A question came up on my neighborhood "Next Door" site about a new Debit card
called "Zero". It's app based and offers UP TO 3% cashback benefits. I looked
it over with a Google Search and found the following: The devil in in the
details! That "up to 3% is good only if you spend $100,000 a year! .The cash
back is on a sliding scale And you don't actually earn 3% UNTIL you reach the
100,000 level. You get the lower cashback percentages at each of the lower
levels, starting at 1%.
If you recommend friends and they sign up, you get to move up to a higher tier
of cashback percentage for a year.
Best discussion I found with a Google is at
http://www.doctorofcredit.com/zero-card-... ;
It's a card that you have to fund and then use, sort of like a gift card. But,
since it's Debit card, you probably don't have the same protections that a
credit card gives you,, including the following:
"Doctorforcredit" says, " (before you get too excited, the card will be
processed as a credit card so you won’t be able to get lower rates from
merchants that offer discounts for debit card purchases)." He says overall, the
tiered cashback percentages don't pay off as well as a straight 2% credit card.
Read the Zero FAQ on its site (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/... ;
very carefully. e.g., they have a bill pay facility, but (1) they send a
check...it seems not electronic payment like banks, and (2) you only get the
cashback bonus if you use the card at a merchant, not for bill payments!
At present it appears applicants will be on a wait list, and it will actually
start sometime later this year. It's an mobile device based program and will
start with iOS (Apple) only, later adding Android devices.
If you can fund a card like this and not overspend, you probably can use a
credit card with better benefits and pay it off each month, never being charged
for unpaid balances.
