On this week’s episode of The Foreigner’s Finances Podcast I talk with PerkStreet Financial CEO Dan O’Malley about their checking account and rewards debit card.
PerkStreet is leading the pack in rewards offering 2% back on all purchases in the form of gift cards to popular shopping spots like iTunes or Target if you have $5,000 in your account. 1% back is left for anyone below $5,000.
In this episode we discuss why PerkStreet is different than your average checking account, the rewards you can receive using their debit card, how to access your money, and what the future of their company holds.
I’m not an affiliate of PerkStreet and receive nothing if you sign up for an account. I’m just highlighting a company that’s being innovative and deserves attention.
Dan did reach out and offered a special contest for FF readers so check back tomorrow at 9 AM EST to see what special bonus you can win from Perkstreet.
You can subscribe to the podcast’s RSS feed or download and subscribe on iTunes to get every episode delivered to you.
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The Foreigner’s Finances Podcast Episode 5
[00:45] – Why the PerkStreet checking account is different
[02:45] – Not a bank, but still insured
[04:00] – Why customer service is so important to PerkStreet
[05:30] – How to access and deposit funds with the PerkStreet debit card
[09:00] – The cash back specifics
[14:00] – Why PerkStreet can afford to provide high perks to their customers
[16:00] – The birth of PerkStreet and where it’s headed
To learn more about PerkStreet, visit their site or check out their recent feature in The New York Times. Remember to come back tomorrow to take part in a special PerkStreet Financial contest!
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There are several problems with this bank, so I would warn potential customers to be aware of the fine print. Although PerkStreet’s website has the appearance of being clear about their policies, I found that not to be the case. These “fine print” policies seem designed to (1) make it difficult to move money out of the account, and (2) to limit the cashback that you can earn. Below are examples.
(1) They have a limit of $1500 on incoming online transfers in an entire *month*! They don’t tell you about this anywhere except when you actually try to move money into your account. When I called them about it, they said that they have this restriction for new customers and I was still in my first month. After a couple more calls, I realized that they will increase this limit to $2500 after six months.
Stated reason: Security.
Suspected motive: To limit the amount of money you can spend to get cashback.
(2) They have a limit of $500 on outgoing online transfers. So, say you move $5000 into your account to get 2% cashback. You are stuck with that money with them for the rest of the month (unless you adopt a slower paper check route).
(3) They have a limit of $1500 on daily expenses and explicitly say on their website that it can be waived simply by making a phone call. I had to book two one-way international flight tickets that cost a total of over $1500. I booked these and called them to waive the limit. They refused to do so because I was still in my first month. There is no notice about waivers not being allowed in the first month anywhere. As a result, I have to now spend much more money re-booking that ticket just because PerkStreet does not allow me to spend my own money.
Stated reason: Security for new customers. They claim that all banks have spending limits on debit cards. Really? Bank of America did not.
Suspected motive: Limiting spending => limiting cashback.
(4) When I tried to circumvent the limitation in (1) above to move more money into my account using FedEx, there was another surprise! The first FedEx check takes not 1 day as stated, but about 9 days for some reason. Again, some vague security reason that is incomprehensible to rational beings is given as an explanation.
Bottomline: It is not easy to get much cashback because of their restrictive policies on what you can do with your money. And they make it harder to move money out of the account while not giving any interest on it. As for the 5% cashback, they are on such specific and tiny items that I have never been able to get 5% cashback so far.
[Reply]
Austin Reply:
August 22nd, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Hey AV, thanks for the honesty about PerkStreet. I appreciate you taking the time to educate us about your experience. Thanks a ton.
Austin
[Reply]