PerkStreet Review
PerkStreet Financial just announced a checking account with a 2% rebate when you make purchases with the debit card and sign for the transaction. Why don't they offer the same rebate for PIN transactions? Two words: merchant fees. When you make a debit card PIN transaction, the retailer only pays a swipe fee for the card somewhere between a dime and a quarter, but if you sign instead of using the PIN, the retailer has to pay an additional fee, usually close to 1.5% of the purchase. This additional fee is what lets PerkStreet give you a rebate on the purchase. All the rewards programs work like this so don't just get mad at PerkStreet (if you're going to get mad).
So, how does this checking account work? You can open your PerkStreet FinancialSM Debit MasterCard® with a deposit of $25. You wait and receive your debit card in the mail. It looks like it's managed by VISA. Then, from that day forward you get a 1% rebate on any purchase you make. If, on the day of your purchase you have over $5,000 in the account you get a 2% rebate. So, in a lot of ways it works like the Schwab and Fidelity cards that pay you a 2% reward I've discussed in previous reviews. On top of the 1-2% rebate, they offer additional perks on time-limited basis like 5% rewards for gas pay-at-the-pump transactions and another 5% rebate at home improvement stores. This is very much in line with what Discover Card does with their rotating rewards program, except with PerkStreet there is no cap on the rebates. In sum, the rewards are comparable to the best credit cards out there so what's not to like? I, of course, will tell you. Read more
Target Credit Card Review
Today Target announced that beginning this fall, users of their store credit card as well as the Target VISA card will receive 5% off their purchases made exclusively at Target. Like the Toys ‘R’ Us program I reviewed a couple of days ago, this program’s sole goal is to increase spending at Target and hopefully steal share of wallet from other retailers. Unlike the Toys ‘R’ Us deal, I will probably participate in this one for the following reasons: Read more
Toys ‘R’ Us Holiday Savers Club Review
Today, Toys ‘R’ Us announced a new program called the Holiday Savers Club to incentivize consumers to do their holiday shopping at their store. The program works like this. You go into the store anytime between now and October 16 and sign up for a card. Then, you can put money on the card through cash or credit card payments throughout that time period to ostensibly save money towards your holiday shopping needs, at Toys ‘R’ Us of course. The incentive here is that Toys ‘R’ Us will give you a 3% reward on October 31 on however much you save up to October 16. So, how can I make this work for me? Read more
Ready for TAX Season?
Subscription Options
-
Affiliations
Advertisers
FairTax
