Step
reviews and complaints

Okay first I used another kids card for myself and my mother ran it but it shut down because there was a monthly fee of like $10 that wasn’t paid and the card automatically removed itself from my Apple Pay and I could not put the card back on my Apple Pay I just signed up for step and had my mother set up an account I had looked at the step card app and I saw I can’t get my card until close to January 6 so the card comes a little late I would like it to come earlier than that like a couple days after you order it but it set itself up in my Apple Pay so I can put money of it but use Apple Pay to pay for whatever I’ve had no but experience yet and hopefully I don’t have to experience that and how you can set goals and change the color with a cash tag for people to send you money is pretty good. This is just my experience with kids cards and step I hope it continues to move on how it is I would like to get my step card sooner than I’m supposed to. But all out it’s a good kids card I could recommend it for parents and kids. Save up ur money kids

I got this card for my teenager thinking that it would help with our credit teach her responsibility etc. etc.However both me and my teenager need a separate number and since she’s broke her phone we had a bunch of issues trying to access her account I finally was able to access her account a couple of months later and tried to send myself back the money that I put on there because you cannot use it on cash app I could not use it at target I could not use this card for Google play could not use the card for anything. After I updated both of our phone numbers it still sent the money back to me via a text of my old number so now we have no access to the money whatsoever this is an extremely complicated ridiculous app they expect someone with children to be using I would not recommend it try to get a greenlight card or just let your kid have a cash app under your cash app because this is time consuming and frustrating. I wish I could attach a photo to the reviews. Customer service was slow and unhelpful by the time they replied I had googled the info myself. Just overall dot. Waste your time.

Now first I will say, I don’t have a ID yet BUT even as a 18 year old they still allowed me to open a account, not only is this card FDIC insured they have probably one of the best support teams I have seen. All these other banks like Current or even the cash app card required a state ID or drivers license. 100/10 do recommend step. It took only two days for them to verify my information so I can request the card. I heard a lot of good things about these people and did some research about them. So far only one person was skeptical of them and he was a teen but at the end of the day that’s up to his parents but if your an adult I would recommend these people. Worth the storage on the phone. Time to remove the other bank apps now that they are taking up my space, I will always use step for now on and maybe get a local bank account just in case. But in the end the benefits and all are worth it, free no fee ATMS, no need to pay to keep the account open and much much more. If you see that it charges a fee to withdraw money from an ATM don’t worry Step has you covered they will reimburse you for the charge. THANK YOU STEP!

Step is great ! I am under age and my parents don’t feel comfortable with putting out my ssn on banking sights, so I was never able to use cash app, PayPal, etc. Since I was never able to use those online “banking” I was never able to order anything unless I asked my mom or dad. So I noticed that a creator sponsored step and I was very desperate especially when I saw that EVERYTHING is free. I downloaded it and signed in and asked my dad if he could sponsor my account he was sketchy but now he is very happy to be with step it’s so easy for him because when he used cash app he had to add an extra dollar to everything since they took a small portion and the money doesn’t go into the persons account right way but now when he sends me money on step and all he has to do is send the money to me with out adding and extra dollar and it’ll be in my account ASAP ! Also, they have Step Saturday on Instagram where you can earn 10-100 dollars I think, My first time doing I got lucky and earned 10 dollars I’m so grateful! Lastly, they have great customer service. I was having problems with confusion but Drew helped me very much and a lot of others help too!
So happy to be part of step !

#GOPINK
- $bridadonn

To Cut to the chase if you have a iPhone and use this app it will scam you no joke me my girlfriend and her dad have all used it, we all have iPhones do not keep money on app if either virtual card or physical card is not locked because they will try whatever way they can to take the money that is left in your wallet or bank if I could show you proof I would but I have 2 scroll down pages full of this summary - apple 9.99 /apple 19.99/ apple 39.99 if enough funds are left on card and maybe some of you will think I am stupid and have multiple subscriptions on record but no I actually watched numerous YouTube videos on how the apple subscriptions work and I will say that truthfully if you will believe me that I am correct I have not used this app on an android but I assure you this app would work fine with certain androids however no subscriptions were on record for me and others mentioned and has stolen roughly $600 USD I’ve tried to contact apple and step directly and even apple said that they could not find any records or proof besides my own on the fact that this app has legitimately stolen so much of our money it’s unbelievable. Apple thought I was just prank calling or better yet not being serious eventually he said there was nothing he could do to help me and that he was sorry and recommended me not to use this app on a IPHONE!

