PerkStreet Financial℠. You’ve seen the PerkStreet℠ ads all over the web. Blogs are abuzz with the hype. PerkStreet.com says you can earn thousands* in cash back (*thousands over the typical lifetime of a checking account, 10 years), earn up to 5% cash back on debit card purchases, and can rest assured that deposits are protected against fraudulent activity.
PerkStreet Financial Review: Our Experiences
Wow. That’s amazing! But is PerkStreet Financial for real? Because it sounded almost too good to be true, I decided to give you – the readers of The Christian Dollar – a thorough review of the company after I had some time to try them out for myself. In October of 2010, my wife and I signed up for an account. What did we discover? Well, you’ll have to continue reading for the pros and cons.
This 3,100+ word review of PerkStreet Financial is intended to be straightforward and honest. I’m not leaving any of our noteworthy personal experiences out of this review, good or bad. This is the PerkStreet Financial Review: The Ultimate Guide from Real Customers. These are our experiences. There’s a lot to learn here, so let’s jump right in!
How Did PerkStreet Financial Start?
Dan O’Malley, PerkStreet Financial Chief Executive Officer
Glancing through the pages of their website, you’ll find a few key motivations behind the beginnings of the company. Dan O’Malley, the CEO of PerkStreet, saw the need for change after working as an executive in the banking and credit card industries. Dan believes that there are incentive problems within those run-of-the-mill institutions, encouraging customers to take on tremendous amounts of debt through the use of credit cards. The PerkStreet website states:
Before PerkStreet, Dan co-founded Capital One’s Payments division, where he created the industry-changing decoupled debit card and launched the company’s prepaid business. Dan loves launching breakout new strategies, which he did in Capital One’s corporate strategy team and at Oliver Wyman, one of the world’s largest management consultancies. He also loves math (even if that makes him a dork), with a background in quantitative analysis and a BSE in Operations Research from Princeton University. Other loves? Baseball, cooking, and lightly roasted African coffees.
Out of these experiences, Dan set out to create something new in the banking world – something innovative. Whether he and his team have created something innovative is up to you! Let’s start by looking at some PerkStreet advantages and why you might want this account in the first place.
The PerkStreet Financial Benefits Explored
Note: As of April 4th, 2012, changes to the PerkStreet perks program are taking place (read more about these changes here). These changes are added to this review and old information will be stricken like this: old information. Thoughts regarding these changes will also be added for comparison sake.
There are a number of PerkStreet advantages that do indeed position it well ahead of the competition. The most prominent advantage is the PerkStreet Financial℠ Debit MasterCard® (previously offered was a PerkStreet Financial℠ Visa® Debit Card).
The PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard and Free Checking Account
Here’s how the cash back perks work. By using your PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard, you’ll earn:
- 1% cash back on all non-PIN* purchases
if your checking balance is less than $5,000 at the start of the dayat any balance you have in your checking account. - 2% cash back on all non-PIN* purchases
if your checking balance is $5,000 or more at the start of the dayyou make online at Amazon.com, Apple.com, iTunes, Walmart.com, Target.com, and BestBuy.com. You can also make 2% when you and a friend both pay with your PerkStreet cards together at the same restaurant, bar, or coffee shop. And, if you still want to maintain a $5,000 checking balance, you can get 2% cash back online and offline at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Apple stores. You can earn 2% cash back on $2,500 worth of purchases online and $2,500 worth of purchases offline. - 5% cash back (called PowerPerks) on all non-PIN* purchases when you shop at select retailers announced on PerkStreet’s blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. You can earn 5% cash back on $5,000 worth of purchases in PowerPerk categories.
* Note that you must NOT use your PIN during a transaction in order to receive your perks. Using your PIN deducts money directly from your checking account, whereas not using your PIN (online purchases and signing a receipt, for example) processes money through the MasterCard network and earns you perks.
You can choose from various ways to redeem your perks, including gift cards to some top retailers and restaurants. There are now over 35,000 locations you can redeem your perks! Check some of them out below!
Previously, PerkStreet offered the MasterCard® gift card option and I was able to spend my perks on everyday purchases. Unfortunately they no longer offer this option, but they do offer a direct deposit of $20 into your bank account when you use 22 of your perks.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that for a limited time PerkStreet also offered a way to donate the money to disaster relief to help the people of Japan recover from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The cash back debit card that PerkStreet offers is different from other banks in that they provide more opportunities for cash back, such as 5% cash back in new categories announced every month on their blog!
Note: The following estimate is based on the earnings of the old PerkStreet rewards program prior to April 4th, 2012. However, PerkStreet has stated that more customers will have access to 2% perks with the new PerkStreet rewards program described above. For many (those who couldn’t maintain the $5,000 minimum balance for 2% cash back), this can increase the amount of perks earned!
