My Money Blog

Update May 2024: Juno just sent out the following e-mail today, which may be the best of example of public relations double-speak that I’ve seen in a while. Look at all those meaningless words! 😳 Juno paid out a lot of above-average valuable perks for a while, even before their crypto pivot, and I’m still not sure where the money came from. Unfortunately, the music has finally stopped and the party looks to be over. 🎉 🙅 They are reporting banking glitches and are terminating their 5% APY interest and 5% cashback program with only 48 hours notice (5/15/24). If you still have money there, I would recommend starting the withdrawal process but also having some patience. I have no reason to expect any principal losses but these types of disruptions do occur with fintech apps at times, unfortunately.

Dear Jonathan,
Juno stands at the intersection of banking and cryptocurrency, providing the quickest and easiest access to over 20 blockchains in the United States through ACH, Wire, Cash App, and more. We pride ourselves on promoting self-custody by eliminating mandatory holding periods for crypto withdrawals, distinguishing us from many U.S. crypto exchanges.

The past 18 months have witnessed remarkable growth in crypto and stablecoin sectors. These innovations are essential for creating fair and transparent financial services. At Juno, we are committed to a future where financial control rests with the users, not the banks.

In the past few days, banking services on Juno have been temporarily disrupted. Our team is hard at work collaborating with our banking services provider, Evolve Bank & Trust, and brokerage partner, Synapse Brokerage LLC., to resolve the disruptions as quickly as possible. This disruption, however, further strengthens our commitment to build a future where you are in control of your money at all times, not the banks.

Introducing Juno 2.0 – Reimagining Banking for Tomorrow

In 2024, Juno will focus intensively on developing financial services centered around crypto and stablecoins to ensure that you are always in control of your money. Our goal is to seamlessly integrate banking and crypto infrastructures to foster innovative experiences in savings, payments, and investments, making crypto and stablecoins practical for everyday use.

As part of this strategic realignment, starting May 15, 2024:

Cash held in Juno accounts will no longer accrue the 5.00% bonus, regardless of the account balance.
Additionally, purchases made with the Juno card will no longer receive a 5% cashback.

We recognize that these changes might be disappointing. However, please be assured that this decision was made with careful consideration of our long-term vision to give Juno members financial freedom by placing crypto and stablecoins at the heart of banking and financial services.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Should you have any questions or need more information, our customer support team is always here to assist you.

Update January 2024: Juno is now paying a 5.00% annualized bonus on balances from $20,000 up to $250,000 and 3.00% annualized on balances below $20,000.

Original post below, now outdated, last updated circa 2023:

Juno.finance (formerly OnJuno) is a fintech that combines an FDIC-insured bank account and a crypto custodian. Details:

• New: Earn 5.00% annualized bonus on all cash deposits up to $250,000 and 3.00% annualized on balances below $20,000. This applies to traditional cash deposits (USD), which are FDIC-insured through Evolve Bank & Trust. Applies to both the Basic and Metal tiers. No transaction or direct deposit requirements.
• New: JCOIN Loyalty Program. Earn loyalty tokens “JCOIN” when you complete certain actions with Juno. Existing users should check their accounts as Juno may have given you a bunch for free that you must claim. These loyalty tokens are redeemable inside the app for various perks including gift cards.

OnJuno partners with Evolve Bank and Trust for FDIC insurance. A reminder that cryptocurrencies, including USDC stablecoins, are not covered by FDIC insurance even though the creators claim they are backed 1:1 by US dollars. Juno has added support for crypto and external wallets. Don’t confuse your FDIC-insured USD deposits with stablecoins.

Traditional Bank-to-bank transfers. OnJuno uses the Plaid service to link with external bank accounts for funding and free ACH transfers (both deposits and withdrawals). They also provide you with the full account number and routing number, which you can use to connect with other banks like Ally, Marcus, CapOne 360, etc. The routing number is 084106768 which is confirmed as that of Evolve Bank & Trust. I was able to make a deposit and withdrawal initiated at Ally without issue (subject to transfer limits of $20,000 daily/$500,000 monthly). As with some other fintechs, their in-house limits are lower.

Bonus rate, not APY? You may notice that they don’t use “APY” and instead say “bonus rate”. Here’s their reason:

The Bonus Rate is offered entirely by OnJuno and is not interest provided by Evolve Bank and Trust. The bonus rate You earn will be credited to Your account at the beginning of each month. Your funds begin generating a bonus rate once they are available on Your OnJuno Checking Account. Please note that OnJuno reserves the right to cancel, remove, and change this bonus at any time. OnJuno also reserves the rights, in sole discretion, to refuse this bonus without cause, reason, and notice.

I’ve been getting my bonus rate every month without issue at the proper annualized rate, so this just seems to be a legal thing. Your interest is still shown on a 1099-INT at the end of the year.

Additional details.

• Customer service. You can contact them via phone at 415-969-5775 (9am to 6pm Pacific) or online message (they replied to me within a few hours).
• No minimum balance requirement.
• Fee-free access to both Allpoint and Moneypass ATM networks (85,000+ locations).
• Free debit Mastercard.
• No mobile check deposit yet.

Bottom line. Juno is a fintech banking app with a high-interest checking account with no direct deposit or debit card usage requirements. FDIC-insurance from Evolve Bank and Trust. It does have ties with crypto, which may be either a plus or minus for you.