I do not like the fact you took the Master Card Perk redemption option away and now you charge $2 per $22 to transfer my Perks to my checking account.  BAD!!!

When do you plan on creating a savings account? Mobile deposits? Mobile app? I opened for the perks but have been waiting a while for the other features other banks offer

I too would like a mobile app. Mobile deposits would be nice, but dealing with a small institution like this, it’s a stretch.

Hey Braheem, 
Sorry to disappoint you with this. We definitely loved offering it, and many of us in the office certainly redeemed for it. But the cost to purchase and activate those cards in particular became unsustainable for our business. We are able to offer such a competative debit rewards program because we are able to procure the other gift cards and gift codes at a bulk-rate discount. With the non-branded cards, this just wasn’t  possible. 

Hope this helps, 

-Kyle

Me either perk street has made things too complicated the appeal was a straight 2% cash back on everything no gimmicks
Gift cards are a sucker play most gift cards are never used up they get thrown in a drawer and fees eat the balence up merchants who issue them know this I personally like to choose where I spend my money

I am still very happy that you continue to offer the amazon gift card option but why did you raise the dollar amounts for redemption so high now?

Wes and Jeremy, 
We are working on rolling out savings and mobile. In the meantime, we’re encouraging folks to use their browsers to check account balances, make transactions and do everything you could do from your computer by way of your phone. Here’s a video we’ve made to help you get a quick link onto your iPhone home screen: http://www.perkstreet.com/answer.aspx?questionID=96

-Kyle

Good question, Kathleen. This deposit method requires the same kind of back end functionality that will power mobile remote deposit when that’s ready. We’re currently working to complete this software and add it to our offering, though we don’t have a timeline for roll-out currently. I can tell you personally that improving our depositing options is important to everyone at PerkStreet. We hope to have it to you soon. 

-Kyle

I’m just hoping you will do the opposite when the economy turns around

I’m probably missing something, but where can I see the monthly PowerPerks list?  I found that really appealing when I signed on, but in reality, I never seem to know how to get them (beyond the first month, when I think I got an email stating that month’s PowerPerks).

I am able to redeem $20 in rewards per month roughly and I’m just an average user with less than a $5000 balance most of the time. Where else can you get rewards like that?? I for one am loving Perkstreet and though there can be improvements, as with any company, I am excited to see what comes next! Thanks Perkstreet!

Thanks Lauren. We are hoping to make some announcements that should make PerkStreet better for you way before that! But thanks for sticking it out with us and waiting through the tough times. Your loyalty is absolutely appreciated. -Kyle

So … if you don’t shop at Walmart, Best Buy, Target, or Apple stores frequently, there’s no point in keeping $5k in the checking account, because you aren’t going to get 2% back? Am I reading that right?

That’s correct, Jessica. If you have a $5K starting balance, you automatically unlock 2% at the retailers you mentioned. But if you don’t shop at those places, the incentive may not be there for you. Regardless of balance, you will still be earning 2% cash back at Walmart.com, BestBuy.com, Target.com, Apple.com, iTunes.com and Amazon.com. I hope this helps clarify the changes. 

-Kyle

Thanks Jodi. We are aiming to continue to impress you with regular improvements. Although our business certainly isn’t perfect for everyone right now, we hope to continue to close the gap. I don’t think we’ll ever be satisfied with the amount of rewards nor the quality of our customer service. We exist to serve you and reward you better. Thanks for the support and thanks for sticking with us. Your loyalty means a lot. 

-Kyle

I totally understand, Jimbojake. This is certainly not perfect for everyone. With that in mind, however, I want you to know that we’re committed to finding more ways to give our customers more rewards, as well as finding new and unique ways to drive non-cash value into your experience with us. We will also continue to seek out new redemption options to increase your ability to choose where you spend your perks at full face value. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m here to help. 

