The Debit Card I Use For 2 Things

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debit_card(UPDATE: June 1, 2015 – UFB discontinued the the ability to get 1% cashback when use their debit card to pay off your credit card. It was great while it lasted!)

(UPDATE: May 1, 2015 – UFB discontinued the Premiere CashBack Checking account for New Customers.  Those who have it already will be grandfathered in.  If you already have any UFBDirect account, contact them to see if you can get it.)

As a rule, I don’t use a debit card because it gives direct access to my bank account.  If someone stole my debit card info, they could access my cash.  A credit card puts a firewall between hoodlums and my money.

I make an exception with the UFB Direct debit card because it gives me 1% cash back on whatever I PAY my credit card company.  That means I will earn several hundred dollars a year paying off my credit card bill with this debit card instead of a check.  I only use this debit card to pay off my credit card bill and one other thing.

Here’s the scoop.  UFB Direct has a special VIP, double-secret, pinky-swear offer.  If you have $25K in a UFB Savings account (which, by the way, earns 1.25% APY) or their Elite Money Market Savings account, you can open their Premier CashBack Checking account.  As long as you keep an average daily balance of $1,500 in your Premier CashBack Checking, you will get 1% cash back on debit card most purchases and payments.

Don’t look for their Premier CashBack Checking account on their website.  It is a private offer.  If you want it, email me and I will send you the name and number of the guy there who hooked me up.  He gets a commission.  Sadly, I get NOTHING for this other than the warm feeling knowing that he and you will benefit from it.

I always leave $1,500 in my Premier CashBack Checking.  When I want to make a credit card payment, I sign in to UFB Direct and instantly transfer money from my Savings to my Premier CashBack Checking.  Then I go to my credit card peeps and pay off my balance.  Not all credit card companies accept debit card as a form of payment, but mine does.  If yours does too, you might consider this.

Another wrinkle: You can pay your taxes with a debit card via the IRS Approved website payUSAtax.com.  There is a $2.79 Debit Card Convenience fee.  Let’s say I owe Uncle Sam $1,000, if I used my UFB Direct debit card, I’d get $10 cash back.  After the convenience fee, I’d be up $7.21.  Not exactly a windfall.  But if you owed $5,000 you’d be up $47.21.

Again, if you want details, email me and I will send you the name and number of the guy there who hooked me up.

4 COMMENTS

  1. If you don’t mind me asking, which credit card company are you able to pay with via debit card? Also is it online or via phone? Thanks for the help Chip.

  2. The Fidelity® Investment Rewards® American Express® Card (pays 2% cash back) allows payment from a debit card. You need to open a Fidelity Investments account to get the card. But that is free and easy. You also need to call in to pay off your card, because they actually shoot you over to the “Collections Department” (1-888-998-2829).

  3. I used my UFBDirect Premier CashBack Checking debit card to pay my FIA credit card bill, but UFBDirect did not give me the 1% cash back because they told me that this transaction was not categorized as signature-based transaction by BOA. I did not tell FIA(BOA) my PIN when I made this payment. Maybe BOA changed the category for this kind of transactions.

  4. The guy who helped me set up my UFBDirect Premier Cashback Checking Account (Robert) said that I should contact him if I had any problem getting the cash back. If you need his number, email me and I will shoot it over to you.

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