PerkStreet Pays 2% Back On Debit Cards

You can earn plenty of perks with a PerkStreet Financial checking account and Platinum Debit MasterCard, but you need to make sure to read the fine print to get the most out of the deal.

PerkStreet pays 2% cash back for the first 90 days after opening your account whenever you make signature-based transactions or pay your bills with your debit card.

After 90 days, you can continue to earn 2% cash back if you keep at least $5,000 in your account. If your balance falls below $5,000, you’ll earn 1% cash back.

You can boost your cash-back earnings, as well.

It pays 5% cash back every time you make a signature-based debit card transaction for certain categories of merchandise or with retailers that change each month.

For the month of January, the focus is on health clubs, arts and crafts stores and an online tax provider.

While the 5% cash-back offer is capped at $250 for the year, there’s no limit to what you can earn from the rest of your debit card transactions.

You don’t pay any fees if you make at least one checking account transaction each month, and you get free access to more than 42,000 ATMs in the STAR network, found at locations like Walgreens and Target.

If you use an out-of-network ATM, you’ll be charged $2.

The FDIC-insured checking account doesn’t pay interest itself, but paper checks and bill paying are free.

You’ll be charged $25 if you overdraw the account and $4.50 if you don’t use your account in a given month.

PerkStreet (www.perkstreet.com) offers its checking account through the Bancorp Bank, an online bank with headquarters in Wilmington, Del.