So, how much can you earn in cash back annually from a PerkStreet account? PerkStreet Financial estimated this in the following typical budget:
What do you think about this estimate? Is it accurate? Unfortunately, I feel that the monthly expenses listed above have one flaw: the housing payment category. Many people have mortgages where a debit or credit card can not be used. Even renters might have a difficult time paying for their housing with a debit card. If they can, usually there is a fee to do so which wipes out any cash back rewards earned from this category.
However, our cash back results have almost lived up to PerkStreet’s claims in the end. Check out our cash back results below!
Our Old Cash Back Results
Here are some real world results from what we have earned in cash back since we activated our debit cards:
- We earned an average of $49/month cash back from our PerkStreet debit card over 4 and a half months of using the cards.
- Therefore, we predict we will average $588/year or a bit less in cash back by using PerkStreet.
- We spent money using our debit cards on some extras during this time such as flights, a new computer, and college.
- We still decided to use the envelope system with cash for categories where we might overspend (groceries, fun money, clothing, and date money).
- We had a few extra perks (see Additional Required Information section below) for the first month of using PerkStreet, and then just a straight 2% cash back thereafter.
In conclusion, our results lined up closely with PerkStreet’s cash back estimate of over $600 cash back every year*.
* PerkStreet comes to the estimate of over $600 a year in cash back using the following formula:
Making $601 in weekly non-PIN purchases will earn you $625 in perks annually (when you maintain a balance of $5,000). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American household spends $601 per week on purchases that could be put on a debit card, including stuff like utility bills or rent.
Note: In a tally conducted on March 8th, 2012, we found that we made a little over $300 in perks due to changes in our spending.
Our New Cash Back Projections
I believe that under the new PerkStreet system we will be earning less perks. But we are in the minority. Most will earn more perks because they no longer have to maintain a $5,000 balance in order to get 2% cash back – although they will only get 2% cash back online at Amazon.com, Apple.com, iTunes, Walmart.com, Target.com, and BestBuy.com.
We were in the under 10% of customers who maintained a $5,000 balance, so we previously received 2% cash back everywhere we used our card. I must admit, I’m slightly disappointed that we have to adjust where we spend our money to make 2% cash back, but those adjustments are only very slight.
Note: For more information on the new PerkStreet rewards program – and my complete research on how it will affect us – read my latest article on the PerkStreet Changes of 2012.
Limited Pending Non-PIN Transactions?
I’ve heard from a friend who also has a PerkStreet checking account that their debit card purchases were once denied for the following reason: they had over $1,500 of pending non-PIN transactions at one time. This is concerning if you are, say, going on vacation and have to purchase flights, hotels, etc.
I emailed a PerkStreet representative who explained that the pending non-PIN transaction limit can be raised if requested by phone.
Most people will not be affected by this. It’s not a deal breaker, just somewhat of an inconvenience. Besides, pending transactions only take a few days to complete, so it shouldn’t be a big deal for most folks.
The Most Free ATMs Nationwide
As mentioned, we used cash for certain discretionary expenses that we felt we might overspend on otherwise. We were pleased to see that PerkStreet offers unlimited access to 42,000 ATMs nationwide. This is definitely more than the majority of banks out there!
I recommend using PerkStreet’s ATM finder tool (on PerkStreet’s website) to find surcharge-free ATMs. Sometimes the labels on the ATMs themselves can be deceiving, so only use the finder tool to find ones that will work with your account free of charge.
Note: The graphic below only depicts over 35,000 ATMs, so you can see PerkStreet is adding locations!
However, we found out there is a catch. We tried two ATMs in our area and found that there was a $200 cap on how much cash we could withdraw per day. We choose to spend over $500 in cash every month to support our envelope budgeting system. By using cash, you can get great deals through negotiation with small businesses, feel the pain when you’re spending so you don’t spend as much, and make certain merchants happy by allowing them to skip paying debit card fees.
Because of this cap, we have decided to keep our credit union checking account open so that we can have access to fast cash when we need it. This does add to the complexity of our banking methods, but it is well worth it so we don’t have to make several trips to ATMs.
Free Online Banking and Bill Pay
A very attractive part of PerkStreet Financial is their online banking capabilities. You can pay your bills, check your balance, find an ATM, see your transaction history, transfer money in and out (with some caveats listed below), and set up mobile alerts.
The online bill pay system is very intuitive. You can simply type in the name of the company or organization you want to pay, and set up the system to pay them at certain times. It’s what you’d expect from online bill pay.
The mobile alerts feature comes in handy for us, as we want to know if our checking account ever dips below $5,000 (which moves us from 2% to 1% cash back [at certain retailers]). So we set up an alert to tell us if the balance goes under $5,500, so that we have some time to fund the account before it goes under $5,000.