-Kyle

Awe sorry Jamie! We don’t like to think our customers have to jump through hoops to join PerkStreet. We definitely understand that this change is disappointing to you. We emailed all our customers a month ago to let them know this was coming, and we definitely wanted to give you a heads up about all this. Sorry if it feels like we’ve sprung it on you. That was certainly not our intention. I hope you can continue to see the value of earning cash back rewards on debit and can find a way to make PerkStreet part of your regular spending. We’d love to keep rewarding you and value your business! If you have any questions about the changes, I’m here to help. 

-Kyle

I earned hundreds of dollars in Perks that I was saving to spend via Mastercard on our upcoming summer vacation. Am I to understand that I can no longer redeem these Perks for a pre-paid Master card like I had planned?

I completely agree with Jamie’s sentiments. It felt like a lot more hoops to jump through than a normal bank and now that I’ve racked up the perks, the rules change and I don’t get to spend them how I planned. LAME. I get 40-60 emails a day and don’t have time to read all of them. I got caught on this one. I don’t see any advantage to staying on with Perkstreet now. Local is always better than far away when the rewards are equal.

I can live with the new program even though I don’t like it. But what upsets me is the fee for cash into my account. I have several hunded dollars in my account to use for a specific purchase and now it will cost $10 for every $100 converted when it actually costs you nothing to place it in my account.

The ONLY reason I opened this account was for the 2% perks.  Now that they are very limited, I will be closing my account.

Ace Hardware and Groupon were both elected in last month’s poll. Here’s a link to the new PowerPerks announcement: http://blog.perkstreet.com/shower-yourself-in-bonus-cash-back-with-april-powerperks/

-Kyle

 I jumped through some hoops trying to open this account and move money over from my other accounts (between online transfers and sending checks via UPS) just to get my $5k balance only to enjoy the 2% deal for a couple months. But even if I found Perkstreet today, with the 1% deal, I’d still convert. Paying me $10-$15 a month to do my normal business is more than my local credit union was giving me for my savings account, and my local credit union does NOT have good customer service, whereas I get a real person with Perkstreet quickly.  I can also stay away from credit cards, which makes Uncle Dave proud.  If clients can legitimately get a better deal for themselves with another bank based on their needs and habits, then more power to them! But if people only jump ship because they want to pout, then I say get over yourselves. I think sometimes as a society we get so caught up on the “free stuff”
offered that we get this sense of entitlement and lose perspective.

I’m with Jodi, looking forward to mobile deposits, an iPhone app, and a savings account!

So the 2% was why I switched to Perkstreet 6 months ago and now they’re stripping that away….

They limit the money I can transfer out of my account via online transfers… They never stated these limits up front. This has severally handicapped access to my money.

I guess I need to start looking for another banking option yet again…

 This is wrong!! 

Let me be clear I love my Perks card,but taking away the Master Card feature is simply a bad decision and needs to be reversed, or DO NOT charge us 10% to redeem our own money!!

Thank you. The Netflix CEO could learn a thing or two from you about how to honestly communicate with customers regarding changes in service. Kudos.

This is really disappointing.  The entire reason I moved my account to PerkStreet was the 2% cash back.  I always make sure my balance is over the $5K.  It was simple and easy.  I’m likely going to be leaving for better options soon.

Thanks Steve. Gift code redemptions typically arrive within 1-2 business days. Hope this helps. 

-Kyle

Why have you gotten rid of the lower denominations for Amazon gift cards?  

Thanks Djlee. We know the reasoning behind this could be confusing. PerkStreet is able to offer awesome debit rewards because we issue a lot of those rewards in the form of gift cards. We are able to get the gift cards in bulk at a discount, paying less than 100% of the face value for them. In order to be able to offer the account credit to everyone without it cannibalizing our business, we had to reduce the cash value of the redemption at a similar ratio. I hope this makes sense. So you’re clear, redeeming for gift cards still means getting $1 for every 1 perk. Hope this is helpful.

-Kyle

Sorry to hear that Becky. We’re committed to treating you well and respecting your business as long as you remain a customer. That said, we want what’s best for our customers no matter what. If you do move on, we’ll be sorry to see you go and we’ll miss your business. Our company is all about helping people live better financial lives, and if we’re not the best place for you to do that, we need to keep working on it. But we certainly would not hold any hard feelings about our inability to live up to your needs and expectations. I hope you’ll consider the value of the unlimited cash back on debit that we offer before moving on.