Okay so I am 11 years old. My family introduced me to this app about an year or two ago. My card came in like a week. Step works at so many places.Such as target Bobalust tj maxx Dollar tree you name it. I Step also even added a savings goal. I get money from my family because they all have step. And just as much as I love step so does Charli D’Amelio. If I go to a store and I know that my parents won’t buy me the thing I want I will bring my step card to buy it myself. Step is the perfect app for any ages and even adults.Not only is that a Visa debit card it is also a savings and bank account if you don’t want a debit card then you can just have a bank account stuff is so simple all you need to do is if you get an allowance your mom or your dad has to also have step and your friends can send you money there you can send them money. There is also no pins or anything so it’s super simple to make an purchase. I love step so so much and I can go on years talking about how much I love it but we’re gonna keep it short so in conclusion,Step works at so many places so simple so easyAnd whenever I make a purchase with my Step visa debit card I have this feeling that makes me super happy. It’s a great app there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t get step and you can’t get step.
Love this app
- Happy customer (she/her)

I only signed up for step because it was an easy way to send my sons money for chores and for them to use it to buy things online. The ONLY thing I do is send my sons money. I don’t use the step for any other transactions.

Out of nowhere I get an email telling me they are closing my account. No reason given. You cannot contact them by phone and if you email or use live chat you get the same canned response over and over again.

This is all they told me “ After a manual review, it was found your account activity did not align with one or multiple items within our terms, and we were required to close your Step bank account to comply with our policies. You can find a complete list of our policies here”

The activity of sending my sons 10.00-20.00 every so often? That activity? One will never know because ALL they will do is send that response over and over again.

I believe my account my have been compromised due to lack of security on their end and they will not tell me if my personal information has been leaked. That is the only reason I can think of since I haven’t even logged into this account for over a week. So apparently your bank info and credit card information is not safe with them and they will NOT inform you if someone got into your account. They just close it and tell YOU that you violated their terms. Now I will have to close every card I had on file with them just to be safe.

I have had this app for a while now, and it’s safe to say that Step is truly better than Current! Here are the reasons:

1: NO FEES! - Unlike Current’s $36 per teen per year crap, Step proves to “step” outside the banking circle to make banking better for teens! You guys rock with the no-fee thing!

2: NO CRAZY ACCOUNT TRANSFER: As a teen myself, my parents are already pre-occupied with everything else in their bank accounts. Current requires your parents’ bank account AND the $36 a year. Step, however, is not like that AT ALL. All you need is your parent(s)’s bank account to provide you with money, and THAT’S IT!

3: THEY ARE OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS: Teens love to speak their mind, and what better way to speak your mind than with suggestions~! Step, true, had a long waiting time for certain teens, but they make it up to you in a completely better way than typical banks! Current is SO fixed on “modern banking“, they have 98% NEGATIVE rating on Trustpilot!

4: GREAT BENEFITS!: This is the best part about Step! Besides no fees and a no-robot staff that responds genuinely, they provide you with a terrific 2.5% APY on EVERY DOLLAR SAVED!

Now, how do I know this? It’s simple: trying out the app for myself. I have tried Current before, but that was stupid AF with its crazy fee structure. Seriously, though. If you want a great bank with great benefits and no fees for you teens out there, Step is the bank for you!

It was odd to see a small company roll out a app and only have early sign ups use it at first so i just left my account to sit there until a lot of people had it. and boy am i glad i did!

Step has been great for my small teenage ran business! now I am able to use it to get my direct payments from facebook marketplace using my routing info and i’m able to deposit from my PayPal and Venmo! Here are some pros and cons though!

Pros
No Fees :)
Amazing Customer Support
Easy access to money!
Referrals up to $6 per person!
Apple Pay!
Great App
amazing money management!
ATM Access (for step squad members)
Easy to Join Step Squad that unlocks $6 referrals and ATM access!
Ability to Transfer Money to a different bank! (Step Squad)
Easy ability to lock your card!

Cons (i was assured that all of these will be fixed soon!)
ATM access still has fees at some ATMs
No deposits at ATM
Takes 2-3 Days to verify bank routing on paypal and venmo
No Instant Transfers (it’s a Credit Card)
no Evolve Bank Teller ID
No Checks

BUT all of these as I have been told will be added features soon!

Hopefully step switches to a traditional Debit Card To cut some fees down with ATM or give us a Seperate ATM card like some banks do!