The Ability To Move Money
Withdrawals
You might be wondering how you can withdraw money from your PerkStreet account. There are two ways:
- ATMs (see The Most Free ATMs Nationwide section above).
- By using your PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard when you use your PIN at select locations and request cash back (keep in mind that these transactions DO NOT generate perks).
- Online transfers. See the Online Transfers section below!
Deposits
How do you deposit a check? Excellent question. This will take a little explanation.
- Free standard mail. You can request postage-paid envelopes anytime and simply drop your checks in the mailbox. They send several at a time so that you don’t have to request envelopes every time you have to send a check.
- Free overnight delivery. You can use UPS Stores® or Mailboxes Etc.® locations to get your check to PerkStreet faster.
How do you deposit electronic funds?
- Direct deposit. Very easy to set up, and highly recommended.
- Online transfers. See the Online Transfers section below!
How do you deposit cash? Yes, you can deposit cash! Here’s how:
- MoneyGram® ExpressPayment℠ where you can deposit cash free of charge at 18,000 locations. I haven’t tried this method yet, but I’ll let you know how it goes if I ever do.
- Outside accounts. Remember, if you have an outside account you can deposit cash there at your local branch, and then move money via ACH.
- Direct Deposit. Have your paycheck direct deposited into your PerkStreet account!
Online Transfers
The most common type of online transfer is through the ACH system. Unfortunately, I’ve found that there are initial limits to how much money you are able to transfer through ACH. For me thus far, they are the following:
- From PerkStreet to outside account:
$500$1,500 per month. Note: They increased my transfer amount with time! I’ve heard from another PerkStreet customer that they are able to transfer $2,500 from PerkStreet to an outside account. Thanks Bethany! - From outside account to PerkStreet:
$1,500$2,500 per month. Note: They increased my transfer amount with time!
This can make it difficult when you are, say, signed up with PerkStreet for direct deposit and need to transfer funds to an outside account to pay your mortgage. Keep a healthy amount of money in your outside account, and you’ll be fine. Once you’ve set up auto-pay with your mortgage company through PerkStreet, this becomes a non-issue.
I’ve heard that these transfer limits are raised after PerkStreet has had some experience with you as a customer. This is to protect against people using the PerkStreet account in fraudulent ways. I’ll be sure to update this review if those limits are raised. One way I’ve gotten around this is to use outside accounts to “push” or “pull” money from the PerkStreet account. In other words, if you don’t use the PerkStreet transfer system, you’re only limited to what your outside account capabilities are. Another work-around is to simply send a check to PerkStreet or send a check from PerkStreet! Yes, you can write a check from yourself to yourself!
24/7 Customer Service
I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent customer service PerkStreet had to offer. I’ve called in four times. Three of the four times they picked up the phone (after the concise automated system) in under 30 seconds. However, one of those four times they took over two minutes – still pretty fast!
For every question I asked I received a throughly explained answer. They were friendly and knowledgable, and easy to communicate with.
Low, Straight-Forward Fees
I’m impressed by PerkStreet’s low fees. Most of these won’t affect the responsible customer. For example, who would ever pay the inactivity fee? Any normal person would make at least one transaction per month! Please check PerkStreet’s website for any updated fee information. Here are the current fees as of the publishing of this review:
Note: The overdraft and non-suffient fund fee has been raised to $32. Keep in mind that customers have the ability to opt-out of overdraft protection.
Standard Stuff You’d Expect
PerkStreet’s rewards checking account also comes with features you’d expect from any bank, such as:
- FDIC insurance up to $250,000 (Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, member FDIC).
- Two books of free checks to start you out.
- Free PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard.
Coming Soon: A Rewards Savings Account?
PerkStreet has announced that they are releasing a rewards savings account soon that includes:
- A competitive interest rate.
- Unique opportunities to earn extra perks based on your saving behavior.
- Alternate options for debit card overdraft protection.
When the rewards savings account launches, you can be sure that I’ll do a review of it right here.
Note: It has been quite some time since PerkStreet announced they will have a savings account. I’ve been told they want to make sure they launch an outstanding savings product, not a mediocre run-of-the-mill account. Launching anything less would disappoint PerkStreet customers. I’ll let you know once they do.
Signing Up For A PerkStreet Checking Account
I first heard about PerkStreet Financial from Peter over at BibleMoneyMatters.com, later from Bob at ChristianPF.com, and finally from Dave Ramsey on his hit radio show. Since PerkStreet received such a tremendous backing from knowledgable and reputable people, my wife and I decided to get a joint checking account with them and try it out.
It has been said of PerkStreet that it only takes 5 minutes to sign up for an account. While this might be true, it certainly took longer to have the account approved. But in the end, I think it was worth it! Check out the timeline below.
