Debit Card Programs?
 

What do you guys recon as the best debit card program? Especially with regard to rewards etc.

Thanks!

All i could find was Ameriprise one with 1% back or 1.5% to a financial plan (i dont know what that financial plan is!)

generally debit card rewards programs overwhelmingly suck.

That having been said, the best one I know of is the capital one decoupled debit (it's a debit card you can use with any checking account, not just capital one.) You need an invitation to sign up- and I'm pretty sure you need to be a capital one credit cardholder. $20 annual fee. I believe the cashback rate is between .75% and 1%.
More information here.

A cheaper but more painful option is the paypal debit card. I'm loathe to recommend this because paypal is a disaster of a company and I'd have severe fraud concerns, but it's free. Purchases go through your paypal account which pulls the money from your checking account via ACH. 1% cashback to ebay/paypal preferred rewards, no fees.

If you want miles there are a few options- i believe citi has an AA debit card, and BoA has a USAirways and an Alaska one. Chase has their United and Continental debit cards
All those cards are 1 mile for every $2 you spend, with an annual fee around $30. (there's also a premier AA debit card, annual fee ~$75 with 1 mile per dollar). You can also get a Citi ThankYou rewards debit card, if that program interests you- the TY card is 1 point for every $2 if you sign, and 1 point for every $3 if you use your PIN, and I think it's the only program that offers rewards for PIN purchases.

Thanks for a quick run down of the options! I guess the best of the pack seems to be Citi card. Paypal is a non starter for me!

The easiest i found was ameriprise 1% and 9K in quarterly Direct deposits (for no fees). But their CDs and every thing simply seem to of such low value :(

I considered getting an Alaska Airlines debit card a while back (to compliment my AK cc) since I bank at BoA, but after reviewing it-- and other "reward" debit cards, they all don't seem like a great deal.

Make sure you read the fine print before signing up... most only earn you miles or points for signature based purchases (signing the receipt, or pressing the 'credit' button at the store)-- not pin based transactions or ATM transactions. And most stores these days don't even give you the option any more of pressing credit and signing or pressing debit and entering your pin-- they automatically select debit and just require you to enter your pin (and a non-miles qualifying transaction), so since you earn miles on a credit-signature processed transaction, why not just use your miles cc?

Since Citibank is the only bank that offers an AA debit card, I won't be opening a checking account with them anytime soon (especially after seeing their rating on thestreet.com's bank and thrift screener) in the wake of IndyMac and WaMu-- now if there was a way to earn miles by paying your credit card bills, (but I don't know of a way of paying a cc bill with a debit card) I'd be all over that!

Maybe the best rewards option for a debit card is to see if "Visa Extras" is available... but for me I ended up going for the Braves check card just to be different when BoA started offering specialty check cards (go figure!).

Not only do debit card rewards suck (as post 2 has it), but there are immense dangers to your fiscal health in using them.

Debit cards are not covered by the Fair Credit Billing Act and if (when) there is a problem you are likely screwed.

Why would anyone use it instead of a credit card?

I know Wells Fargo has a reward debit card that gives 1 point per $4 spend. The only reason I know is because the Mrs. works there and told me so.

I carry a Citi debit card only because it gets me Thankyou points for all my accounts (if used once a month) and due to the promotions offered by Thankyou Network. As a card for everyday use, debit cards are indeed lacking.