-Kyle

There is no reason to stay now.. I’ll be leaving and I suggest you do the same.  Why put up with the major inconvenience of an online only bank only to almost nothing in return???

 Pff, what do you two work for perk street?  You don’t get 1% back here, you get .9% now with the $2 charge… Might as well go with fidelity or chase or  any of the other REAL companies that offer 1, 1.5 and even 2% back and DONT GIVE YOU THE BAIT AND SWITCH

By charging $2 your effective cash back rate goes to 0.9% thats a loooong way from the 2% WE WERE ALL PROMISED

Hey Alan, 
We’re definitely sorry to be disappointing you with this news, and are doubly upset that you only found out about it today — a month after we made the public announcement. Apologies aside, if you’re struggling to move money effectively between your PerkStreet account and other accounts, you should know that PerkStreet’s transfer limits are designed for our security and yours, and that we have no limits on transfers initiated from external accounts. In other words, if you’re hitting your limits at myperkstreet.com, then those limits will increase over time. In the meantime, you can log in to your other bank’s website and either push or pull money into (or out of) your PerkStreet account with no limit and no charge on our end. Hope this helps. We definitely don’t want you out there frustrated with your experience when there are ways to avoid that frustration. 

-Kyle

 I know, this bank is barely worth the hassle for 2% for 0.9% NO WAY

Hey Alan, 
We have been working on these features for some time; you’re right. But due to the complexities of developing mobile for banking (which I can tell you from experience are a whole lot different than building mobile for other applications), as well as the security and risk concerns we must tackle, the mobile app has been delayed. We are frustrated with this fact. We want mobile ourselves, and we REALLY want to be able to tell you it’s ready. But it’s not. And it wouldn’t be fair to set your expectations without knowing we would meet them. Due to a tough rate environment, creating a savings account that we can be proud of has also proved challenging. These things are coming. And when they arrive, they will be good. But until they meet our expectations we don’t want to set yours unfairly. I hope this makes sense. 

-Kyle

Yeah.  Chase.  That’s a company I’d want to do business with.  Are you serious?

You sound like a shill.. no big deal?  2% at a few locations with a cap on your earnings and a 10% charge to redeem your perks instead of 2% cash back everywhere WHICH IS WHY MOST OF SIGNED UP sounds GOOD TO YOU????

Maybe you should see if you can get your perks in monopoly money since you seem to like “fun money” so much

Thanks much, Eric. I cannot tell you how nice it is to read this comment. I’m sure our CEO, Dan, is also happy to see your response here. We do what we can to learn from our own mistakes and those of others. While we’re certainly not perfect, we’re committed to delivering an experience to you that’s as close to perfect as we can make it every step of the way. Call it “Perkfect!”

Thanks again, 
-Kyle

Good question, Seth. Rolling out all these new places where you can redeem would have  strained our ability to deliver the rewards cheaply and quickly from an operational standpoint if we didn’t simultaneously eliminate some of the different denominations. It’s really a question of total inventory of gift cards and gift codes. In order to keep things running smoothly, we opted to eliminate some of the denominations and offer more redemption places. I hope this helps. 

-Kyle 

I don’t see your need to attack someone for staying because PerkStreet still goes above and beyond what THEY need.  If this isn’t enough for you, then there’s nothing wrong with that, you have that freedom to find what does. Just like any of us do. But there are some of us who find this to still be above and beyond what we need, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. If you don’t want to stay, then don’t. But please don’t attack others for having a different lifestyle than you. It only reduces the credibility in any argument you make. The company changed their strategy to please 90% of clients, and the other 10% are the ones affected and therefore the loudest on this blog. And no, I don’t work for PerkStreet.

Hey Exactly, 
I should note here that PerkStreet offers 5% in categories chosen by our customers every month. Our 1% cash back earning rate still has no cap. I am in no way trying to argue with you, but even while you’re upset I feel compelled to make sure you understand what you are getting from PerkStreet. I hope this helps. If you have specific questions, I’m here for you. 