Timeline of Opening Our PerkStreet Account
Here is the timeline of my experience associated with the opening of my PerkStreet Joint Checking account (in calendar days):
- Day 1: Signed up for a PerkStreet account and received email notification that the application had been received.
- Day 4: Received email notification that more information was required to activate my account (see Additional Required Information below).
- Day 7: Additional Required Information sent via fax.
- Day 8: Temporary password for login received via email and account approved.
- Day 9: Received email notification that debit cards were manufactured.
- Day 11: Initial deposit deducted from former bank account.
- Day 12: User ID received via mail enabling login.
- Day 19: Debit cards were received by this day – perhaps a few days earlier (honestly can’t remember the exact date, but evidence puts day 19 as a great estimate).
- Day 23: We activated debit cards on this day (because we then had enough money in account).
- Day 26: Received PerkStreet checks via mail.
Overall, the entire process took a little less than a month. This was about what I expected, although PerkStreet could have been a little clearer in the arrival dates of the checks. The checkbooks took a long time to arrive, certainly longer than the about-a-week after account funding estimate PerkStreet quotes on their website. However, the process ultimately lived up to my expectations!
What You’ll Need to Open an Account
You’ll need several things in order to get your PerkStreet account up and running:
- First and Last Name.
- Social Security Number (plus the willingness to send a copy of your Social Security Card via fax; see Additional Required Information below).
- Date of Birth.
- Mailing Address.
- Driver’s License or Government Photo ID.
- The above information for any joint account holders.
- At least $25 for an initial deposit via debit card, credit card, or checking account.
Additional Required Information
There was some additional information required before PerkStreet would activate our account. This was unexpected, and I thought you might want to know about it.
PerkStreet required that we send our Social Security cards via fax to prove our identities. I was concerned about this because their website said nothing about it. However, they promised something in return (a few extra perks). Here is the email:
We’re very happy that you applied for a PerkStreet account; now there’s just one more step. We need a little more information to start you on your way to earning great perks. We’ll even give you [a few extra perks] for your help! Please call a member of our new accounts team at xxx.xxx.xxxx. Someone’s manning the phone between M-F 8:30am – 9pm and Saturday 10am – 2pm ET. We’d like to give you a special bonus to thank you for your time. Get us the required information within one week of the date of this email and we’ll give you [a few extra perks] on all of your non-PIN debit card purchases for the first month your account is open! . . . We’re very excited to have you as a customer. Have a great day. – Dan O’Malley CEO
Now, who knows if this happens with every customer. I was concerned about this and wondered if it was standard protocol, so I called customer service and they said that it “sometimes” happens especially if there was a name change, marriage, or other significant event in the recent past. We did get married within the last two years, so this might have caused them to want to verify identity.
PerkStreet has at several points offered me a few extra perks. I have no doubt they will offer you the same – whether it be in customer service or a few extra bucks cash back.
What It’s Like To Be A PerkStreet Member
Considering all the benefits, my wife and I love our PerkStreet account. You get a general sense throughout the signup process and day to day transactions that you are taking part in a revolution in banking.
Personally, I love not having to step foot into my credit union and be offered yet another credit card. If you’re the same way and loathe credit cards, you’ll love PerkStreet. The only reason we keep our account open at our credit union is to take advantage of their ATM which doesn’t have a cap on the amount of cash we withdraw (see The Most Free ATMs Nationwide section for more on this above).
The PerkStreet card design is sleek and attractive. My wife and I have both noticed how people do a double take and ask about the financial institution. Then we get to tell them how we receive 2% cash back on select debit card purchases . . . better than the credit card they just tried to sell me at the clothing store.
We’re happy customers, and believe you would be too. PerkStreet is innovative, revolutionary, and just plain awesome! You won’t be disappointed!
If you’d like to learn more about PerkStreet, visit their website or sign up now!
Tell your friends about this review of PerkStreet and leave a comment below! Maybe you’ve been a customer and have an experience you’d like to share! We’re waiting to hear from YOU!
This post is very helpful. I was wondering how to get around the transfer limits.
John, thanks for this excellent review. I do have one concern. How easy is it to make non-PIN purchases? For instance, PIN-entry is usually required when I go grocery shopping. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mike
I really wanted to join. But to bad there so picky! in there approval process. I have NO neg marks on check systems. They only declined me because of to many inquiries but there’s competition out there! After I did some searching. http://www.bankofgeorgia.com/personal/checking/cashback-checking.html At first they declined me but approved me after I submitted a letter from my other major bank saying I was stable with no overdrafts and had direct deposit. Maybey one day Perk will have me. They even said they would let me know if they change there app process but this deal is just as good if not better in some ways…
Thank you so much for this! I just opened my perkstreet account today as an alternative way to do online shopping (instead of using my primary checking account) since I do a lot of it! I’m looking forward to using my account. Please update this review as yall are using your perkstreet account. Thanks!
