Estate planning options at Upgrade
Covers 4 deposit, and 5 lending accounts at Upgrade
Customer Support
Phone(844) 319-3692
Mailing Address
Upgrade, Inc., 2 North Central Ave., Flr 10, Phoenix, AZ 85004
New Personal Loan Applications
Applications in Progress
Account Management (Card/Loan/Home/Auto)
Debit/Checking/Savings Disputes
TRS (Relay Services)
WebsiteLearn more→
Account Management — report a death here for Upgrade Cards, personal loans, home improvement loans, and auto refinance
Phone(844) 899-9931
Mailing Address
Upgrade, Inc., 2 North Central Ave., Flr 10, Phoenix, AZ 85004
WebsiteLearn more→
Checking & Savings Support — report a death here for deposit accounts (Upgrade has no dedicated estate or bereavement unit)
Phone(844) 319-3692
Mailing Address
Upgrade, Inc., 2 North Central Ave., Flr 10, Phoenix, AZ 85004
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Estate planning for your Upgrade accounts starts with understanding how each one transfers at death. Beneficiary designations bypass probate, but the right approach depends on the account type, your tax situation, and how much control you want over distributions.
Upgrade offers 9 accounts, each with its own transfer rules. The sections below cover how to set up beneficiaries, fund a trust, and which products support each approach.
Contact Upgrade directly for information about adding or updating beneficiary designations on your accounts.
Why trust accounts are not available
Upgrade does not currently support retitling accounts into a trust. The alternative is to name a trust as the Transfer on Death beneficiary, which provides similar probate-avoidance benefits while keeping the account in the individual's name. Upgrade offers neither of the two normal trust paths: no trust-titled account, and no trust-as-beneficiary (because it accepts no beneficiaries at all). That leaves joint ownership as the only survivorship mechanism, and joint holders must be added at application, not later. For a revocable living trust plan, the correct handling of an Upgrade balance is to move it to a trust-capable institution, or to accept that it will be collected through probate or a state small-estate affidavit.
Rewards Checking PreferredPerformance SavingsPremier SavingsEveryday Savings
Rewards Checking Preferred
Checking account with an Upgrade Visa Debit Card, no monthly maintenance fee, and cash back on eligible debit purchases. FDIC insured through Cross River Bank. NO POD BENEFICIARY: Upgrade's help center answers "Can I add a beneficiary to my checking/savings account?" with "At this time, we are unable to add beneficiaries." No trust titling either. The only non-probate path is a joint holder — and Upgrade only permits ONE joint Rewards Checking Preferred account, and a joint holder must be named on the original application because a joint holder cannot be added to an existing account. So if the account was opened solo, it stays solo and the balance goes through probate.
Joint WROSProbate Required
Performance Savings
Companion savings account to Rewards Checking Preferred (requires an open Rewards Checking Preferred account). No POD beneficiary and no trust titling — Upgrade "cannot add beneficiaries" on any checking or savings account. Performance Savings runs through the Custodial Deposit Program: Cross River Bank may, "as your agent and custodian," place or move funds among participating banks and credit unions, each providing FDIC or NCUA coverage up to $250,000 per ownership category per institution. An executor should therefore ask Upgrade for the program statement showing where the funds are actually held.
Probate Required
Premier Savings
High-yield savings with extended FDIC/NCUA protection through the Cross River Bank custodial deposit/sweep program. No POD beneficiary and no trust titling. A joint holder is the only non-probate option: Upgrade permits only ONE joint Premier Savings account, and the joint holder must be on the original application — one cannot be added later. Because this is often where a household parks the largest Upgrade balance, it is also the account most likely to force a probate filing.
Joint WROSProbate Required
Everyday Savings
High-yield savings account paired with Rewards Checking Plus. SINGLE ACCOUNT HOLDER ONLY — no joint holders are permitted. Combined with Upgrade's inability to add beneficiaries, that means an Everyday Savings balance has no survivorship path and no POD path at all: it is a probate asset in every case, with no estate-planning workaround available inside Upgrade.
Probate Required
Sources
Data sourced from Upgrade primary sources (16 pages reviewed). How we research.
Download these Upgrade instructions
Download instructions for the whole estateA printable PDF with the steps, required documents, and contact details — verified against Upgrade primary sources. Bring it to the branch or keep it beside the phone.
Customer Support
Phone(844) 319-3692
Mailing Address
Upgrade, Inc., 2 North Central Ave., Flr 10, Phoenix, AZ 85004
New Personal Loan Applications
Applications in Progress
Account Management (Card/Loan/Home/Auto)
Debit/Checking/Savings Disputes
TRS (Relay Services)
WebsiteLearn more→
Account Management — report a death here for Upgrade Cards, personal loans, home improvement loans, and auto refinance
Phone(844) 899-9931
Mailing Address
Upgrade, Inc., 2 North Central Ave., Flr 10, Phoenix, AZ 85004
WebsiteLearn more→
Checking & Savings Support — report a death here for deposit accounts (Upgrade has no dedicated estate or bereavement unit)
Phone(844) 319-3692
Mailing Address
Upgrade, Inc., 2 North Central Ave., Flr 10, Phoenix, AZ 85004
WebsiteNotify online→
Verified Jul 2026
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Upgrade accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