-Kyle

Kyle,

Thank you so much for your fast, straightforward, and patient answers. The customer service you are providing here is second to none, and I thank you for it!

I, for one, will not be cancelling my account because of these changes. I love that I can still get 1% on my debit card and not have to mess with paying a credit card bill each month.

I hope that these changes don’t hurt Perkstreet too badly, and that you will be able to recover and thrive in the future.

Thanks for all you do!

I really did like the simplicity of just using the card and earning 2%perks, with out all the marketing. Thanks for the few months of 2% perk earnings It was great!

I really appreciate your candidness here, truly.  However I have to wonder if I now have any benefit to continuing with you.

I have a somewhat unique case in that I am a consultant and use the card for travel.  At first I thought the benefit of not having to deal with credit cards, fees or whatever would be beneficial, and I was ‘earning’ 2%, which in the past 8 months has gotten me $1000 or so to spend at Amazon.  So, something for nothing, right?  Well… no.
See, I funnel more than $2000 every week thru this account, which means I either have to mail in checks (makes me nervous) or deal with the very frustrating UPS Store process every time I make a deposit.  The ‘transfer’ option is a joke, frankly. I usually spend more in a week than I’m allowed to transfer.
My Chase account allows me to make deposits at the ATM, or use an Android app; but their reward system only works with their credit cards.

I will not say anything about the cash back situation because frankly I accept your explanation, however, I would caution the further use of marketing at 2% or saying “cash back” as it approaches big-bank levels of dishonesty.

I want to stay with you guys, but seriously- at this point, I’m having trouble justifying the additional effort I must go thru to now only get 1% (or .9% if I consider ‘cash’ the viable option).

I understand why you met in the middle, but what if you had a premium option of some sort- for example, 2% for a balance of $6000 or maybe 3% for a balance of $10,000?

Exactly. Starting today, all customers making iTunes purchases like music and apps will earn 2% cash back on those purchases. Sorry we’ve disappointed you with the other changes, however. Please let me know if you have any other questions. 

-Kyle

Thanks Irene. Unfortunately, no, Walmart card redemptions begin at a $100 redemption value. They are not out of stock. 

-Kyle

Thanks a bunch, Jamie. I’m proud to be here helping everyone transition on behalf of our company. Everyone here at PerkStreet answers email-based customer service questions submitted to help[at]perkstreet.com every week. (Even the developers, analysts and yes, the executives — who would never touch customer service at many of our competitors.) At PerkStreet, understanding and taking care of our customers is something we are ALL passionate about. I’m glad to read that you’ve noticed it

-Kyle

Larry, 
Wow. I am blown away by this comment, but only because it’s not one I’ve seen often in our social channels. Internally, you can bet our devotion to our customers and to innovating as rapidly as possible is a major attracter of new talent into our ranks. There is a reason our Head of Customer Experience no longer trades derivatives, our COO no longer sells student loans, and our CEO no longer slings credit cards. These guys all left Big Banking on purpose. Even our VP of Banking Ops decided to join us from a community bank because she believes she can have a bigger positive impact here. If you’re ever interested in throwing your hat in the ring, email careers[at]perkstreet[dot]com. I can assure you we will always have a special place in our hearts for ‘reformed’ bankers.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share what you know to be true in this forum. It means a lot to us. 

-Kyle

Thanks Naamamarom, 
While I’m not an expert on PayPal’s pricing model, I have heard from our risk and customer service teams that this is a serious concern for us and was something we had to do. Again, I love PayPal for its convenience, but if it was causing a potential leak in the pipeline that delivers tons of cash back to our customers then we felt we had to patch it up. Sorry I’m not more of an expert on the way PayPal works and don’t have a more specific answer for you. I’ll admit; this one’s a bit out of my league because of the PayPal nuance. 

-Kyle

There are lots of people weighing in here, ING_Guy. I am answering questions in the order they are received and will get to everyone’s queries in time. Sorry I didn’t notice the original question. Thanks for your help spotting everything.

