June 23rd, 2010
Want MORE Cash Back? One Company Is Listening…
While credit card perks are getting slashed and debit cards and checking accounts face looming fees, the start-up Perk Street Financial will soon be offering the irresistible upgrade to double their debit card’s cash back program to 2% cash back on every dollar of debit card purchases the cardholder signs for. If you’re looking for a great rewards debit card, you might have found it.
PerkStreet Financial’s debit card is something we’ve liked before, offering interesting rewards programs of coffee, music, or cash, and a banking philosophy hinged on serving consumers an honest, quality product. “We believe that banks should align their goals with their customers’ best interests – to give them what they want and need,” reads the site’s vision statement. Who could disagree with that? Now, the extra cash back is an extra incentive to check out their product again.
With the PerkStreet Financial debit card, any customer with a balance of at least $5,000 at the start of each day can earn 2% cash back; those with balances below $5,000 can earn the usual 1% cash back. There is no limit on cash back earned at the 2% rate, and PerkStreet remains a free checking account, and no sign of them changing with the times (i.e the era of ending free checking).
The New York Times makes a great example to put in perspective just how generous this offer is: “Those who spend $2,000 a month on a Perk Street debit card and have at least a $5,000 balance will earn $480 in annual awards. And that’s before any earnings from the 5 percent bonuses in various merchant categories that the company plans to start offering this week.” And remember, this offer comes at a time when you’re hard pressed to find a debit card that earns at least 1%; and the ones that do, like the Chase Real Cash Debit Card, only offers cash back for specific categories.
However, PerkStreet still faces some challenges in getting consumers to switch banks. Aside from not having their own branches or ATMs, it’s also typically a pain for consumers to move any automated payments or tied accounts from one checking account to another. But if you do have at least $5,000 in the bank and wouldn’t mind earning an awesome 2% cash back, PerkStreet’s debit card sounds almost too good to be true — its the richest debit card offer out there right now.
Great article and I’m really glad that you like our product.
I work for PerkStreet Financial and wanted to mention that our customers have access to the largest free ATM network in the country (more free ATMs than Bank of America and Chase combined):
http://perkstreet.com/atms.aspx
I also wanted to clarify two things about Chase’s Real Cash program:
1) It comes with a $25 annual fee. The reason banks add annual fees to rewards programs is because it allows them to advertise a higher earn rate and trick you into thinking you are earning more than you really are.
2) There’s a $500 annual limit on what you can earn (PerkStreet lets you earn as much as you want).
Thanks again for the great review.
Laurie McLachlan
laurie@perkstreet.com
It does sound like a good offer — but you need to keep in mind the interest rate in the underlying account. Think of it this way, if your regular checking account pays you 1% on all funds — is this such a great deal? This pays 2% for money that is spent; the 1% is paid on all money in the account. Does their account pay any interest in addition to the cash back? If yes, then I agree, it is a very strong offer. If not, then I need to think more about this …