types of fees .
  • Cushion offers an optional service called Fee Negotiator which will contact your credit card providers, bank accounts, and credit unions, then negotiate to reduce or eliminate those unexpected bank fees for you.
  • Wire transfer fees, credit card late fee, overdraft fees – they all add up to hundreds of dollars in savings – if you can eliminate them.  Cushion App can send you fee alerts and do the fee negotiation for you.
  • Their target audience is millennials who want to save money, but the service will work for anyone

Cushion Can Negotiate Your Bank And Credit Card Fees

The app allows users to connect their bank and credit card accounts and then negotiate their fees with the institutions. This means that users can save money on things like overdraft fees, late payment fees, and even interest rates.

Cushion has already been a huge success, with over 1 million users and counting – saving them over $12 million in fees. And it’s easy to see why. For so many people, negotiating their fees is a hassle that they simply don’t have time for. With Cushion, all of that is taken care of for you.

But how does the Cushion App actually work?

The app uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human negotiation to get the best possible deals for its users. When you first connect your accounts, Cushion will analyze your spending and payment history. From there, they will reach out to your bank or credit card company and attempt to negotiate a lower fee.

If successful, Cushion will then take a small percentage of the savings as their fee. This means that you only pay if you actually save money. And if Cushion is unable to get you a lower fee, you don’t owe them anything.

In a world where fees are becoming more and more common, the Cushion App is a much-needed breath of fresh air. No longer do you have to just accept the fees that your bank or credit card company charges you.

  • A digital solution to annoying bank fees, let the Cushion App scan your accounts for fees.
  • Whether it is your credit card company, credit union, other financial institutions or bank account fees – save hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.
  • Just sign into Cushion and let the artificial intelligence bot take care of the rest.  There are many different ways to communicate with banks about fees. Choose what works best for you.
  • Negotiation is a big part of what Cushion does. But it doesn’t always succeed.   They’re still working on improving the accuracy, but are over 95% accurate at this point.
  • Fees that Cushion can negotiate include: bank overdraft fees, ATM fees, monthly service fees, credit card interest charges, late fees, wire transfer fees, foreign transaction fees, etc.
  • Will Cushion work with my bank?  Yes, they claim to support all 15,000 U.S. banks and credit unions.

Related Reading:

Are There Any Fees To Use Cushion App?

Your first scan is free.

Scans for a year only cost an upfront $4.99 fee each year that you use the service.  Fee Genius allows Cushion to find fees for you and then negotiate them for free on your own.

Then, Fee Negotiation negotiates the fees. There is no upfront cost, but you will have to pay Cushion 39 percent of any fees they successfully refund to you. 

  • Scanning your bank account is an easy way to find hidden fees.  Cushion negotiates fees for you.  But there are different subscription levels for you to choose from.
  • You can do your initial scan of your financial accounts searching for fees, for free.
  • Fee Genius is a small $4.99 annual subscription fee that covers a daily transaction scan of your bank and credit card fees, detection, insights/analytics, and fee alerts. 
  • Fee Negotiation is an optional service that you can add to Fee Genius.  With this optional add on, Cushion will do a fee negotiation with your bank or credit card company.  There is no fee for this service if it is not successful.  If Fee Negotiation has a successful negotiation, Cushion will charge you a 39% fee of the refunded amount.
  • You can choose to do the negotiation by yourself at no additional cost.

How Do I Open A Cushion Account?

Who can open a Cushion Account?  You have to be 18 years of age or older, a US citizen and have a valid US bank account

If you’re looking to start a Cushion AI account, there are a few things you’ll need to do. First, you’ll need to create an account on the Cushion website. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to log in and start using the Cushion ai service or smartphone app.

To create an account, you’ll need to provide some basic information, such as your name, email address, and a password. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to access the Cushion ai service and start using it to manage your finances.

If you’re not sure how to use Cushion ai, don’t worry – the service is designed to be easy to use, and there are plenty of resources available to help you get started. You can find tutorials, FAQs, and support forums on the Cushion ai website, so if you ever need help, you’ll be able to find it.

  • Signing up with Cushion is easy, safe and quick. 
  • There are only 4 steps to sign up with Cushion.

Step 1 – 

  • Visit the website HERE and enter your phone number.  
  • Click “continue” to start and Cushion will send you a code.

