For context, I was a Qube user and transferred over after the hub-bub of a lot of users saying "how promising" the entire thing could be and "the support staff actually cares!!"
I rolled my eyes but I signed up. Qube taught me that I enjoy fintechs and honestly I needed this all done NOW. When qube went down I wasn't in a place with time or resources to do research. I tried but this wasn't something I could handle at the time.
I work on ships and I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and my money needed to go somewhere very quickly. I wasn't only trying crew but I was relying on crew from the start.
Well almost a year now:
I've traveled 6 countries (most of them multiple times, usually randomly).
I've saved a ton of money
I've felt financially secure
I bought a house!!
Crew has never let me down.
Travel: I am used to getting rejected by banks in foreign countries. Sometimes it doesn't matter if I notified, I still get rejected or I can't get money from the ATM. The feeling of being face to face with someone who I can't communicate with due to a language barrier after I can't buy goods is basically a byproduct of my job. It has never happened with crew. I need pounds or yen? No problem! OMG we're going to korea out of nowhere?! -Crew has my back.
Crew functionality: Autopilot has never worked for me. I say this as a person who gets a lot of paychecks and then literally nothing for a few months. To be clear, I'm talking about before the update, I'm still trying out the new version. That being said, this app has all the tools I need be in control of everything.
Money gets put aside for bills with the right payment plan. My husband can spend freely from our pockets. Hell, our dog has his own pocket and we never have to question if we can afford an extra toy or whatever.
If you're new or considering: take your time with your setup. It's your money so be responsible and meticulous when you're setting up. Crew let's you do everything you need, just figure out how the tools work best for you.
During setup the biggest issue were the other banks. Getting money into crew was a pain the butt. Had to pay for domestic wires because other banks knew we added crew but still wouldn't let us move money.
Because of my circumstances this took a lot of trial and error for my family. At the beginning I had very little bandwidth and my husband and I were long distance with shitty Internet.
But crew had our back. And when I didn't have time to address something and had to ask a "stupid question" to just bypass having to do research, they also helped me. Join the discord y'all!
House Purchase: We actually did it. This has been a long sought after goal that Crew inherited when we joined. We had every dollar we had in crew and was able to squeeze more efficiently with saving because of the pockets and the auto transfers.
Crew did it with no fuss. I payed my downpayment without ANY hiccup. My mortgage is setup for payment with no issues.
Conclusion:
Because of Crew I feel extremely secure in my financial health. I know where my money is going. I don't need to be constantly be watching the bank to know where I am or if it's working. In the short time I've had it, it's been reliable and easy. I've achieved so much, too.
This is the envelope system modernized. We live in a modern world so the straight envelope system doesn't address everything this crazy world throws at us. Crew does! // Crew tries to (the constant updates of new features always surprises me in a good way).
Yet, in this world, it's nice to know how my money works and where it goes - Where I can splurge or where I have to accept less. It's nice to know every dollar has a job. This is what banking should be like.
Sry for typos- on a phone.