Is Brigit legit? The FTC settlement explained

The short answer

Yes, Brigit is a legitimate company. Bridge It, Inc. was founded in New York in 2017, has millions of members, connects to banks through Plaid with bank-grade encryption, and charges no interest or late fees on advances. It is also a company with a regulatory record: in November 2023 it settled Federal Trade Commission charges over its marketing and cancellation practices for $18 million, and more than $17 million was refunded to consumers in November 2024. The settlement changed how the app works today, in ways that mostly benefit you.

What the FTC case was about

On November 2, 2023 the FTC filed a complaint and a stipulated order against Bridge It, Inc. in the Southern District of New York. The agency alleged that:

• Brigit advertised advances of "up to $250" when, according to the FTC, only about 1% of subscribers qualified for that amount and roughly 20% were denied an advance entirely — after paying the $9.99 monthly fee.
• Marketing claimed "no hidden fees" while express delivery carried a $0.99 charge.
• Subscribers could not cancel while an advance was outstanding, and the cancellation flow was difficult to find — a violation, the FTC said, of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA).

Brigit did not admit the allegations and said at the time that it disagreed with them but settled to avoid litigation. The order requires clear disclosure of eligibility and fees before payment, a simple cancellation mechanism, and the $18 million payment to the FTC for consumer redress.

The refunds

In November 2024 the FTC distributed more than $17 million to roughly 1.1 million former and current Brigit Plus subscribers, by check or PayPal. Payments went out automatically to people identified from Brigit's records; there was no claim form. If you subscribed between 2019 and 2023 and didn't receive a payment, the FTC's refund administrator can be reached through ftc.gov/refunds. Uncashed checks were void after 90 days.

What changed in the app

• Eligibility before payment. The three checks (account age, balance, recurring deposits) are now shown on the Instant Cash screen before you subscribe, with reasons when one fails.
• Clearer fee disclosures. Express fees are shown before you confirm; app-store listings disclose the average advance amount (about $72) and the membership range.
• One-tap cancellation in Settings → Membership, honored immediately even with an open advance.
• No-subscription path. The Terms now describe how to request an advance by email without a paid plan.
• Higher ceiling. The maximum advance has since risen from $250 to $500 — though starting limits are still small.

Security and privacy

Brigit uses Plaid to connect bank accounts, which means your bank login is entered in Plaid's secure window and Brigit receives a token, not your password. Data in transit is encrypted (256-bit TLS). Brigit's privacy policy allows sharing with service providers and, for Premium's credit features, with its bank and bureau partners; it does not sell bank transaction data to third-party marketers, but like most fintech apps it uses transaction data to show offers inside the app. You can disconnect the bank and delete the account from Settings; Brigit retains some records as required by law.

What complaints look like today

App-store ratings are high (4.8 on both stores, 850,000+ combined ratings) and Trustpilot sits around 4.5. The complaints that remain cluster around three things: being approved for a much smaller amount than expected, paying the fee during a month when eligibility was red, and slow human support. The Better Business Bureau does not accredit Brigit; its profile shows complaints mostly about billing. None of this is unusual for the category, but it is why we rate Brigit 7.9/10 rather than higher.

Our verdict

Use Brigit if you need small, recurring bridges to payday and will use the budgeting tools. If you need more than $500 or longer than one pay cycle, a personal loan with a fixed payment is the right tool — compare offers from $200 to $5,000 using the form on our homepage.