Jessica is correct that PayPal transactions will no longer earn perks. 

Since every payment on PayPal is technically a transfer of funds, it is possible for folks to effectively pay themselves on PayPal, earning rewards without spending money. By cycling lots of money through PayPal, people could earn tons of cash from PerkStreet dishonestly, by my understanding. I don’t know exactly how this kind of fraud is done, but I do know we had no choice but to cut PayPal out of our rewards-earning purchases. Sorry about that. 

-Kyle

DJ, 
I really appreciate your taking the time to share your individual scenario so the rest of the community can benefit from the answer. (I’ll do my best to offer you the best advice I can here to continue that effort.)

First of all, it sounds like the biggest issue you’re having with fully adopting PerkStreet has to do with difficulty depositing money into the account. There are lots of ways to get money into a PerkStreet account without hitting any limits. We wrote a whole blog post about that here: http://blog.perkstreet.com/how-to-deposit-money-quickly-and-easily-into-your-perkstreet-account/

Direct deposits have no monthly limits and post the same day you’re paid, so that’s clearly the easiest. In your circumstance, as a consultant, that might not work for you. In your case, the easiest thing may be to transfer the money from another account’s online banking interface. I’m no expert on Chase and cannot speak for that company, but I would think you should be able to initiate a transfer to or from your PerkStreet account from within your Chase account after you verify with Chase that you own the PerkStreet account. PerkStreet does not limit transfers initiated by another bank, nor to we charge anything for those transfers. 

PerkStreet’s transfer limits only apply to transfers initiated from within our online banking interface, and hitting those limits regularly will teach our automated system that this is a normal behavior for you, resulting in an automatic increase in the limit.

Finally, to your question about why we didn’t simply raise the deposit limit to continue offering unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, I can tell you we certainly debated that kind of change heavily. At the end of the day, however, I think we just felt that if 90% of our customers weren’t hitting our old $5K balance requirement, then raising the requirement just wouldn’t mean serving most people well. I hope this all makes sense. Thanks again. 

-Kyle

Thanks a bunch, Carol. We really appreciate your sticking by us and are looking forward to impressing you with our integrated envelope budgeting software as soon as possible. I have a meeting in 15 minutes about that very functionality, so you can expect to read about it on the blog in the next month or so. If we can launch it early, we will. 

-Kyle

How do I find out who the merchants are each month that you can earn Power Perks for?

Put me in the *extremely disappointed* camp.  I did not notice the changes until today.  I have $253 in perks, but if I get charged $2 per $20 then that means I really only have about $220 all of the sudden… unless I can figure out something to spend $253 at Walmart on.

I too, have jumped through lots of hoops to get set up on Perkstreet and now I see no advantage in staying.

Seems like bait and switch to offer 2% cash back and then a few months later change it to 1% with a $2 surcharge per $20.  Suddenly the 2% cash back that lured me to Perkstreet is in actuality only 0.9%

Now I guess I’ll be jumping through hoops to get back to my local credit union!

They’re not the only bank pushing out the mobile deposits… maybe it’s easier said than done!

We opened an account on 3/6 and received and email on 3/13 that states 2% earned on purchases for the first 90 days… However I noticed the above statement “Customers who opened an account prior to March 5th, 2012, will also continue to get the full 90-day unlimited 2% cash back sign up offer.”  Do accounts opened after 3/5 continue to get the 90-day unlimited  2% as well?   Also, how do your customers vote on Bonus Merchants.
Thanks

Like many others have said, I felt like I’ve had to jump through a lot of hoops to open an account here. Much more so, than any other bank I’ve done business with. Yea there is 2% some things still, but otherwise it is really just a 1% card. I have other 1% credit cards I can use that are less hassle. I’m thinking seriously about closing the account. I can maintain a min $5,000 balance, I’m really the type of customer you want. And not the type you want to drive away. 

Where does Perkstreet stand on the HR 4646?

If 90% of your customer can’t hit the 5K mark, then 90% of your customers probably don’t have any money to buy other services from this bank. The 10% that lose out are the 10% who have money to buy your other services. 

