Discover Card - 2% Cashback for June 2013 - Targeted?

Disclaimer - The Discover offers are no longer valid.

Discover it is offering 2% back on up to $500 of purchases in the month of June.  Not everyone is eligible so you will have to check your account and I will show you how.  If you don't specifically sign up, you won't get it.

If you don't automatically see it when you log in here is what to do:

• Click on "Account Profile", which I've circled

•  From there, go to "cashback options" and sign up

This is stackable with the 5% categories so you will get 7% cashback at home improvement stores instead of the regular 6%.

I consider Discover rewards to be worth 1.25x there stated value so 7% is worth 8.75% to me.

Start shopping at Home Depot from Shop Discover and you will get an additional 10% back for a total of 17% back! (10% for Shop Discover + 5% for home improvement store + 2% promotion)


According to the Frequent Miler laboratory, you won't get extra cashback for buying gift cards from Shop Discover, even though this will work through Lowe's.

Perk Street Financial Review- 2% Debit Card but Only for 3 Months

Updated 11/24/2011:


PerkStreet Financial 2% cash back debit card


If you read a lot of finance articles online, you are bound to see an ad from PerkStreet Financial.  They have appeared on this blog many times.  This is what it looks like:

Here is a Review of the Perkstreet Financial 2% cash back debit card:

Advantages

1) 2% back on everything -
         - Beware, 2% only lasts for 3 months.  Then you go down to 1%
         - Update - You can still get 2% back if you keep a balance of $5,000.  Thank you for the comment, this makes the deal far more attractive.

2) 5% on rotating categories
         - The categories for November are movie theaters, local bakeries, netflix, hulu and Blockbuster


Disadvantages

1)  There is a $4.50 monthly inactivity fee.  If you don't use your account that month, you will be charged.  If you use the card or cash a check, etc. you won't be charged.

2) 1% is a standard rate you can get with almost any card, but if you keep a $5,000 balance, it will stay at 2%.
     - It is a debit card so you need to pay from this account.  So you will need to keep significantly more than $5,000 in that account.
     - You aren't getting interest on any money in there.  You could be getting as much as 1.30% interest on that money so you have to deduct the 1.30% from any money saved.

3) The 5% rotating categories aren't as cyclicly relevant as Discover's and Chase 

4) Debit cards do not help build your credit history, only credit cards do that.

5) This only works when you hit the "credit" button as you swipe.  If you have to put in a pin, you aren't getting your 2%.  


The bottom line, should I get this card?

Get it, if you will use it every month and you can maintain a $5,000 balance (you probably will need a lot more than that in the account) and you aren't doing anything with that money anyway.  If you don't want to have to think about it, I understand. 

I don't personally think it is worth it.  You could be doing a lot of good with the money that needs to sit in that account.  Go for the 2% Fidelity American Express Credit Card instead

I would also check out these cards for times when you can get more than 2%.

General Usage Credit Card

Disclaimer - The Discover offers are no longer valid.

Fidelity American Express - 2% back on everything

Discover it™- 5% back on rotating categories.  0.25% on everything else until $3,000 and 1% above $3,000.  Your 5% can turn into 6.25% when you use your rewards for gift cards.  With many companies (my family get Bed Bath and Beyond cards), you can redeem $20 of rewards for a $25 card.  This effectively multiplies your rewards by 1.25 .
       - You need to sign up quarterly to be eligible for the 5% extra bonus.

Chase Freedom - 5% back on rotating categories.  1% on everything else.
       - You need to sign up quarterly to be eligible for the 5% extra bonus


Fidelity Visa Card/Capital One Cash Rewards - both give you 1.5% back for every purchase.

Perkstreet Financial Debit Card - 2% Visa Debit card on everything. Here is a review of the card.