This is a wonderful post regarding the PerkStreet Debit card and account. My Sister signed up for it after she completed Financial Peace University and has been very happy with it thus far.
I used http://www.checkingfinder.com before this bank was created to find a local, smaller bank that offers similar perks.
Hey Mike! Thanks for writing and being a fan of The Christian Dollar.
I make non-PIN purchases just about everywhere I go. Many times, the machines at Wal-Mart or grocery stores will “tempt” you to enter your PIN. When this happens, press the “Cancel” button and you’ll usually be presented with the option to run your debit card as a credit transaction.
I hope that helps! I totally understand your concern, and if you try this out, you’ll find it works!
John
Thanks Creighton for writing! I’m sorry to see your experience with PerkStreet wasn’t that pleasant. Bank of Georgia looks like a good deal, but they do limit you to $25 cash back every month.
I think that as PerkStreet gains more time dealing with new customers, they’ll accept more applications – it only makes sense. What does everyone else think?
Alert for LyLy! Be advised that you do not have the same “credit card” protections for fraudulent usage of your information or from deceptive advertising (product not what you expected) with a debit card. If you do, in fact, keep the $5000 minimum balance in your account and a thief accesses your account fraudulently, you could temporarily lose it all! Shop online only with people or companies that you personally know are reputable. Ebay, Amazon and other unknowns are not recommended!
Perkstreet is definitely expanding their customer service dept and is becoming more interactive (from a web 2.0 perspective) when addressing unhappy customers on blogs and through social media. I agree with John and think that with more time they will be able to get it right. And I’m guessing they are going to start seeing a large influx of new customers in the next coming months with all the news about BofA, Wells Fargo and, most recently, Citibank, imposing fees on their checking account holders. So hopefully they can sync up before this rush of customers comes their way…
I am very excited about PerkStreet’s debit card account after reading your review. My husband read it as well and says, “when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.” On the website it only advertises the checking account. Do they have other products? How do they make money if they are giving cash back on the accounts? What is the catch?
Hey Amy, I know that PerkStreet sounds too good to be true! The fact is, PerkStreet really is good, and it’s really true. That’s rare, but it’s the case with PerkStreet. I tried to be fair in my representation of PerkStreet, and talked about all the negatives I could think of at the time (which weren’t many). I don’t have any negatives to add today, but there are a few differences between PerkStreet and the standard bank. Remember that they don’t have physical branches (but they do have ATM’s). If that’s not a big deal to you, I’d recommend PerkStreet. Hope that helps, and thanks for being a reader!
I am disgusted with Perkstreet and their customer service. I heard about Perkstreet on the Dave Ramsey show and I couldn’t resist the 2% cash back. Little did I know that I would spend an entire month calling them in order to fix my mistake. So here is my story: I applied to Perkstreet in June. Once I signed up, the mail started coming one after another after another. I felt overwhelmed with everything, so I put it aside. About a month later I felt a renewed energy to resume my application paperwork. I felt confused so I called up customer service to find out how to proceed (which led to the worst of my problems.) The representative told me that my account had been canceled and that I would need to reapply. So, I reapplied and not more than two days later I received a letter in the mail concerning my first account (which according to customer service had been canceled). I called Perkstreet again to ask them why they had sent me the mail. They told me that my original account was still active and that my second account application had been canceled. I was upset because the guy who I had called had told me the wrong information (but at least I still had an account). Then, less than a week later I got my application papers for my second application. Now, if you are confused reading this, I don’t blame you, I am still confused how a company can have a customer service department that is so incapable of knowing the status of their accounts. So I called up Perkstreet AGAIN to resolve the issue. The customer service agent confirmed that I had two accounts in my name and that in order to cancel one of them I would have to write a letter, scan it and send it to their email support team (why on earth she couldn’t close an account is beyond me.) So I did as she told me. I received an e-mail stating that they would close one of the accounts. Now, it has been 2 weeks since then and the only thing that they have done is move all of the funds from one account to the other. So, today I called again asking them to close my accounts. I hope that I can at least get out of the terrible mess and not lose all of my money trying to do it.
Perkstreet has led me on a wild goose chase, wasted my time and withdrew (Stole) $20 of my hard earned cash for apparently having an inactive account even though I didn’t have access to my account. If you are thinking about Perkstreet, DON’T! If you do you will regret it. I wish that I had read the other comments before I had applied.
Nate
Nate,
Thanks for writing in to The Christian Dollar. It’s obvious that you are frustrated by your situation, and I thank you for being respectful despite your frustration. I’m approving your comment because you were respectful but I must say I have had a completely different customer experience with PerkStreet.
