I found Dave via Facebook and read a lot of comments from people making fun of the service, making it sound like people who need it don’t manage their money very well. I was curious to see what it was about and why others feel the need to make fun of people who use it, so I downloaded the app (not expecting to use it, but to just see what it was). As circumstances presented themselves, being a single mom with zero help from the other parent, and trying to provide for my kids (I work full time and go to school full time so I can put myself in a better place, but until then things are pretty tight) - I found myself facing an overdrawn check fee (I wrote a check to register my daughter for school and had something else clear my checking account that wasn’t supposed to go through, which means I didn’t have enough funds for the check I wrote). I remembered I’d installed the Dave app a couple of weeks ago and within a few minutes, I was approved for a small loan and because I paid the extra $4.99 expedite fee, the money was deposited into my bank account within the hour. Dave only charges a $1.00 fee to loan you the money plus any tip you’re willing to donate, but is not required. When your paycheck is due to deposit, Dave takes the loan and fee back out of your bank account and that’s all there is to it! It’s very easy and painless and definitely worth the $1.00 fee to not have to pay an overdraft/insufficient funds fee to your bank.

Dave has been really helpful these past few months. We hit a bad financial snag and without Dave, I don’t know where we would be. Payment through debit card is fast and easy, however the bank payment is soooooo slow! I made an inquiry to my bank about a charge from Roku, (something we don’t have), and the rep I talked to immediately shut off my card for fraud even though I never requested it. That was just devastating because I now had to access to my bank account. The day of my advance settlement for Dave was the same day my new card arrived. By the time I activated my new card and set it in the Dave app to pay, it had started the process of going through my bank. It has been 4 days, the money is taken out of account and my advance payment STILL isn’t settled!! When I talked to customer service, I was told it was my bank holding it up, but I explained the money was taken from my bank and the app shows that Dave has indeed received the payment but my account still isn’t settled. I’m really hoping this changes soon! The same day my bank shut my card off, my car broke down, I can’t get it fixed because I don’t have the money. So lesson learned!! Do not talk to my bank at all when I have a Dave settlement coming up because it takes a week or more for the stupid thing to settle even though they have the money.

I am a natural skeptic when it comes to apps such as these, but just today I had a real-world experience that Dave helped me out with. The deets: This morning, I had an out-patient procedure at a hospital in downtown Philly. I was supposed to take my wife’s ATM card and use that for parking. I’m my haste, not only do I forget her card, but I also left my main ATM card at home, leaving me only with my phone, Apple Watch, backup ATM card and 20 bucks. After my procedure I return to the lot to discover that parking was $26 - $6 more than I had on me. Wife works 40 minutes away and no way she could text me the money through iMessage, since the lot is not ApplePay-ready. Stranded, I was, staring at my car in this lot. Then it dawned on me that on a whim, I previously downloaded this Dave app. I was very skeptical about providing my bank info, but since that is the only way to realistically obtain an advance, I submitted my banking info, verified my identity and email address, and miraculously Dave fronted me 20 bucks, on the spot. I was able to immediately withdraw it and pay for parking and drive off the lot. Without this service, instead of writing this review I would still be downtown, trying to figure out how to get my car off the lot!! I don’t foresee using this app much, but I wanted to share with you all a real-world example of this app being s lifesaver. I never knew I’d need it - until I needed it!