Step 2 – 

  • Connect your accounts to Cushion and verify the information
  • Cushion will walk you through the steps of adding your bank and/or credit card information and verify your personal information.
  • Yes, it is personal and sensitive information – but it is necessary to use Fee Genius and scan for fees.
  • If you are concerned about how safe is the Cushion app- see this page for more information

Step 3 – 

  • Setup your Cushion account and choose your options
  • Decide if you want to add the Fee Genius option to your account, for an upfront $5 fee.  This will give you year of fee searches and alerts.
  • You can also add Fee Negotiation as an add on here too.  There is no upfront cost, but a 39% fee on any successful fre negotiations Cushion negotiates on your behalf.
  • You can choose to search and negotiate on your own, but you wouldn’t be reading this if that option was working for you so far.  Banks make billions a year in fees – I think it is well worth it to have the app do everything for you.

Step 4 – 

  • Once you have signed up, you will receive an email confirmation.
  • You can continue to use the Cushion.ai website – but at this point I would suggest you consider using their app.
  • A smartphone is recommended, but not required to use the Cushion app.  As long as you can receive text messages the service should work well for you

Cushion AI Features and Benefits

  • Bank and credit card fees are negotiable.  You will receive a percentage of any fees that are negotiated.
  • When you sign up, Cushion will look back as far as your financial institutions will allow.  Usually 3-6 months, and up to 12 months.
  • Either you can try to negotiate the fee(s) on your own, or let the Cushion app do the work for you (and pay them a 39% commission)
  • If Cushion negotiates for you – they will reach out either by email, chat or regular mail, to your bank.  Most negotiations take 3-5 business days, but can take up to 60 days to complete.  
  • You can track the progress of negotiations on the Cushion app or website.
  • Most fee refunds will show up on your next bank statement, but that is up to the financial institution and not Cushion.
  • Rinse and repeat, and let Cushion continue to try to save you money over and over again.  The Cushion app will continue to keep scanning, and negotiating if you opt in.
  • Cushion does not guarantee that they will find 100% of fees, nor be able to negotiate 100% of fees.

Is Cushion App Safe?  Is Cushion Legit?

  • Your funds are safe with Cushion. They store all transactions and information securely using bank level security (256 bit SSL).
  • Financial information is fully encrypted and stored securely.
  • The most sensitive information is actually never stored on Cushions servers (account sign in info for example).
  • All payments are processed through Amazon Web Services AWS.

Is Cushion App Worth It?

  • Paying for Cushion could save you money over time.  From experience, when a client signs up they often have a few in the past few months that gets discovered and negotiated!
  • How many times would you pay me $39, to hand you a $100 bill?  That is basically what the Cushion App can do for you, each time it finds bank and credit card fees – and negotiates successfully for you.
  • Overdraft fees cost consumers an estimated $300 annually.  Negotiating overdraft fees can save the average person over $100 each year.
  • In summary, it will cost you $5 to Cushion for a year.  Then Cushion will only charge you a fee if they successfully negotiate a fee for you.  If all they do is find one fee in a year for you – the service is absolutely worth it in my opinion.  You have nothing, other than $5, to lose.

Related Reading:

Cushion App Review & Summary

  • A lot of people don’t know about the fees they’re paying until after they receive an email from their bank.
  • Cushion uses artificial intelligence to negotiate lower fees.  The Cushion App automatically disputes bank fees without any action required from you or your customers.
  • You don’t pay a fee until Cushion negotiates a reduced fee for you.
  • Meaning you will save money, as opposed to paying credit card and bank fees.

Should you sign up?  In my opinion, absolutely give it a try.  If you are anything like me, I am sure you blew five bucks on much sillier things (I’m looking at you Starbucks).

Sign up for $5, let Cushion search the past several months of your financial accounts and search for fees to negotiate on your behalf.  If all Cushion does is find one fee it can negotiate for you – you came out a winner on day one.  GIVE THE CUSHION APP A TRY TODAY.

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Note: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial or legal advice. Consult with a professional advisor or accountant for personalized guidance.

Michael Ryan
Michael Ryanhttps://michaelryanmoney.com/
A former stockbroker, financial planner, and owner of my own financial planning practice and then a property & casualty agency. I have since retired and decided I want to help individuals and business owners by offering personal financial coaching. And now, I have started my blog - www.michaelryanmoney.com - to bring financial literacy to everyone. In a short time I have already been quoted and featured in US News & World Report, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and more (https://michaelryanmoney.com/home/press/) As a financial planner, I helped people from all walks of life. If you have questions about money, I will help you find the answers at www.MichaelRyanMoney.com
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