I think you’d agree that if you didn’t wait to fill out your documents once you received them, you probably wouldn’t have run into many of these issues. With that being said, it appears you may have received wrong information about which accounts were open and which were cancelled. While this was certainly an inconvenience for you, it is understandable that sometimes representatives make mistakes. We are all human, it happens!
It can be difficult for any company with multiple departments to stop a process once it has started. But an escalation of your issue will probably help resolve things.
I respectfully disagree that PerkStreet “stole” your $20. There are [clearly stated] fees for inactive accounts, and you chose for your account to be inactive from what I’ve read.
I’ve personally had an excellent experience with PerkStreet. I’m making over $500 every year from them, and have found their customer support to be quick and accurate. I’m sure other people would comment the same type of experience.
Nate, I really appreciate you writing in. And, I care about your situation. Please let all of us know what happens, and we’ll let the readers decide which bank to choose based on our testimonies. Keep it respectful, and we’ll meet you right back here sir. God bless!
John,
Thanks for the thorough review. When comparing vs other online checking accounts, your review didn’t answer these questions that I find important for my needs (sorry if you did and I overlooked it):
How long is the hold time for check deposits using the various methods available? Are transactions posted to the account in a timely manner? How long for a standard debit or no-pin purchase to appear in the account (pending status and cleared status).
Hey Josh, I’m glad you like the review! Here are a few answers to your questions.
Personally, I usually see funds from checks sent via mail deposited into my account within 2 weeks from the day I send them. I’m not sure if this is the time that PerkStreet quotes, but it has been my experience. Direct deposits are usually available the next business day from what I can see.
Non-PIN purchases post into a pending status usually the day of the transaction, although it is up to the merchant to post this to the account (because they want their money, they usually do it quickly). Cleared status typically goes through well within a week.
Keep in mind that these answers are based on my experiences, not what PerkStreet claims. I wouldn’t be surprised if they quote similar results, I just wanted to share my findings with you as an actual customer.
You can get a lot of questions answered through PerkStreet’s FAQ page.
I hope that helps! Thanks for being a reader Josh and let me know how it goes!
I think that first link didn’t work correctly. Try this link: http://www.perkstreet.com/ask-a-question.aspx
Just signed on for MC-Debit card – but have noticed the change from VISA and wondering why as well as some stores now beg requiring PIN when using MC.
The Perks 1%; 2% and possibly 5% are a great incentive, as long as they are in place – but all through disclosure as with any program ‘they’ reserve the right to change and /or cancel. Hoping this will be as smooth as you all say in your review. A very good review at that. Had heard about this Financial from http://www.consumeraffairs.com daily newsletters.
Hey Mike! I doubt you’ll have a problem with the PIN issue; I’ve never had that problem so hopefully it will work smoothly for you. I’ve had my PerkStreet account since July and have earned $102 cash back on it so far, so i can’t complain! (I’ll double that once I get to where I can keep $5000 in my checking!). Companies do have the right to change, and every rewards program has the same disclosure, like you said. But I think we’ll only be seeing more good things from PerkStreet!
Sorry I spelled your name wrong, Myke
This “review” reads like an advertisement.
Can anyone address the “overdraft” fee? I understood that by law now banks are required to give the customer the option to have a transaction declined versus incurring an overdraft.
Any experience here? Many thanks.
Hey Graeme. Thanks for writing.
I hear you loud and clear regarding this review reading like an advertisement. Basically, I do love PerkStreet. So naturally that came out in my review. I believe I did list the pros and cons in the article however, so this isn’t really an advertisement. I highly recommend PerkStreet, and knowing the staff, I can tell you that they are great people.
Decide for yourself if PerkStreet is right for you!
To answer your question, PerkStreet does allow you to have transactions declined versus incurring an overdraft. It’s an option you have when you set up your account.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Upon attempting to close my account after I found out that you had to have $5,000 to get the 2% cash back, I was told by a customer representative that I should leave my account open so I could return to it and use the funds if I ever wanted to in the future. 6 months later I realized I would not be using it, called back to cancel the account, and was told I only had $7 left in the account due to an “inactivity fee” of $4.50 a month. After informing Perkstreet what I had been told by the previous customer service representative, I asked for each inactivity fee to be refunded but they refused saying that the $4.50 fee was in the mice type disclosure statement and would be in full force no matter what I was told by a representative. Go with Perkstreet if you want no customer service. Go with a local credit union if you want an actual human to interact with and be understanding.
Brian, I’m sorry you didn’t get what you were expecting. To anyone out there thinking about using PerkStreet, be sure to read this review in full and read PerkStreet’s fee structure. Fees and policies are clearly explained throughout their website.
As a happy PerkStreet customer, I’d like to share that in 11 months I have so far earned $177 in cash back! Next month will be a year since I opened the account. I have utilized customer service several times in this period and they have always been very helpful. Once I am able to consolidate EVERYTHING into this account, then I will be earning even more.
