I love perkstreet and appreciate what you are doing, but this is the absolute dumbest thing you’ve come up with.

Scott, Great hearing from you as ever. No doubt about your commitment to the “team,” for sure. But as the dumb guy who came up with this feature, I gotta ask: Why does it seem so silly to you?

I can honestly say that since I eat lunch with my sister once a week, and get together for drinks with lots of other friends who now have PerkStreet cards on the weekends, this is something I’m definitely benefitting from. 

To be clear, I’m not arguing with you. Your opinion is totally valued here (as is every other customer’s), but I want to make sure we understand what gets you excited, makes you feel valued, and keeps making it clearer that we’re different — better? — than your other options. To my knowledge, this is the first time a debit card has offered a product like this, which could certainly make it feel foreign, but this is the kind of outside-the-box thinking we’re dedicated to working toward here. (Whether we’re successful is clearly something you and all our other awesome customers will ultimately be the judge of.)

Anyway, hope all is well with you! Thanks much. 

-Kyle

Kyle Psaty
PerkStreet Financial

While I think this is an okay idea in theory I feel that it is a bit limiting. My husband and I only eat out about once every two months, never visit coffe shops (I have celiac disease, contamination central), or bars. Maybe there could be a few “family oriented” additions? Public pools, rec centers, etc. Our family would much rather go to a place that wears out a toddler than visit a restaurant that probably doesn’t have many perkstreeters because of mine and my daughter’s dietary restrictions. I know most people aren’t celiac and have an easier time with eateries but I think “family spots” are still something to look into.

Eating out is one of the spending habits that debt-free people are trying to stay away from. I still appreciate having a debit card that offers rewards at all but it is difficult to introduce PerkPal when we are also saying we are trying to eat out less to stay within budget.

I sure hope you would soon be introducing extra perks for grocery shopping, or, gas…

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for the reply! I’ve been (and still am) a huge fan of perkstreet, but I simply fail to see the real value from this, especially as your billing it as a referral program. 

Even if I did go out once a week with a friend who had a perkstreet card and we paid separately with the average spent being $10, I’d be earning 40 cents extra per month or $4.80 per year. 

Don’t get me wrong every penny counts, but I’d much prefer a one time referral bonus as I would be much more likely to follow up with those I’ve talked to about perkstreet and encourage them to take the step and join.

I think my biggest issue with the change in rewards structure back in April was not event the reduction in perks, as I understand you need to be viable and turn a profit, but rather that it went from a very simple, straightforward rewards system to now a very complicated one.

I’d much rather see a straight 1% on everything with some “better” 5% power perks categories. Now I just assume I’m getting 1% on everything and if I get more it’s just a nice bonus.

Oh how I long for the days when I earned 5% powerperks on a huge selection of major retailers for the whole Christmas season. 

Anyway, I still think you guys are great, and I still recommend perkstreet to those who want to primarily use debit. Who knows, maybe the day will come when all the banks are offering “perk pals” and if it does, I’ll be sure to remember who came up with the idea as I’m eating humble pie while earning 2% perks

How do you actually do the referral? Is there a link or a code we send the person?

Thanks,
Erika

Scott, 
I hear you loud and clear buddy, and I appreciate your clarifying. Your thoughts on added complexity of the program are also really helpful feedback from a longtime customer. As ever, we are vigilantly looking for ways to improve your experience and your earning. Hopefully what ever the next announcements are, they feel like a value-add to you.

Meanwhile, hang on to that humble pie. We can decide who should eat it later

-Kyle

PS) Thanks for the follow on Twitter. 

Thanks ErikaO. The whole point of this announcement is that there’s no need to do a formal referral. (We don’t currently have an offer to reward customers with a referral bonus.) 

All we care about is that you and your friend both have PerkStreet cards and that you use them within an hour of each other for food or drinks. In that case, you both earn 2%. If you did the referral, awesome. If you just found out coincidentally that you both use PerkStreet, great. If you just happen to be in the same place at the same time with another PerkStreeter, lucky you! Does this help clarify? -KyleKyle PsatyPerkStreet Financial

Most definitely! My boyfriend was already going to join for the same free checking and easy perks I enjoy. This is just another great reason.

Thanks for the awesomely quick response =)

…Actually, my boyfriend tried to sign up online and it did ask for a referral code.