I would say in this scenario, the bank is making the 10% of customers who have more money to use other services from the bank unhappy. 

I don’t see any mention of the cash deposit moneygram option listed as an available deposit option anymore. Given the extended hold placed on checks deposited during the first 30 days our accounts are open, I’ve used this deposit method several times. Please don’t tell me Perkstreet has yanked this away too????????????  Please clarify Kyle.

Kyle, Perkstreet isn’t a bank, right? It’s an ISO (Independent Sales Organization) which means you guys simply get a commission or a marketing fee for selling our deposits to Bankcorp, correct? This might explain the Perkstreet excuse factory for why all the sudden changes that are occurring. Sorry for my attitude, but you have no idea how much grief I had to go through to convince my girlfriend that Perkstreet was right for us and now I have egg (or worse) all over my face! We jumped through so many hoops to open the account (took close to 2 weeks to open) and after telling her this wasn’t a “bait and switch,” sure enough, Perkstreet seems to be the classic “bait and switch.” I’m an MBA and previously worked on Wall Street, so I understand the low interest rate environment is difficult to operate in….. however your CEO Dan O’Malley (?)recently went on record as saying there were no major changes expected then “boom” the floor falls out! I can appreciate what you guys/gals are trying to do, but Perkstreet’s debacle is nothing short of a textbook case of failed execution, which is surprising given that many in your customer base are highly educated, not stupid and will therefore likely leave in droves. I’m sticking around a bit longer because I want to see what stunt Perkstreet will try next. This post isn’t meant to sound hostile, but I really wonder if what you guys are trying to do is simply keep your assets below the $10 billion threshold so the Dobbin reg loopholes still apply for you guys. Will be a Harvard case study in my kids future textbook perhaps? 

Nevermind, I see it right here! It seemed to stand out before, but I didn’t find it right away for some reason. My apologies for littering the blog.

Well, I don’t want to just add complaints on to this list, but I have a few basic problems that have made me decide to leave PerkStreet.

1. I understand costs being unsustainable – heck, if I didn’t get that, I wouldn’t have BEEN a PerkStreet customer. However, I find that retroactively not letting me spend my previously accrued points in the manner I intended (Cash Card redemption) is unfair. If you said I couldn’t redeem all new points to cash, I’d be more understanding.
2. Dropping the $5000 2% limit is brutal – it was the biggest reason I was a customer to begin with. 1% is attainable with many other vendors. It will be easy to find a replacement that beats this. 

When you combine these two things, I end up earning 1% and paying a 10% penalty to redeem as cash ($22 to get $20) which means my net rewards is 0.9%. I was previously earning 2.1%, after adding in PowerPerks bonuses. That’s a seismic shift that should make anyone reconsider their use.

3. Restricting my redemption to only certain merchants might be fine for people who like to buy lots of stuff like stereos or trinkets, but I’m a SAVER who likes to travel. I like to save and go somewhere, not have a nicer TV. So giving me money to Best Buy or Amazon isn’t helpful. 

Because I switched to PerkStreet from a card that got me travel (which is what I really want) I had always planned on using my Perks for airline tickets, hotel stays, or dinner out on vacation. In short, it made vacations or experiences attainable when they otherwise might not have been. This new program provides no such benefit, and I don’t really have use for the perks that are there now. It’s very restrictive. So I can’t even use my 0.9% as I see fit.

I guess the net result is that I’m not going to be a customer any longer. While I like what PerkStreet has previously done, I’m not sure I find the new structure particularly compelling. Fortunately, we have a free market system, and I’m free to go elsewhere.

I’d like to say I don’t harbor any ill will, but I kind of do – the changes essentially invalidate the money I’d already earned – so you’ve depreciated my perk value by 10%. That’s a slap in the face for some one who evangelized for your product to multiple other customers.

While using debit instead of credit is great for some people, I get the feeling that most people who used the debit card (and certainly all those that maintained a $5000 balance) will probably be responsible credit users, and can earn way better rewards elsewhere.

Goodbye, PerkStreet. Sorry it had to end this way. If you ever change your mind, look me up. I’m sure we can be friends again.