I have had a bad experience with Perkstreet. It has taken a month to allow our bank account to transfer funds and now it will take a full week for Perkstreet to allow us to use our money. Customer service has been argumentative and ugly. I hope others don’t have this problem.
Hey Kris, I’m sorry to hear that PerkStreet wasn’t working well for you. Honestly, my experience has been completely the opposite. Bad experiences happen with every company, I’m just sorry to hear that it happened with you and PerkStreet!
I had an extremely bad experience with Perk Street. I applied for a checking account and it was approved. I deposited $8600.00 in the account and since it was a check through an ATM I had to wait five days for it to clear, which I thought was extremely reasonable. I then was informed after the five days that my acct had been closed; that I would receive an explanation in the mail and that they had to hold my money for 14 days.
Not only did I not receive an explanation until I a check back about 20 days later, but when I deposited the check in my savings account they told me it was a fraudulent check and that they will hold it for 30 days. This has been nothing but a nightmare – and if I could afford a lawyer to sue them I would!!!!
Linda, that’s absolutely horrible! I’m so sorry you had that experience! I haven’t heard of anything like this before, have you contacted PerkStreet about this via email? You might get to someone within the company, and not their call center: http://www.perkstreet.com/ask-a-question.aspx?learnmore=contact
Wells Fargo has been nothing but trouble for me, and while their customer service has always been helpful I should not have had to call them as many times as I have in a year. So I’m looking for a new way to handle my money. PerkStreet looks very good on paper but the application process sounds tough. I’m eighteen, in college, and have no credit because I don’t wish to have a credit card. Do you think they would have a problem accepting me to their bank? Me and my boyfriend have a joint account now and we’re very interested in getting on at PerkStreet.
Kat, thanks for writing! I don’t think you should have trouble signing up for a PerkStreet account. Because you’re young, you may need to present more information than normal, but that shouldn’t be a problem. By the way, you might want to consider keeping your checking account separate until marriage? Something to think about, and thanks for being a reader!
I am seriously looking into opening a PerkStreet checking account for my husband and myself. I noticed in one of the comments above that the person commented about being denied an account due to past NSF’s in their old bank account. Is it still true that PerkStreet won’t accept a new customer if they have a history of NSF’s? Thank you for answering this question.
Rebekah, after reading through the comments, I couldn’t find what you were referring to. Could you be a bit more specific! Sorry that this just flew right over my head! Ha.
Hi;
I don’t have experience with PerkStreet specifically, but I was reading the review and the comments and wanted to mention a few things.
A lot of people don’t know how they can offer cash back – I’ll venture an educated guess. When a business accepts credit cards, they are charged a ton of fees (as a small business owner, I have experience with this). These fees are lowest when they are processing debit cards with PIN numbers – because these go through the ACH network (the banks). So they might be a less than 1% fee. Credit cards, on the other hand (and debit cards run as a credit card with no PIN) go through the credit card network and cost the business much much more. Fees start at 3% of a transaction and go up from there. Rewards cards, corporate cards and foreign cards cost the business owner the most. Businesses pay merchant account fees and credit card processing fees for the ability to accept credit cards as payment. This is why business will encourage (or require) customers with debit cards to use their PIN numbers – it saves them a ton of money.
Usually, the company that offers rewards cards take the fees paid by the business owners, keeps some of it, and disburses the rest of it as the reward back to the customer. So basically – the company offering a reward card is not actually out any money at all.
PerkStreet also appears to have a list of PowerPerks vendors – if you buy from them, you get higher cash back. I’m willing to bet that those retailers pay for the privilege of being listed in hope of attracting a rush of customers. Again, they would take the advertising fee, pay some of it out to customers as higher perks, and keep the rest.
And if you have any money sitting in a bank account, you can bet that the company that holds the account is not just letting it sit there – they are earning interest on it, which they may also use to contribute to perks.
Finally; I have absolutely no problem with the author of this post earning a little commission for referring customers to companies he likes, but I searched for and did not find the disclaimer. Did I miss it somewhere?
Star, thank you for writing. Although I haven’t confirmed that the methods you’ve mentioned are how PerkStreet makes money, I’m sure you are very accurate. I’m not sure if you were implying that you feel there is something wrong with how they make money, but if you were saying that, feel free to leave another comment and explain! I don’t think you were stating it was bad . . . I think you were just saying that many people don’t understand how PerkStreet can afford to pay their customers. So, your comment definitely has value here – thank you!
