Answer 

bench was started to allow concerned consumers to actively save our planet we contribute the 1% of value of each transaction that would normally come to us to saving forest. So we simply need to charge a small fee to keep the service running. We believe the unique features of our website, apps and card provide our community with the flexibility and convenience to manage their money and help stop climate change and catastrophic biodiversity loss. For us, this makes the $4.97 monthly fee great value for money, and this is just the beginning.  

If we need to charge for something it’s because we are charged a fee and we need to pass it through to you..

However, where we can, we keep banking charges as low as possible and waive others. We work to keep the monthly membership cost to a bare minimum.