-Steve

Ugh sorry Tim. I know it’s disappointing. And I know we’ve let you down. We are sorry for that. If you have specific questions for our risk team, please ask away and I’ll do my best to track down answers for you. 

-Kyle

PerkStreet isn’t a political entity. The company doesn’t vote for or against new rules, laws or regulations; we just abide by the laws and regulations that apply to us. Thanks for the question, Sgmfucrn. 

-Kyle

Drew, you’re misunderstanding the structure of PerkStreet. We’re a financial services company that’s partnered with The Bancorp Bank to hold our deposits, provide our secure account opening, and supply some other services to our independent, privately-owned business. They also provide our full FDIC insurance. PerkStreet doesn’t get a commission for selling accounts. We own them. We design our own products and services and we market and deliver them. All the decision making about the changes occurring now was done by our executives and our corporate team (myself included). We certainly did not intend to bait and switch, and we gave a full 30-day notice of the changes despite the fact that we were not required to do so for many of these changes. Finally, while I cannot tell you how much PerkStreet has in deposits (again, we’re a private company), I can tell you that according to the website usbanklocations.com, The Bancorp Bank has roughly $3B in deposits. That puts The Bancorp Bank well below the $10B threshold for Durbin to apply to them, and therefore us, since part of those $3B in deposits belong to us. I hope this helps clarify the scenario. 

Finally, I’m sorry that you feel you’ve let your girlfriend down. That stinks. I hope you’ll still be able to earn a meaningful amount of money with the rewards program as it currently exists. We believe it’s still the most exciting debit rewards program in the country, and we’re committed to continuing to serve you better as time passes. 

-Kyle

Thanks Drew and APSTERNE, 
To verify, Moneygram deposit is NOT going away at this time. Thanks for helping me limit the confusion here. That’s the last thing we want. 

-Kyle

To be clear, Noneya, if the transaction comes through PayPal, it will not earn perks. Sorry for this new caveat, but the fraud risk to us appears too great for us to create any kind of exceptions to this rule. I hope this helps. Thanks for the question.

-Kyle

I am one of those that has over $5,000 in my account and was enjoying those unlimited 2% perks, so I am a bit disappointed. However, I understand that over time companies need to change their offerings for many different reasons. I really want to applaud you for being so up-front and forthcoming about the changes and taking the time to make sure you iron out any bugs before launching the new program. I’m sticking with PerkStreet…I feel like they do more than just give you cash back rewards. I love the blog, i loved the Street Sense course and I feel like I matter any time I call customer service. I do look forward to a savings account at PerkStreet and maybe some type of budgeting software. Thanks!

You know, at first I was really excited by the prospect of the changes – transfer to account, stores like Walmart were added. The rate of redemption didn’t bother me, since I assumed I would be able to redeem at reasonable amounts to a store I frequent often. However, I’m finding that for certain Gift Cards (GCs), the amount at which you have to save in which to redeem can be exorbitantly high,IMO. 

Example I have is Walmart – I was excited to see this added as it’s my primary grocery shopping location. I had every intention that when I would get to a reasonable amount in perks ($25/$50), I would just cash out a Walmart Gift Card and use it as my money for grocery purchases. Now, I see I have to wait until I get $100 before I can use it. For Walmart? How did that happen? I’m sure it came down to a negotiation of sorts (since Macy’s offers $25 GCs), but seriously?

For the most part, the rest of the GC selection is mostly useless for me, since I don’t clothes shop often, I don’t eat out but rarely, and I try to squeeze every dollar I can out of my budget to pay down my debts as fast as I can. That means, I don’t have the ability to get the 2% back for having $5k in an account, since I never see close to that amount ever sitting in my checking. Almost 2 months later, I barely have enough to get something that’s $10, and that’s while I’m lucky to have the intro 2%, meaning it’ll take even LONGER to get to redeem a perk I can use (I’m estimating at my current consumption/rate, I could get the $100 Walmart Card around August 2014). I hope to be completely debt free about a year before then!