And hopefully aswell they get that Evolve Teller ID thing Fixed!

As my first Online and Checking account I cant complain!

I’m proud to be a member for the #stepsquad which can be joined with 3 referrals , 2 peer to peer transfers, and 1 purchase made with apple pay or Card!

In a matter of minutes, my daughter had 100% of debit/checking balance cleaned out when her debit card data was compromised. Charges spewed in every 60 seconds from Nairobi Business Express ($55.02), to Netflix, to dozens of $0.80 payments to “Medicare Geek Tibkisi”. Within 30 minutes she had nothing left of her savings!

Step isn’t responsible for the data compromise, probably a vendor she used the card with got hacked. But, Steps systems didn’t recognise the fraud as it was occurring and block it. They approved and paid every transaction until the balance was zero. Now we are in a weeks long battle with Step. They want proof that we have contacted every merchant and disputed the claim. How do we contact “Medicare Geek Tibkisi”? It’s going to take a very long time to get her money back, if ever. Now she is crushed and distrusts the financial system and hates Step.

We have found a better option with the Oh Henry app which offers a checking and savings account. Now she can keep 90% of her money safe in the savings account and only move small amounts into the checking/debit card account.

Having a debit card(Visa) is very risking because your child’s full balance is at risk. Thank God my son didn’t lose the $1,610 he has been saving. Today we set up the Oh Henry app and moved all the money into the savings account which can’t be drawn down by the debit card.

Step owes it to its customers to: 1) dramatically increase the strength of its fraud review (very easy to block a transaction and then ask child, via the app, to approve), 2) make fraud disputes easier and quicker, 3) add a saving account to the app.

Don’t bank with step. They have extremely poor security , poor customer service and it’s far to simple for ANYONE to write in and pose as someone else to gain access to your account. My child was taken advantage of for the referral bonus and once my husband and I noticed the ill intent , we immediately collected proof and sent it their way. We also validated our identity to prove that we were the actual parents and sudden owners of the accounts that were created using our phone numbers and names. We were penalized and then customer service was extremely rude to me but not the wrist actually commuting the scam. We were extremely concerned as they would’ve been had they been in my shoes but they don’t care because it’s not them.

They allow multiple devices to easily be signed into once account which puts the account at risk. We brought that their attention and still got a big F *** you when it was all said and done. We lost our money that was in our account as did my daughter. They said it was transferred to linked accounts but we have NO LINKED ACCOUNTS. This is not a very secure, friendly, organized banking system you can trust with your hard earned money and your children. You can give them all the proof in the world but they literally don’t care.

Don’t waste your time. Don’t waste your money. They comment on these posts acting concerned but really -once you get in contact with them -it’s all a bunch of crap from there!

It’s a pandemic for god sakes and you allowed more people to suffer than relieved with the little bit of money we barely get now as it is. Our family is already struggling and you guys lost our money? Insane.

For families that want to teach their kids finance and money management through banking -Step is not it !

I’m 14 and my dad always wanted me to have a way to access money without being a bunch of cash when I go out with my friends, so he got me this app and we’ve had it for almost a year(?). I was so excited when I got my account and had money added to it. I was even more excited when my card came in the mail! I’ve had no problems at all and it’s so simple to use my card. And parents, if your worried about what your kid buys, you can see what they purchase and how much money they put in savings or stuff like that. The account connects to Apple Pay and so now I don’t have to have a bunch of cash in my phone case. It’s also really nice having offers with this app for multiple stores, such as 5% back at Chick-fil-A or something. I’ve used this card to order online at multiple stores. Also, you can invest with this app as of recently and it’s really interesting to experience crypto currency. The only reason that I don’t give it five stars is that I’m pretty sure you can’t have people with other teen money apps give you money. I say this because I have small business with friends and people from school who pay me to crochet things for them and some of them with apps like Greenlight can’t pay me digitally and have to bring me cash, which is just had for the both of us. If there is a way to connect with apps like greenlight then I will totally change my review to 5 stars, but I don’t think that there is. But that my only downside. Other than this I love being able to use this app and earn money for chores and helping with my siblings. I would definitely recommend this app!

(And I know this review is kinda long, I just really want people to know that despite some of the negative reviews I saw, there are so many great things about this app! Thx for reading this far!)

I love how the service allows for parents to sign up their kids of pretty much all ages for their own account which is something that is nearly impossible to find, and the service was great in the beginning. I didn’t notice any issues initially.

