Banking app Dave Failed to Deliver Promised Cash Advances and Charged Customers Hidden Fees, According to a Federal Trade Commission complaint filed Tuesday.

“Dave lured consumers living paycheck to paycheck with false claims of large advances, then reached into their pockets to give himself a so-called ‘tip,'” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Dave, a publicly traded company describing itself as a “neobank,” currently advertises “instant…up to $500” cash advances, but only offers the full amount a tiny percentage of the time and most customers were getting much smaller amounts, like $25. , the FTC said.

Instead, the FTC said the company collected hidden fees from its customers, including “express fees” ranging from $3 to $25 for receiving money and a suggested 15 percent “tip.” .

Dave included a picture of a child with food and the text “Feeding America” ​​when he asked for the “tip”, suggesting the money was going to charity, but the FTC said that the company only donated 10 cents for each “tip.”

Dave did not immediately respond to ConsumerAffairs’ emailed request for comment.

It was hard to leave

According to the FTC, Dave described the customers it targets as “financially vulnerable” or “able to cope financially,” including those whose expenses exceed their income, who have minimal savings and who often make bank overdrafts.

The FTC said Dave also made it difficult for customers to leave.

“I tried to leave, but they literally won’t let me leave. I had to fight with them to delete my account, and I kept being charged membership fees…LEAVE ME ALONE .I HATE DAVE,” one customer wrote. , according to the FTC complaint.

The FTC fines companies to pay victims of predatory cash advance companies, meaning Dave’s alleged victims can get compensation.

Earlier this week, the FTC sent more than $17 million to victims of cash advance app Brigit, which lured customers with false promises of “instant” cash advances that trapped them into subscriptions monthly.

This isn’t the first time Dave has been in the regulatory crosshairs.

In July, the company responded to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s tightening regulations regarding payday loans.

“We are closely following the CFPB’s recently proposed interpretive ruling regarding Earned Wage Advance and Access (“EWA”), a model that Dave was originally founded on, but abandoned the start in 2022 due to a lack of certainty around the decision. regulations,” Dave’s CEO Jason Wilk said in a statement.