For someone who is currently trying to get out of debt as fast as possible, it’s going to be a LONG time before I see Perks that I can actually USE! I may just have to suck it up and use the transfer back to the account, despite losing rewards in the process…

Thanks so much Steve. We are working to deliver the envelopes budgeting software as soon as possible, and I would definitely encourage you to check it out when it arrives. Have a great day.

-Kyle

all i use this account for is to have a card to purchase online with a small balance in my account in case my account gets hacked…there still is NO minimum balance requirement right? cuz my account gets pretty low at times before I transfer money over to it..

Kyle,
   Thank You for your reply.
It’s a tough business you guys are in. I’m on your side (former banker, but who was one of the goodguys) and like how Perkstreet is trying to shake things up, but don’t think you folks will survive much longer. I guess it’s a bit of a gamble from mgmt’s perspective to tick off/agitate your biggest “fans” and hope that any gains Perkstreet makes outweighs the many account defections (and loss of goodwil) it appears you are/will be experiencing. I do appreciate how you respond/communicate with your customers via this blog, facebook, etc. while still managing to pretty much keep your cool!  It is a better approach than the big banks model.

Hanging in there until ????? 

Drew

 I do not see the trade off.  Although it is $2 to redeem for $20…think of how much that would be if you were redeeming $100.  We are earning 1-2% but paying 10% to get that cash we earned.  On the other hand, We could have an account that doesn’t earn anything.  So I guess I am upset about paying to get money that wasn’t mine to begin with.

I just wanted to add a comment here. Change is hard, but life isn’t life without its changes. I personally have been very pleased with Perkstreet and especially it’s outstanding customer service. I have banked with large banks before and I have not found the kind of customer service and interaction I have found with Perkstreet. That to me is worth sticking with Perkstreet even in spite of the changes.

Just noticed that Amazon.com redemption minimum has increased to $50. Not happy.

I left BOA to come to Perkstreet. I work for county government and will probably never have a $5k balance. I am still happy with my 1%…especially since BOA was killing me with fees(ex-an EXTENDED overdraft fee?). I am disappointed with the charge to have my perks put into my account. I think we should be allowed to have the perks we have already accumulated put into our account without a fee. The change would become effective as of April 1. I have been using the perks as a secondary savings account for emergencies. But I will be staying with PerkStreet since with my small cash flow I can’t get anything like it even from credit unions. And I truly enjoy the very professional customer service.

There is absolutely no minimum balance on PerkStreet’s accounts, nor do we have any plans to add one at this time, Vickie. Thanks for asking for clarification on this point, as it’s something we’re proud to be able to continue to avoid — even while many of our competitors roll them out.

Thanks much. Hope this helps. 

-Kyle

Thanks Drew, 
Please email us at Help[at]PerkStreet[dot]com and I’m sure our excellent customer service team will give your situation a thoughtful review. I can’t be sure how this will shake out, but we definitely value you as a customer. 

-Kyle

Thanks much, dmfrhf. Thanks for commenting. 

-Kyle

This is the first I’m hearing of this circumstance, Daniel. (Probably because I’m guessing it’s fairly uncommon for an employer to post a Direct Deposit on a weekend.) At PerkStreet, when our payday would fall on a Saturday, our accounting department simply processes payroll on the Friday before. PerkStreet does make an effort to post direct deposits on the same day they’re made available from employers. I’ll bring this up in a meeting soon, but in the meantime, you might want to also speak with your payroll department if this is posing a problem for you. Props to you for living within your means and creating a zero-balanced budget. Keep fighting the good fight in your financial life. We’re cheering for you. 

-Kyle

So, what is with the money issue?  Are you saying that since they charge 2 dollars to redeem cash?  So, if I decide to cash in 22 dollars and the two dollars get taken away, does that mean, I will only get 20 dollars in my account?

Jessica, have you ever used Paypals Debit Card? 

Right on, paypal rules, much easier!

Thanks Kyle! Perkstreet fixed the situation and made me happy. It’s not so much the money as it was there (your) “can do” attitude. Kudos to Perkstreet on this one!

-Drew-