The problem is, I began noticing when purchases would go through, there was larger charges than what the price point was for the actual purchase. Initially, I figured this was due to delays when my kids would make multiple purchases in the same day, and it calculating it and showing up later on as one total sum. However, I began to notice this occurring even with known singular purchases that were spaced out to avoid frequent purchasing before the other charges posted to keep better track.

Something that was supposed to cost $10 showing up as almost $17 for example; even with taxes and fees it would normally only come to less than $11. That is not normal and does not happen when I use any other cards for the very same types of purchases.

I left my balances at $0 on purpose as a test because I also began to notice a bunch of charges showing up in the accounts for purchases that weren’t even being made. So, now I am certain there is either a glitch in the APP that is causing the random repeated charges or someone behind running the system is sneaking in these charges thinking no one will notice. Either way, the issue is not okay and needs to be resolved.

I would really like to continue using the service, especially for my youngest because she doesn’t have other options for her own account quite yet; there’s either no other options due to her age or ridiculous fees included on the service, but I will not continue being ripped off in this way. I’d rather pay an honest fee then continue losing money by falsified charges being posted to my account.

EVERYBODY MAKE SURE TO ADD THE FULL YEAR TO JOIN NIT JUST 05 DO 2005 OR SOMETIN.
My review: This app is pretty cool, problem is nobody is interested in doing it which is kind of sad so I don’t get money.. but yeah I can’t wait to try it out during spring and see how this thing works, I’m also wondering do I have to need a parent when I’m 13? Can I just have trusted adult like my eldest brother? I just saw this online and decided to get it and my parents don’t allow me to do anything XD. I would love to have more information on how this app works in the future! Also how does 2.5 interest work? So I would get like $2.50 every month(week, year?)? How would that work? Anyways so I can make so more money and you guys can get your first dollar please use my code DSOWN

LET ME HELP YOU:
Also I’m kind of angry of the kids who don’t know how to read or how to correctly put in information, LET ME HELP YOU. The money will be available in the future in spring because the creators of the app haven’t built their stash of money yet or whatever the heck not that hard to understand, also you need to put the full year of your birth date not just two numbers it will not work. If your app is not working and is crashing then it is probably because of the device being a older version or this app doesn’t support the device you are trying to get on! Hopefully this will help. Also to get a dollar, you need to be invited by a friend or have reward number, mine is DSOWN so use mine to get one dollar when you join, either put it in when you join or go click the three bars on the top right after you signed up and click help, below there should be something that says if you need to use a reward code, this usually happens when you get invited but if you were only given a code put in the code there and maker sure it is 100 percent correct. Or if you got this app on your own use this code DSOWN

I honestly thought that this app was going to be great for me and building the credit I need. I was using it like normal, adding a ton of money to it, and use it like a normal debit card. One day I tried to open my app to use it at a restaurant that I had already placed an order at and pay with my step card. The app wouldn’t load and I didn’t think anything of it, I just thought it needed an update maybe. A few days later I still try to open the step app but... nothing was happening. And then go into my email and search “step” as it pulls up a deactivation letter stating that they deactivated my account because it was for teaching people how to use their money… But that’s what I got it for so I’m not so sure why my account got deactivated. They stated in there that I did not use the account correctly, but as I stated before I use it like a normal debit card which is what they say you need to do when you get it. So after a week of not being able to load my step up to pay for anything, after reading the deactivation letter, I then try to find a phone number to call step and get my account reopened. But there is no number for step support. The only way that you can get in touch with step is if they email you first. I needed my account re-opened because my direct deposit from my job goes on that card and they have my money. I can’t get anyone to answer the email back, or anyone to give me a phone number to get in touch with step support. This app is not the app for you and definitely not worth your time if you’re going to use it and they’re going to deactivate it as soon as you swipe the card. It is very unprofessional of them and very frustrating for people who have over $300 on that card but can’t load the app and can’t use the card.
If any one of you are reading this and have a phone number for me to get in touch with step that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I’m the oldest of my mom’s 7 kids - 23. I’m usually the one who helps the kiddos handle their finances. This was extremely beneficial to my 15 yr old sister because she plays in band, is always going to away games to perform, hangs out with her friends - which when they’re together, they go out to eat, to the movies, just typical teenager stuff.

My sister also makes online purchases. So she withdraws her money from Step and adds it to her Chase account, which was opened by our mom.

