Usually it makes much more sense to use your credit card to make purchases, but there are some specific cases when using a debit card makes sense. The problem is that most debit cards do not have a rewards program, I decided to make a list of all the debit cards that do have a rewards program. The number of these cards has been declining in recent time due to Durbin Amendment which limits the swipe fees that can be charged on debit transactions.
Contents
Nationwide
- TAB Bank. 1% Cash Back on all purchases.
- UFB Direct Airlines Debit. You earn 1 American Airlines AAdvantage mile per $3 spent. There is no annual fee on this product.
- PayPal Business Debit Mastercard. You earn 1% cash back on purchases that are not PIN based.
- RadiusBank/SmarterBucks. 1% towards your student loans on all purchases that are not PIN based.
- Discover Checking. You earn 1% cash back on debit card purchases on up to $3,000 in spend per month.
- Point Rewards. There is a $49 annual fee. Card earns at the following rates:
- Earn 5x on subscription purchases
- Earn 3x on delivery and ride share
- Earn 1x on all other purchases
- Clinkle treats. This card has a bit of an unusual rewards program, every time you make 7 purchases you unlock a treat which can be sent to a friend. When your friend next makes a purchase, their treat will be unlock and some of their purchase will be refunded or they will receive another prize (e.g free Chipotle).
State Specific
Percentage Based
- CardCash Banks. There are a number of banks that are partnered with CardCash [you can view all of the banks offering this program by using this search string in google: “site:https://www.cardcash.us/”], which offers up to 1% cash back debit card purchases. Unfortunately this 1% cash back rate is extremely deceptive, as it’s tiered. Here is how much you’ll earn based on how much you spend:
- $700 & under: Nothing
- $700.01 – $1,000: 1%
- $1,000.1 – $1,500: 0.5%
- $1,500.1+: 0.25%
- Kasasa Cash Back Checking. Similar to CardCash in that a lot of banks are under the same program, you can earn up to 2% cash back using their debit card but you’re limited to a tiny amount of cash back every month (usually $5-$10).
- KeyBank Rewards Debit MasterCard & World Debit: Earn 1 point for every $6 spent. Points seem to be worth about 0.2¢ a piece according to PFdigest.
- [MA] Zeugma Rewards from Leader Bank. Earn 1% cash back on all signature purchases where you select “credit”. Paid out on the 15th of each month. Hat tip to Freequent Flyer book for making me aware of this card. You can also get an additional 10% cash back at some local retailers.
- Community America Credit Union. 1 point per $2 in spent on signature based transactions and 1 point per $5 points on PIN based transactions. Points are CUrewards points (more on this points in the future). H/T to PFdigest
- CashBACK Checking. This is similar to Kasasa & CardCash in that a lot of different banks offer it. Your capped at low levels of cash back each month and need to complete requirements to receive the cash back.
- [Select Areas of IA only] American Trust. 3% cash back on up to $500 in purchases ($15 cash back per month).
- [GA only] Bank of Georgia. 1% cash back on check card purchases. Limit of $25 cash back per month. You need to make 10 check card transactions per month, receive a direct deposit and be enrolled in eStatements every month to qualify. H/T to PFdigest.
- [OH] Bank of Akron. 1% cash back, limit of $10 per month. You need to make 12 debit card purchases (signature or pin-based), Access online banking & Enroll and receive monthly e-statements.
- [MD] MECU. Up to 3% cash back, limit of $12 per month.
- [OK] FSFCU. Up to 4% cash back, limit of $10 per month.
- [NY] Bank Of Holland. Up to 1% cash back, limit of $10 per month.
- [MA, NH] & Members First. Up to 2% cash back, limit of $10 per month
- [TX, UT or CO] SSFCU. 1x point per $2 spent on signature transactions (points worth ~1¢)
- CIBC US: 1% back (max $20 per month)
- Crypto.com: Has three different cards with varying rewards
- [NY, NJ, CT] Affinity FCU: 1% back (max $10 per month)
Fixed Value
- DHCU: You earn a different fixed value rate depending on what type of transaction it is.
- 1 cent for approved DHCU Debit Card Transaction with Pin
- 5 cents for approved DHCU Debit Card Transaction with Signature
- 10 cents for approved DHCU Visa Credit Card Transactions
- Capital Bank:
- 25 cent for transactions over $75
- 10 cent for transactions between $1 and $74.99
- Anchor Bank:
- 5 cents for every transaction
- [TX, UT or CO] SSFCU. 10 cent for each transaction.
Prepaid Cards
- Kroger 1-2-3 rewards card. Not worth it. Earns 1 point per $1 spent on all purchases, 2 points per $1 spent at Kroger and 3 points per $1 spent on their own brand of products. Points are worth 0.5¢ a piece in grocery credit. You can fund for free via direct deposit, otherwise you have to pay $3 to load $10-$1,000 in store (cash only, they won’t accept credit cards).
- Vision Prepaid. Not worth it. 1% cash back on gas, has a bunch of fees on it as well.
Random Cards Not Offering Rewards On Spending
- Chime. Offers limited quantity offers on a regular basis, the offers can be hit or miss but there is no hard pull to get the card and there are plenty of money makers on there.
- Chase Disney Visa Debit. Doesn’t earn anything on every day purchases, does give you some discounts on Disney stuff though. Make sure you sign up for a Chase checking bonus first though.
- TD Bank. Their rewards debit card comes with a range offers that can save you money at select retailers.
- Bank of America. Offers BankAmeriDeals on debit cards which is similar to TD Bank’s program.
