8 Total
3 High severity
4 Medium severity
1 Low severity
Summary

This is the Terms of Use for Acorns, governing access to the company's brokerage accounts, IRA accounts, checking and savings accounts, and custodial investment accounts for children. The agreement requires users to resolve disputes through individual binding arbitration administered by JAMS rather than in court, with a 30-day window from account creation to opt out of this requirement in writing. The terms also authorize Acorns to update subscription fees with notice and state that continued use of the service constitutes acceptance of revised terms, including fee changes.

Technical / Legal Breakdown

This document governs use of the Acorns platform and its suite of services, including brokerage accounts, IRA accounts, banking, and the Early custodial investment product, on the basis of user acceptance upon account creation or continued use. The agreement states that users grant Acorns a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and distribute any content submitted to the platform, and the terms authorize Acorns to modify the agreement at any time with notice delivered via email or posting to the site, with continued use constituting acceptance. The agreement includes a mandatory arbitration clause with class action waiver administered through JAMS, a 30-day opt-out window for arbitration, and a limitation of liability capping Acorns' damages exposure to fees paid in the preceding 12 months; the arbitration clause asserts broad scope covering disputes relating to the Terms, services, or relationship between the parties, though applicable law and jurisdiction may affect enforceability of class action waivers and arbitration requirements in certain states. The document engages the SEC and FINRA frameworks given Acorns Securities, LLC's registered broker-dealer status, the Investment Advisers Act given Acorns Advisers, LLC's registered investment adviser status, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's authority over banking and payment products, and state money transmission and consumer protection laws; California residents and UGMA/UTMA custodial account holders face additional regulatory considerations given California's consumer protection framework and the fiduciary obligations associated with custodial accounts for minors.

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7 important changes detected

7 versions captured · Last updated: May 2026

May 28, 2026

unknown
What changed Acorns updated their Acorns Terms of Service on May 28, 2026. Change detected: 2 sentence(s) modified. Document contained 179 sentences after update.
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What changed Acorns added two new promotional offer terms to its Terms of Service document index on May 16, 2026: 'Acorns $50 Opendorse Promotion Terms and Conditions' and 'Acorns $20 Money Therapy Bonus Investment Promotion Terms and Conditions'. These are new promotional programs now referenced in the master terms. The substantive mandatory arbitration and class action waiver language in the Terms of Use itself remains unchanged.
Why this matters Acorns has added two new promotional bonus investment programs to its Terms of Service document: a $50 Opendorse Promotion and a $20 Money Therapy Bonus Investment Promotion. These additions expand the available promotional offers users may be eligible for, though participation appears optional. The core terms governing account operation, dispute resolution, and user rights remain unchanged.
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May 12, 2026 low

Acorns added a navigation link labeled 'Our Pledge' to the main menu on May 12, 2026. The change is a formatting and navigation update to the website interface, with no …

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May 6, 2026 low

Acorns added a new promotional terms reference ('Acorns Research Promotion Terms and Conditions') to its table of linked documents on May 6, 2026. This appears to be a formatting or …

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May 5, 2026 low

Acorns added a link to its Privacy Policy in the navigation footer of its Terms of Service document on May 5, 2026. This is a minor organizational change that makes …

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April 30, 2026 low

Acorns added a new promotional offer called '$20 Research Bonus Investment Promotion Terms and Conditions' to their terms of service document on April 30, 2026. This appears to be a …

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April 18, 2026 low

Acorns removed two items from their Terms of Service document on April 18, 2026: the mention of a $20 Research Bonus Investment Promotion and the reference to a Privacy Policy …

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Recent Provision Changes May 28, 2026

Added (3)
Limitation of Liability High

New high-severity cap on Acorns' liability exposure limits user recovery to payments made or a nominal $25, significantly restricting remedies for service failures.

Intellectual Property Content License Medium

New provision grants Acorns broad perpetual rights to any user-submitted content including sublicensing rights, creating potential data usage concerns.

Disclaimer of Warranties Medium

New explicit warranty disclaimer eliminates all implied warranties and service quality guarantees, shifting risk entirely to users.

Removed (4)
Account Eligibility and Age Requirement

Removal of eligibility/age requirement language suggests either relocation to product-specific agreements or de-emphasis of account qualification standards.

Incorporation by Reference of Product-Specific Agreements

Removal suggests product-specific terms may no longer be incorporated by reference or have been restructured separately.

User Conduct and Content Standards

Removal of explicit user conduct standards may indicate these have been moved elsewhere or represent relaxation of content moderation requirements.

Intellectual Property Rights

Removal of general IP rights protection language, replaced by the more specific unilateral content license grant favoring Acorns.

Modified (5)
Mandatory Arbitration

Changed from acknowledgment-based language to affirmative mutual agreement, and added explicit carve-outs for small claims court and injunctive relief.

Class Action Waiver

Reformatted with all-caps emphasis, changed from unilateral language to mutual agreement, and broadened from specific enumerated actions to any 'purported class or representative proceeding.'

Service and Fee Modification Rights

Evolved from generic acceptance language to specific unilateral modification rights with material change notification requirement and continued-use-as-acceptance mechanism.

Account Suspension and Termination

Replaced with explicit language granting Acorns sole discretionary power to terminate immediately without prior notice or liability for any reason.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

Replaced generic acceptance language with specific Delaware governing law and exclusion of conflict of law provisions.

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High — 3 provisions
Medium — 4 provisions
Low — 1 provision

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Cross-platform context

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Mapped Governance Frameworks

CFAA
United States Federal
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FAA
United States Federal
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FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
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Archival ProvenanceSource & Archival Record
Last Captured May 28, 2026 00:16 UTC
Capture Method Automated scheduled archival capture
Document ID CA-D-000171
Version ID CA-V-003063
SHA-256 ebdffc8a7f1d21e70524132ceae440c08e5974b054f5a2acf458ea440aaf9031
✓ Snapshot stored ✓ Text extracted ✓ Change verified ✓ Hash verified

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