I know what you’re talking about. It’s not mandatory. He can put your phone number in, but that’s just so we can monitor who is referring people internally as we try to develop new ways to incent people for referrals. Having him put your phone number in there is optional, and will just help us improve the referral process for customers down the line. There’s no bonus associated with that. Sorry for all this confusion, Erika. 

-Kyle

I dont really get this though – I told my fiancee to join Perkstreet a few months back back before all the recent changes.  How do I become associated with her so that we both get the 2% at places where we eat together?

I find this concept a little pointless though.  How often do you meet a friend or whoever out at a bar and put the transaction on 2 separate cards? Usually one or the other pays for it and the other person will pick up the tab on the next visit or give that person the cash for their part.  The only time I would ever see myself using this would be if we were using coupons or something at a restaurant that was a ‘one per transaction’ type deal

Thanks Tim. No need to make sure the accounts are “associated.” So long as you both use PerkStreet cards at the same restaurant, bar or coffee shop, you’ll both earn 2% when you go out together. 

Hope this helps. 

-Kyle

Kyle Psaty
PerkStreet Financial 

Thanks much, Aaron. We’re always working on making this better for you. We definitely understand that complexity can be bad, but we are also looking for ways layer on rewards that are sustainable and that improve the product for as many customers as possible. 

We know we’re not perfect yet, but I can assure you we’re going to continue working toward it. Our mission is to help you win, and that’s exactly what we’re fighting for. Thanks for bearing with us and for recognizing that not all “creative” solutions will be as compelling as others for everyone — but that innovating banking is something we are committed to doing.-Kyle

Uhm, well, hmm. I signed up my husband for PerkStreet and we go out to eat often, but we are considered a household so we wouldn’t get the perks? That’s kind of lame to be honest. In theory this is decent but since we won’t get anything out of it, it doesn’t seem like the best idea to me. 

If you are Debt-Free why are you staying away from eating out?  It’s a PERK to being debt free!!  ‘Restaurants’ are just a line item on that Cash-Flow form that can FINALLY get a > $0 value   – personally not there yet, but SOO looking forward to it !!

Thanks Aaron. I appreciate your recognizing that this stuff really matters to us. Making banking better is why I come to work every day

-Kyle

Thanks Twokssei, 
We do not want this to be confusing — and especially not misleading. But this is a product feature nobody else has ever had (to my knowledge). It’s something we’ve had a hard time explaining, but for the customers we’ve spoken to about the feature, describing it as a “referral bonus” makes the most sense. Of course, we don’t verify the referral, but we do give you bonus rewards every time you get together with another PerkStreeter. We’ll keep working on ways to make this clearer. Thanks for your ideas!

-Kyle

True true.  Lest we forget the difference in someone actually responding to concerning blog messages too, yes?  Thank you Kyle, for quick replies and your clear explanations.

I like this perk as it is usually the only way I earn the 2%.  You don’t have to know anybody when you go out, you just have to use your card within an hour of another PerkStreet customer.  I go to ballgames a few times a month and when I use my Perkstreet card to buy dinner, I always get the 2% since there are thousands of others at the stadium, there is bound to be someone else who’s a Perkstreet user.
Thanks Perkstreet!

I agree that the bonus perks are too complex.  Of course those working for perkstreet should be able to get the 2% bonus for eating out together often enough.  But for the rest of us, not so much.  I also don’t end up getting the power perks often.  The company tries to appeal to budget-savvy shoppers.  Generally, an extra 1% back still doesn’t make it a smart decision to make an unplanned purchase.  I do like Perkstreet, but yes, I am another customer disappointed in the changes that happened a few months ago.

Twokssei, we do eat out but we still need to put a limit to it, otherwise, this part of expense could grow really fast. 

Like another commenter recently stated, I thought Perkstreet tried to appeal to budget-savvy shopper. But I guess I was wrong. I might just have to accept that I am not part of their targeted group…

My guess now is that PS is trying to provide a debit alternative to college students. It is probably a good thing. Basically, the much younger crowd are more likely to go out to eat and split bills. Families, not so much. They are also more likely to shop iTunes or Apple stores. Perhaps, Perkstreet should rethink where they put up their ads so that such crowd would get to know them.

Quite honestly, it is hard for me to refer Perkstreet to my group of friends. They are mostly budget conscious people who use credit cards and pay off the balance every month. There are a lot more credit card options that offers straight 2% bonus without such complicated systems. I still missed the previous system…