PointCard Review – A User-Friendly Debit Card By Point.app

PointCard™ offers financial services for everyday mobile banking through PointCard™ Neon, a mobile-first banking platform* with a user-friendly debit card that earns rewards with a slew of popular merchants. You can use it to maximize your return on everyday spending and set your financial sights a little higher. 

If you’re ready to shake up your financial life, PointCard is worth a closer look. Here’s what you need to know about its core products and the ever-growing lineup of features built around them.

Key Features of PointCard

PointCard offers a financial account suitable for everyday money management and a debit card that can add to your spending power. It’s all accessible through a mobile app — the Point App — that works on Android and iOS devices.

PointCard Neon – The Flagship Product

Neon is PointCard’s flagship product. It’s really two products: access to a mobile banking platform (the Point Account) and a debit card that earns rewards on everyday purchases.

The Point App is Neon’s control center. There’s nothing you can do with Point that you can’t do in the app — no bank branches or clunky desktop banking interface needed.

Notable Neon features include:

Membership Fee of PointCard Neon

Neon’s membership fee starts at $9.99 per month. 

Rewards Program – Get the Most Points for Your Buck

Point has a generous points-based rewards program:

• Earn 5x points on eligible subscription purchases, including Netflix, Spotify, HBO Max, Hulu, and more
• Earn 3x points on eligible food delivery and rideshare purchases
• Earn 1x points on all other eligible purchases

Point curates even more attractive offers from partner brands, including well-known vendors like Amazon, Whole Foods, and Gopuff. You can earn up to 15x points with these special, limited-time offers.

Points are worth $0.01 apiece at redemption. Redeem them for cash right away — credited to your account balance the same day.

Split – Share Transactions With Other PointCard Members

The Split feature lets you split a bill for eligible purchases with other PointCard members. Just select the eligible transaction you want to split in the app and send a request to the other user or users. If they accept, Point debits them for their share of the bill and pays them proportionate rewards.

ATM Fee Reimbursement – Everyone Hates ATM Fees!

Point reimburses two ATM withdrawal fees per month, regardless of network. Point credits reimbursements as rewards points, which you can then redeem for cash.

Instant Funds Transfer – Get Your Money Lightning Fast!

When you transfer funds from an external debit card to your Point account, you receive the funds instantly and can use them right away. You must use a debit card rather than your bank account number to transfer money though.

Travel Benefits

Neon membership comes with a nice lineup of travel benefits:

• Trip cancellation coverage up to predefined limits
• Travel accident coverage
• 24/7 global travel assistance
• Car rental insurance when you pay for the rental in full with your card and decline the rental company’s offer of coverage
• Rideshare protection up to predefined limits, including $500 in personal property protection
• Event ticket protection for covered cancellations

Purchase Benefits

Neon membership offers some nice consumer perks as well:

• Cellphone protection when you pay your monthly phone bill with your card — up to predefined per-incident and annual coverage limits, less a small deductible
• Extended warranties on eligible items purchased with your card with existing manufacturer warranties
• New purchase insurance on eligible items purchased with your card

Card Security – Keep Your Money Safe!

PointCard takes security seriously. As a member, you’ll enjoy:

• One-tap card locking and unlocking in the app
• Zero liability for fraudulent purchases
• Virtual card numbers that prevent others from seeing your actual PointCard digits
• Deposit insurance on eligible balances in your Point Account

Advantages of PointCard

PointCard offers a ton of perks and benefits for new and longtime users alike. As long as you use your card or cards regularly, you should have no trouble extracting serious value from them.

• Earn 5x Points on Eligible Subscriptions. Eligible subscription purchases earn 5x points on your Neon membership. That’s a 5% rate of return on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and more.
• Earn 3x Points on Food Delivery and Rideshare Purchases. Eligible rideshare and food delivery purchases earn 3 points per $1 spent — a 3% rate of return on DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, and more.
• Up to Two Free ATM Withdrawals Per Month. Need cash? No problem. Your Neon membership gives you two free ATM withdrawals per month, regardless of network. No more worrying about finding an in-network ATM far from home.
• Generous Value-Added Benefits. PointCard offers a ton of value-added benefits, including travel protections, cellphone insurance, and more. 
• No International Travel Fees. If you regularly travel outside the U.S., you’ll appreciate that PointCard waives international travel fees. That’s a 2% to 3% boost to your international spending power, depending on which card you’re comparing PointCard to.
• Applying Won’t Affect Your Credit. PointCard doesn’t do a hard credit check when you apply for an account, so applying won’t ding your score. And you don’t have to worry about perfecting your credit before you apply either.

Disadvantages of PointCard

PointCard isn’t for everyone. Due to the unavoidable monthly or annual fee (or both), it’s not appropriate for really frugal consumers and folks just starting out on their financial journey.

• Comes With a Monthly or Annual Fee. No matter how you use PointCard, you’ll have to pay a monthly or annual fee after the first year. PointCard Neon costs $9.99 per month, not counting the first-year credit opportunity.
• Doesn’t Build Credit. It’s nice that PointCard doesn’t require a hard credit check when you apply, but the flip side is that PointCard doesn’t report your payments to any consumer credit bureaus. That means it’s not the best vehicle for building credit.

How PointCard Stacks Up

PointCard is one of the best money management apps around, but it’s not the only one vying for your attention and dollars. Let’s see how it stacks up against another popular, mobile-first money management option: Aspiration.

Final Word

PointCard is not your typical mobile banking platform or debit card. From a curated rewards program that delivers a well-above-average punch to a slew of benefits that most competing financial solutions can’t match, PointCard is something else entirely.

And that’s a good thing.

PointCard isn’t perfect. You’ll need to pay a monthly or annual fee, and you won’t build credit with regular payments. But PointCard will scale with your income and open up opportunities you might not have had before.

Those benefits alone make it worthy of your consideration. 

*Banking services are provided by Column N.A.