EmigrantDirect 1.25% cashback credit card

Emigrant Direct launched its credit card via Juniper Bank. It offers 1.25% cashback on any purchase, and 0% introductory APR on balance transfers and convenience checks. Note that you must have at least $10,000 in the savings account with EmigrantDirect to qualify for the 1.25% cashback:

To qualify for the highest cash back redemption amount the primary cardholder on the Juniper Credit Card Account must maintain an average balance of at least $10,000 in their EmigrantDirect American Dream Savings Account(s) (only those American Dream Savings Accounts for which the primary cardholder is also the primary legal owner of the American Dream Savings Account will be counted towards the total).

The cashback is deposited into Emigrant Direct savings account every 6 months.

Also from the terms and conditions:

You will be eligible for a cash rebate of: (1) 1.25% of Net Purchases posted to your Card Account in the last six (6) billing cycles, if you have maintained an Average Daily Balance over the last six (6) full calendar months of at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) with EmigrantDirect held specifically in Savings Accounts in which you are the primary legal account owner; or (2) 0.50% of Net Purchases posted to your Card Account in the last six (6) billing cycles, if you have maintained an Average Daily Balance over the last six (6) full calendar months of less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) with EmigrantDirect held specifically in Savings Accounts in which you are the primary legal account owner; or (3) 0.50% of Net Purchases posted to your Card Account in the last six (6) billing cycles, if you are not the primary legal account owner of a Savings Account.

Posted Friday, January 20th, 2006 under Money.
  • vb

    Not much value in this credit card.
    You would be better off with other credit cards that give you just 1% cash back and not ED account that yields > 4% APY. (Capital One through costco will is much higher rate then ED)

  • Alex

    vb, depends on your spending schedule. If you envision spending a lot in the near future, might be worth to stick the spending to 1.25% cashback card than 1.0% card. But yes, overall the value proposition is bleak – with ING offering 4.75% and Chase offering 2% cash back on its double double promotion it seems that better opportunities are available.

  • Pimp_J

    Emigrant-Direct’s credit card does not have a limit to the amount of rebate you can earn. Chase is limited to $300.00.

  • vb

    Considering that you get 1.25% cash back only if you have $10K in ED account, that makes it even worse.

    People would be better off opening a Fidelity cash reserves money market account which requires only $2500 balance (currenlty paying 7-Day Yield 3.98%, Compound Effective Yield: 4.06%) and getting Fidelity Investment Rewards Card that give 1.5% cash back into fidelity account.

    The Fidelity MM account is NOT FDIC insured, but that should not be a problem for MM accounts.

  • Bill

    The ED credit card bank – Jupiter – does not support OFX for download of transactions. Jupiter supports only QIF which has not been supported by Quicken since 2004. So you can’t automate this account with Quicken in any real fashion.

  • Darryl

    Alex! I found a great cash back credit card for people who spend a lot every month on their card and pay the balance off in full.

    I’m always searching for a better cash back card. My current card, the MBNA Stockback is great, but it has a flaw. If you spend between $5,000 – $6,000 a month, you get 2% back every month. That’s great! But if you spend over $6,000 a month, you get no extra cash back. The most you can get back per month is 6,000 X 2% = $120.

    Not bad, but I just applied for the best deal I’ve ever seen.

    Bank of America has a card called the Power Rewards Visa. If you spend a lot monthly on your card, and I do because I put both personal and business expenses on the same card, you can get 2% back on EVERYTHING! No annual limits on points earned or redemptions!

    In a nutshell, once you have reached 50,000 points, ($1 spent = 1 point), you call Bank of America or go online and redeem the 50,000 points for a 2% cash back refund. The refund comes in the form of a credit on your next statement. So if your bill would have been $8,000, you’ll only pay $7,000.

    You never get the physical money in your hands, but so what. The thousand dollar credit to your Visa is exactly the same as if you received a $1,000 check in the mail.

    Now, you can redeem earlier than 50,000 points, but that will make your cash back percentage lower. The great thing is this… once you earn the points, they don’t expire for 5 years! So smaller spenders have 5 years to “save up” their points if they wish and then get a full 2% cashback once they have acquired 50,000 points.

    For people who put everything on their card, (like me), the beauty is that this card does not have a cap on points you can earn or rewards you can receive. I know a Dentist who charges over $100,000 a year on his Visa. He could cash that in for cashback of $2,000 in a single year.

    He currently gets 1% cash back AND there’s a max on how many points he can earn in a year on his current Visa.

    People should at least check it out by typing in “Bank of America Power Rewards Visa” into GOOGLE and see for themselves.

    This blows away anything I’ve ever seen. Once you get to the Power Rewards screen, you can ask questions in a live chat with a Bank of America rep. I asked a million questions and then applied and got accepted.

    I just wanted to send this along in light of the so-called “great deal” from Emigrant. What a disappointment their card is.

    *** Once last thing, I don’t know the interest rate for this new card off hand, but I never care because I pay it off in full every month. For people looking for a great interest rate, I’m sure this is not the best card, but if you spend a lot on your Visa and pay it off in full every month, this is the best card I’ve ever seen.

    Take care! Darryl

  • Brad

    Darryl is correct. I got the card as a result of this blog and was a little scared when I went to the Bank of America website it did not display the 50,000 point option for $1000 reward. However, I did confirm with Jarret (1-888-434-2232) at the Power Rewards center that this option is available. Thanks Darryl!

    Brad

  • Darryl

    Wow… no posts for a year! Well, if someone stumbles across this… it will be worth it. Brad.. thanks for your kind words! As you know, Bank of America pulled the plug on the Power Rewards Visa with 2% cash back last fall.

    But I found another great deal… and from an unlikely source. Sam’s Club has teamed up with Discover for a 2% cash back Discover Card!!

    In the past, I didn’t get a Discover card because I was afraid it was not accepted everywhere. Well, everywhere I’ve used my Visa in the last few months also accepts Discover.

    The catch… you have to be a Sam’s Club PLUS member. That means an annual fee of $100. But so what?! If you put everything on your card and pay it off in full every month, you’ll make out like a Bandit.

    I estimate I’ll get back close to $600 more in cash back per year by switching to the Sam’s PLUS members 2% cash back Discover. Yes.. I’ll have to pay $100 a year to be eligible for the card so I’ll still make $500 more per year with the new card instead of my limited old Visa.

    With the 2% cash back Sam’s Card… you can charge up to $1,000,000 per year! In other words.. effectively no annual limit on spending.

    Check it out for yourself.

    Good luck to all!

    Darryl :)