Well one day, I get an email from Step saying that our accounts needed to be verified because of suspicious purchases and they need a picture of my ID and bank statements of my sponsee showing her name. So I send them my ID and a screenshot of recent purchases made with the last 4 of the card info. And I told them that the card belongs to my sister. That should be good enough. But it wasn’t. I don’t understand why we have to jump through so many hoops.

Anyway, the info I provided wasn’t enough. Account activity was limited, so can’t use the funds in there. And they want a selfie of ME taken with my ID. And bank statements of my sponsee’s card showing recent transactions. And not only that, they want me to include another selfie taken with the ID of the account holder (our mom) of the Chase account, all because of some “suspicious activity.”

But what do you do? This seems to be the best alternative for my kiddos (siblings) to have money when out and about. Or if they don’t have enough money for an unexpected event, it’s easy to send over funds they can readily and easily accept. I do hope after all is said and done that we’re able to keep using Step. And I hope to high Heavens once this dang account review is completed, we don’t have to go through this anymore.

Maybe in the future, they can request the necessary info up front - such as your ID and your kid’s acc that will be used to withdraw money, if they have 1+. This could avoid the hassle and downtime of having to go through an account verification process.

They were fine at first when I wasn’t really bringing in funds but once I started working and really bringing in money, their support became awful. They are still holding my check even after saying they would return it to my employer. After multiple times of trying to get in contact with their support I would just get auto bot responses. I’m starting to think they scammed me and stole my check. I can’t even message within the app and have resulted to having to send emails to them. This wouldn’t be much of a problem had it only been a couple days but they’ve been holding my check for over a month. Maybe if there’s some change in their support system and they add a phone number we can call for human customer service I would be able to get this fixed up.

This is a joke of a whatever it is bank/ fake credit card at first I couldn’t find it kept saying I couldn’t at this time contact support finally prices the cards I was funding with were mine for “my safety”so now I can’t spend my money every time I use the card I get declined for transaction failure there’s no phone support I imagine cause they know there terrible and don’t want to have to deal with it first hand so you have to message them in app and hope for a respond well for 2 days I’ve been hearing we’lol escalate this to whatever team handles it probably no one cause whoever it was is suppose to be in touch but I still can’t use my card and I’m using my real bank card which I put all my money in this to try out so now I’m over drafting my bank because of this do not waste your time or money

I had both of my teens get this card so I didn’t have to have my bank cards or credit cards being used for their purchases. It was easy to send them money through the app and they didn’t need to bother me when they wanted to purchase something.

Everything was great until a 65.00 unrecognized charge came through on my sons card. I had him immediately dispute the charge and provide all the supporting documents they asked for.

Within 4 days he was given a provisional credit, which was removed 4 hours later. The dispute was “declined” and we were given no reason as to why. No email, no follow up call, nothing.

And when I attempt to call I realize they have no phone number to reach them, just an email. This alone is a red flag. I have emailed them and am awaiting their response before I escalate this further.

Would not recommend this card if you ever think you may want to dispute a transaction.

This card was easy to get and easy to use physically, but the app is not. REMEMBER THIS IS A CREDIT CARD NOT A DEBIT CARD We had an issue with the app but chat didn’t work either. It was super difficult to cancel the card. No customer service number and it takes one hour per question to get your response back by email and when I cancel the card it took about 2-3days to finish the conversation and getting my money back was another issue.They do not have the system to just let you transfer your money back to the linked bank account. Customer rep said different things and it was very confusing. One of the rep said you can just delete the app (which you should NOT DO)other rep said parent can’t cancel the account and they need to directly get in touch with my child even though I’m responsible and it’s linked to my bank account. I regret deeply for having this app and let them keep track of everything my child was doing. Red flag alert!

Listen this app was all great for only 3 weeks bruh I literally was a-ok with the app then one day I wake up and was Finna transfer money into my account from my other card.And it keeps saying something went wrong try again.. I delete the app re-download abt 16 times bro still ain’t work then when it works it’ll send me the verification code I literally sit here every single verification code they sent after numerous times of pressing “re send code” I literally got so mad that I can’t access my account to the point I was Finna cry bruh.. then I thought it was just the app but nope I tried my number that’s not even in service no more and it goes thru but when I put in my number I signed my account up with it keeps saying something went wrong I have money on my account bruh yall really snake for taking my bread omm I want my money back on me or y’all figure what y’all did to my account my auntie got money to send me bro I’m missing days on eating cause of y’all bro cmon now