Final Thoughts
I’ll be adding to this list, a lot of smaller banks offer rewards earning debit cards. Hopefully I am able to find a diamond or two in the rough, if you know of anything that I missed then please let me know in the comments section below.
Also, here are some credit unions with cash back debit cards:
Day Air Credit Union
2% cash back on up to $750 in purchases month
“Day Air Credit Union membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in the Miami Valley* / Dayton region of Southwest Ohio.
More specifically, membership at Day Air Credit Union is offered to those with the following common bond:
* Persons who live, work, attend school, or worship in the Miami Valley*
* Employees of the VA Medical Center
* University of Dayton students, alumni, faculty and staff
* Family^ members of existing members”
Haven’t checked to see if any workarounds to the membership requirements.
https://dayair.org/cashback-checking/
NorthCountry FCU Kasasa Cash Back Checking Account
Has requirements and earns 2% cash back on up to $300 in purchases per month
“To open an account at the credit union, a person needs to live, work, worship, or attend school in one of the following counties:
Vermont: Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, and Washington.
New Hampshire: Coos, and Grafton
New York: Clinton”
https://www.northcountry.org/spend/accounts/personal-checking/kasasa-cash-back-checking-accounts
CapEd Credit Union 2% cash back, with requirements. Available nationwide with a donation.
https://capedcu.com/personal/checking/cash-back-checking/
It looks like my previous post with some non-credit union cash back debit cards was flagged/deleted. I didn’t save the text for it and don’t feel like compiling that info again. Not sure why it wasn’t approved? And now this message is being flagged as Spam, not sure why.
William Charles
Thank you, Will! I emailed him as well and he replied to me. Does anyone remember what the best protocol is for when a comment gets stuck in the spam filter?
The 4 or 5 times that my comments have gone to Spam, I emailed
William Charles and he pulled them all out. He is very good at finding them. 😉
I replied to his email and asked him what to do if it happens again, and this is what he said “Just wait a day or two and then email if it still doesn’t show”
It’s reassuring to know that they actually check the “spam folder”!!
Here are a few to add to the list, I hope this can get updated at some point:
PayPal debit card earns 5% back on up to $1000 spent in one category of your choosing. “Each month, you can go to your PayPal app to select which category gets you 5% cash back.1 Categories include restaurants, apparel, groceries, fuel, and any others we may add in the future.” I don’t see anywhere that it earns interest on the account.
https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/paypal-debit-card
Bank5 Connect’s checking account earns 2% APY if you have at least $100 in your account and has merchant specific cash back deals: https://www.bank5connect.com/products/checking
Wyndham Rewards Debit Card
“2,500 bonus points
After opening your account, making at least two direct deposits, and spending $100 in the first 90 days.1
1 point per $2 spent
On all other qualifying purchases.3
1 point per $1 spent
On eligible purchases made at participating Hotels by Wyndham and qualifying gas and grocery purchases.3
Anniversary Bonus
Earn up to 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year depending on your annual net purchases.4
Benefits
$6 Monthly Fee Waived
There’s no monthly fee as long as you maintain a minimum average monthly balance of $2,500.2”
https://www.wyndhamrewardscards.com/debit-card/
Amex rewards debit card earns an underwhelming 1 Amex rewards point for every $2 spent and the account earns 1% APY
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/banking/checking-account/
LendingClub offers a card with 1% cash back on gas, groceries, and pharmacies and 1% APY. Also gives 2% cash back on LendingClub loan payments
https://www.lendingclub.com/personal-banking/checking/levelup-checking
Stash 1% cash back up to $10/month in the form of investment into stocks or ETFs and, if you have Stash+ ($9/month), 5% back at certain merchants
https://www.stash.com/stock-back-debit-card
Looks like this hasn’t been updated in a while. There is 5% cashback with onPath (up to $10/month) and 3% Cashback with Chartway (up to $10/month) with requirements.
UFB Direct link no longer works, has it been discontinued? https://www.ufbdirect.com/personal-banking/checking/airline-rewards-checking
FutureCard debit card gives 5% back on certain categories (public transportation, thrift stores, bike shop, etc), 6% at certain environmentally friendly merchants, and 1% back on everything else: https://www.future.green/futurecard
Need a VISA debit with cash back to pay property tax. Any suggestions?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/point-rewards-debit-card-earn-5x-3x-1x-49-annual-fee/
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/tab-bank-1-cash-back-on-debit-card-purchases-no-cap/
Here’s a few:
(1) CIBC US now offers a 1% debit card (max $20 per month)
https://us.cibc.com/en/personal/checking.html
(2) Crypto.com has there debit reward card:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/crypto-com-review-app-card-earn-and-referrals/
(3) Affinity
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/nj-ct-affinity-fcu-1-cashback-debit-card-max-10-cashback-per-month/
Every post is crowd sourced, I’ll add these in 🙂
PNC has something, no? https://www.pnc.com/en/personal-banking/banking/rewards/pnc-purchase-payback.html
Not really. It looks more like a card that gives you random offers per month. I wouldn’t call that cashback
PayPal Mastercard 2% cash back was just recently introduced…
This is a credit card and NOT a debit card. https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/credit-card/2-percent-cash-back-mastercard
Great post! Also, I have a 10 cents per transaction debit card with Langley Federal Credit Union, the LangleyPays Debit card. The free options to join the credit union are mostly VA based (specifically Hampton Roads in SE VA). The cheapest paid option to join the credit union is $5.