More and more bank account sign up bonuses and special interests require you to have a certain amount of debit card transactions to be eligible. AmEx has also announced two cards that have transaction play a part in the amount of rewards you’ll receive. Below we’ve outlined ways for you to hit these requirements without breaking the bank.
Contents
Debit Cards Only
Square Cash From $1
Similar to Circle Pay, but funds will go directly into your bank account. Minimum is $1.
Chime Card From $25
The Chime card is a reloadable debit card which can be loaded with other debit cards. Because of this it’s an extremely easy and cost effective way of meeting minimum debit card requirements. Unfortunately it’s not possible to use credit cards to load though so this will only work for debit card transaction requirements. More here. There is a minimum reload of $25 as well, so this isn’t a great option unless you actually use this card.
Amazon Reloads From $1
Amazon.com allows you to reload your balance starting at only $1. There are no fees at all. You can also buy an e-gift card starting at $1 and up to $2,000 (the giftcard is sent by e-mail so no shipping required). This is one of the easiest ways to hit these debit card transaction targets and you get a small Amazon reload for your troubles. Reload your Amazon balance here or purchase an Amazon Giftcard here (affiliate link).
Be careful of doing too many of these in a short amount of time, as it can lead to your account being temporarily shut down. You can read more Chuck’s experience with this here.
Use The Self Check Out Lane At Supermarkets
By using the self check out lane at a super market you are able to put through one item at a time. This can help you meet purchase requirements in one shop. If you do this, please only do it when it’s not busy as it will quickly agitate those in line waiting to use the self check out lane you’re hogging.
Pay At The Pump
Most gas stations will allow you to pay at the pump for your gas. Just purchase gas in small increments.
Donate To A Charity From $1
A lot of charities accept donations as low as $1 when donating via debit card. This is because the fees associated with debit cards are smaller than those associated with credit cards and in some cases these charities have special agreements with the processors.
Apple Balance
You can load your Apple ID balance for as little as $1.
Final Thoughts
If you have any other suggestions/tricks that we don’t have listed, please share them in the comments below.
Our local animal shelter receives debit card donations
Patreon subscriptions is another option to spend minimum of $1
Does anyone know if it’s considered a “debit card transaction” if I add a debit card to Robinhood and transfer money from it?
I just realized my water/sewer bill accepts payments as low as 0.01, and no CC fee. They use invoicecloud.net for CC/Debit card processing.
Was able to drain the last 7 cents off an MCGC I had lying around from a couple of years ago.
I don’t plan to abuse it (much), but the occasional .99 CC small balance fee waiver will be good.
My State’s EZ Pass (used in select states, mostly East Coast, electronic highway/bridge toll device) website accepts $1 minimum payments to load your balance.
The website says credit card, but a debit card is accepted too. It should “code” as a Point of Sale (POS) signature transaction.
Apple Id balance can be reloaded with a minimum of $1.
Added, thanks
I went to do Amazon reloads today and they now have a minimum of $1 for me.
Chuck made a post about the change on DoC. It happened several weeks ago.
Updated the post now, thanks
Purchasing new Amazon gift cards has increased to starting at a minimum of $1.00 now. Reloads minimum $0.50
Chuck,
The minimum for Amazon gc has been $1 for a very long time. Do you want to update this post and add the $.50 reload option?
Updated!
Reloading your Dunkin’ card online or in the app works great for this – $2 minimum purchase.
There is a $10 minimum to set recurring debit card loads to Cash App / Square. For me that’s worrisome. My current method is using a paypal button to send reoccuring payments to my other occount daily, $0.01. Only downside is paypal eats that cost in transaction fee so it’s not recoverable. It’s a $3.65/yearly expense but no work or worrying.
For those curious about this method.. I originally came across it on reddit, but here is a youtube tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RynLlHvdjYI
I tried this but I believe the minimum is now $1.
I just setup a new PayPal business account, setup a subscribe button for $0.01 a day, and subscribed to it from another PayPal accont. It still works.