Yes, I do make a commission when someone signs up through PerkStreet by using one of my links. This doesn’t cost the customer any more money, PerkStreet simply pays me a commission out of their pocket when someone signs up with them because I referred them. I do this with a number of the products and services reviewed on this site, as it helps me pay the bills and work full time on my blog (among other blogs). That being said, I will not sacrifice my integrity and give a positive review of a company just so I can make some money. I try to list the pros and cons of products and services, being fair about where they are going wrong and what they’re doing right. I think you’ll find this in my reviews. As for the disclaimer, you’ll find one on the sidebar of TheChristianDollar.com that states that we may have a financial relationship with some of the companies mentioned on this website. PerkStreet is one of those companies. However, you bring up a good point that there is not a disclaimer in the article, and I’m currently undergoing a process to figure out the best way to add a disclaimer to the text of articles that is visible but not distracting for readers (nobody likes fine print). If you have any suggestions, send them my way! I’m up to code with the FTC, but anytime I can be more transparent is a good thing, as long as it isn’t a huge distraction.
Thanks again Star for your thoughtful comment! Can’t wait to hear back from you!
I would be quite happy to use Perk Street but I was deemed not worthy. I signed up last year, submitted all my information, waited, waited, finally heard back from them and was turned down. Why?
It was because of checking account from three years earlier that I had used when in graduate school that I used to receive the financial aid from the school. The report said that the account had been closed and that money was owed. THIS is not true. The account was closed by ME AFTER I made certain that the account was clear.
So, because of erroneous information from an account closed three years ago, I am not eligible. The fact that the information is not correct did not seem to matter.
Unless you have a sterling checking account record, I would not apply to them.
Thanks for your input Amy. That’s helpful to the readers. I’m sorry you weren’t able to sign up! Perhaps you can after a period of time? How long ago did you try it last year?
Amy– it’s true (as far as I know) that PerkStreet doesn’t offer a “Second Chance” checking, so they would turn you down for that. All institutions do a screening through something like Telecheck or ChexSystems (I used Telecheck where I worked, opening accounts). Something like that will show up as a certain code to them, but the inquiring institution (PerkStreet in this case) doesn’t know what it’s for. It could be a returned check, a charged off account, etc. All you can do is call whoever they used (I gave out Telecheck’s phone number) to find out what it is and how to clear it up. It’s no reflection on you personally, but without proof of an error then PerkStreet doesn’t know the info isn’t correct. Hopefully you can get that error cleared so it doesn’t follow you! Many places are going to not even offering Second Chance checking accounts, and those who do charge service fees on them for “taking a risk.” So if it doesn’t get cleared, that’s likely all you’ll be eligible for in the future. Thanks for sharing!
I recently opened an account with Perkstreet Financial, a division of The Bancorp Bank, because I was enticed by their cash back on debit card transactions offer. After a couple of weeks, I inquired with them why I had not yet received by account information or debit card, and that’s when I found out they were not using my correct address. They had left off my apartment number. I asked them to correct it, and they made me email them copies of all my personal identifying documents including my driver’s license and passport, along with proof of my address. It was their mistake, but I went through the steps to correct it anyway.
I finally received my debit card and checks, and wire transferred money from my other bank to start utilizing the cash back program. My second transaction, on my first day using the card, was declined while I was trying to pay for dinner I just ate at a restaurant. I called and they told me my account had been frozen, because they received returned mail from the address I told them was incorrect in the first place since they left off the apartment number. I asked to speak with a supervisor to have the hold removed, so I could pay for my transaction and was told it was not possible to remove the hold or speak with a supervisor. If the restaurant had not allowed me time to get funds from my other bank, I would have been arrested for theft of services.
Is it legal for Bancorp to hold a customer’s money hostage without a legal order? I don’t mean a check, I mean cash that was wired into the account through the Federal Reserve wire system and was received and applied to the account. And is it best practice to demand customers send private information through unsecured email? At this point I want my money sent back to my other bank, so I can close my Perkstreet/Bancorp account, and I would like their actions investigated to determine if they are within the law and are acting ethically.
Hey Joshua, send an email to the folks over at PerkStreet (maybe copy what you wrote here) and see if protocol was followed. Sometimes double checking is a good thing. Bummer you had a poor experience, my experience has been pretty positive and I’ve earned a lot of cash back. I wish you the best, and thanks for being a reader over here!
John and friends,
Kyle from PerkStreet here. I just wanted to drop in and let you know that we have made some announcements about new features, including a new mobile app and savings account. This announcement came out today. I’ll likely see comments left on the PerkStreet blog sooner, but of course, feel free to ask questions or comment here on John’s blog as well.
Here’s the announcement on our blog: http://dailyperk.perkstreet.com/perkstreet-mobile-app-savings-account-catcust/
-Kyle
Kyle, thanks for the update! I have it on my to-do list to update this article to reflect the changes. Perhaps will also write a new “2013″ update post.
I think the changes you guys are making over at PerkStreet are great, and I can’t wait to share more about them here at The Christian Dollar! Thanks Kyle!