[RIP] Cheese Checking Account Review: No SSN Required, 0.3-3% APY Savings, Debit Card Rewards

Update 8/9/22: Cheese is closing up shop. There will be no more cashback after August 15th and no more transactions at all on September 10th.

Update 3/21/22: 5% back on 76, Arco, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Mobil, and Shell for the next 11 days (ht Davis)

Update 3/10/22: Chipotle, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Uber at 5% cashback for the next 11 days. Hat tip to reader Davis

Update 1/20/22: New offer for new AND existing users (might not show for everybody?) Make (20) $5+ transactions by 2/20 and get a chance at winning a $120 gift (gift is a massage gun); 100 winners total. Winners selected randomly

Update 12/3/21: Another promo for existing users: make 12 transactions of $5+ each, get $12

Update 11/25/21: Existing customers can get a $100 bonus when they spend $1,000 – $3,000  or a $300 bonus when they spend $3,000+ between 11/1/21 – 11/30/21. Maximum of $100,000 in prizes and first come first served. Hat tip to Dheeraj

Update 9/30/21: You can also get $20 from Swagbucks for signing up and depositing $10. Hat tip to reader Davis

Update 7/25/21: Android now available. Also, no SSN applications are now available: international students and immigrants can apply with their U.S. address, passports, and valid Visa. Updated below.

Update: This review has been revamped and reposted on 5/13/21. Originally posted on 1/6/2020. These have been written by Evan Mullen. See his prior posts here.

Cheese Checking

• Direct Link | Google Play store | iOS app store
• My referral link, which gets you an initial 3% APY (must be used on mobile)

Cheese is targeted for immigrants and Asian Americans, but the account actually offers several competitive banking features. Here are the major highlights of the account:

• No SSN required to open account; International students and immigrants can apply with their U.S. address, passports, and valid Visa.
• FDIC-insured up to $250,000
• No Fees
• Paycheck up to 2 days early
• Cashback debit card
• Interest checking

They are also currently donating $10 for every new user until June 10th, up to $90,000.

Cashback Debit Card

There is a base 0.25% cashback rate on the debit card. They also have higher cashback offers from Dosh, and some additional exclusive cashback offers which they plan to continue to grow. Here are the current exclusive offers:

• 5% on phone bills (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Mint Mobile, Cricket)
• 1% on pay later services (Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay)
• 5% at McDonald’s
• 2% at Target
• 2% at Uber Eats
• 2% at Instacart
• 2% at Wendy’s
• 5% at Asian Lifestyle: Chowbus
• 3% at Weee!
• 3% at Yamibuy
• 2% at Fantuan
• 2% at HungryPanda
• 2% at Doordash
• 2% at 99 Ranch
• 2% at H Mart
• 2% at MINISO

There is a $25 minimum cashback redemption and a $10 daily maximum for the 0.25% and exclusive offers. (Dosh maximums are separate.)

Interest Checking

The basic APY is 0.3%.  If you are referred, you and the person who referred you will both receive a boost to 3% APY for 30 days. The referrer stacks on another 30 days to the 3% boost for each additional referral. The 0.3% APY has no cap, but the 3% APY has a monthly cap of $25. So if you have the 3% boost for the month, anything over about $10,000 would only earn 0.3% APY.

Final Thoughts

Though targeted for immigrants and Asian Americans, this account could also be very useful to international students and people with poor or no credit history. Even if you don’t fall into any of these categories, the account still has some unique aspects. The current features that stand out the most for me are the 5% cashback categories and the 1% on pay later services. It will be interesting to see what other exclusive offers get added in the future.