Top questions

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It’s an FDIC insured checking account that gives you perks. When you use your PerkStreet Financial Visa Debit Card without entering a PIN, you earn free coffee, music or 1% cash back.

A PerkStreet checking account lets you:

  • Buy things with your PerkStreet Financial Visa Debit Card, cash or checks
  • Withdraw money without a charge at 37,000 ATMs nationwide
  • Find an ATM from your computer or mobile phone
  • Withdraw money without charge at any merchant that allows you to get cash back when making a purchase
  • Transfer money online between your other bank accounts and your PerkStreet checking account
  • Pay bills online
  • Check your balance online or over the phone and receive balance alerts via email or mobile phone
  • Get help over the phone any time of the day – we answer most calls within 30 seconds

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Choose which perk you want to earn first, switch anytime:

  • 1% cash back: Choose from a PerkStreet Financial Visa® Gift Card or gift cards from Target®, Best Buy®, Amazon.com®, GAP and Ticketmaster®
  • Music: Choose to receive credit for songs at iTunes®, Rhapsody® or Amazon.com® Gift Cards for MP3s or millions of other items at Amazon.com
  • Coffee: Choose reloadable gift cards from Starbucks®, Dunkin Donuts®, Peet’s Coffee and Tea® and Bruegger’s Bagels®

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Pick your favorite perk when you open your account and you'll earn unlimited perks automatically when you use your debit card without entering your PIN. This means anything you buy online or over the phone using your debit card, and anytime you are at a register and choose "credit" instead of "debit" you'll earn perks. And with most every purchase you make, you should have the option to select "credit" and earn perks. If you aren't given the option, ask the cashier.

No matter how you use your PerkStreet Financial Visa Debit Card the money is withdrawn from your checking account; you are not borrowing on credit, even if you choose that option. Selecting "credit" when making purchases with your debit card means you want to use the Visa payment network that can handle credit or debit card purchases.

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Our customers don’t use branches and so we don’t spend the billions of dollars every year that other banks do to build and keep branches open. We use the money we save to give our customers what they really want:

  • Great perks
  • Access to the nation’s largest surcharge-free ATM network, STARsf®
  • Super fast phone service

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Yes. Every PerkStreet account is FDIC insured up to $250,000 and all PerkStreet Financial Visa Debit Cards are protected by The Visa Zero Liability policy. This policy ensures that you won’t be held responsible for any unauthorized transactions.**

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No. Our customers don’t use branches and so we don’t spend the billions of dollars every year that other banks do to build and keep branches open. We use the money we save to give our customers what they really want:

  • Great perks
  • Access to the nation’s largest surcharge-free ATM network, STARsf®
  • Super fast phone service

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There are four ways to deposit money into your PerkStreet checking account:

  • Sign up for direct deposit with your employer
  • Easily transfer money online from an existing checking or savings account
  • UPS® and Mailboxes Etc®: Make free deposits at 3,400 locations and PerkStreet will receive your deposit the next day
  • Mail your endorsed checks to us and we’ll quickly and safely deposit them into your account. The address for mailing the checks is:

    PerkStreet Financial
    Attn: Deposit Operations
    409 Silverside Road, Suite 105
    Wilmington, DE 19809

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You can withdraw money without a charge at one of 37,000 ATMs within the STARsf® surcharge-free network or at any merchant that offers cash back with purchases.

You may also use ATMs outside of the network but you’ll pay a $2 fee plus any fee the ATM owner may charge.

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You will not be charged any fees when you withdraw money from one of 37,000 ATMs within the STARsf® surcharge-free network or at any register that offers cash back with purchases.

You may use ATMs outside of the network but you’ll pay a $2 fee plus any fee the ATM owner may charge.

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We want you to be able to use your money to earn perks, not pay a bunch of fees. That’s why you’ll never pay a maintenance fee when you use your account each month. And there are no account minimums, low balance fees, or charges to make purchases with your debit card.

Our fees are outlined below:

PerkStreet Fees
Overdraft protectionWhen you spend more money than you have in your account we may choose to approve the transaction as a convenience to you and will charge you a fee for this service. This is optional protection which you can elect to have or opt–out of if you would prefer to have your transaction declined to avoid the fee. $25 per item
Non-sufficient funds feeAlso known as a bounced check fee. It applies in situations like when you write a check for more money than you have in your account or if you were to deposit a bad check and prior to the check being reversed you spend the bad funds. If your account isn't covered by overdraft protection we charge you a non–sufficient funds fee. $23 per item
Monthly inactivity fee While there is never a monthly fee for using your account, if you don't use your account in a given month you will be assessed a fee. Doing any of the following at least once each month ensures that you won’t be assessed a monthly inactivity fee: making a transaction with your debit card, writing a check that clears the account, using Online Bill Pay, initiating a withdrawal or making a deposit to the account. $4.50
Additional book of checksWe’ll send you your first book of checks for free. Each additional book of checks you order will be billed based on the type of checks you select. Varies based on type of checks ordered
Research FeeWhen you make requests that require us to conduct research to resolve, we may charge you an hourly fee for conducting this research. This includes IRS levy, legal requests, writs and/or subpoenas. $25 per hour, $10 minimum
Treasurer’s check fee Also called a cashier’s check, this is a check from the bank where the funds are validated by the bank itself. $8 per check
Standard debit card replacement fee / Expedited replacement debit card fee If you need a replacement debit card we’ll send you one free of charge. If you need to get your replacement debit card more quickly, you can request expedited delivery for a fee. Free / $50 per request
Stop payment fee When you wish to cancel a check that you have sent out but has not yet been cashed. $15 per request
Incoming wire transfer fee / Credit card funding feePerkStreet does not charge a fee for wire transfers into your account, making a direct deposit, online transfers/ACH, by mailing us a check via standard mail, or free overnight delivery using a MailBoxes Etc® or UPS Store® location. Should you transfer money from a credit card line into your checking account, the card company charges us a fee that we pass on to you. Free / 2.5% of funds loaded
Deposit item returned fee If you deposit a check that turns out to be a bad check and the Federal Reserve pulls the funds out of your account, you will incur this fee. $7 per item
ATM fee/Non-Network ATM fee You won’t pay any fees as long as you use ATMs within the STARsf® surcharge-free network. If you use an ATM outside the STARsf® surcharge-free network you will be assessed this fee. Free/$2.00 per transaction
Foreign exchange transaction fee This is a fee that is charged when you use your debit card outside the United States. 1% of transaction amount
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Overdraft protection is kind of like an insurance policy that allows your checks and debit card transactions to go through, even if you don’t have the money in your account to cover them. We provide this protection at our discretion and whether we approve the transaction depends on a number of factors, including the amount of the transaction and the past activity in your account. We charge an overdraft protection fee for this service because it costs us money to provide it. You may choose to receive overdraft protection when you apply for your account.

If you do not choose to receive overdraft protection, and you were to use your debit card when there isn't enough money in your account to cover the purchase, your transaction would be rejected. We do not charge a fee for this.

If you do not choose to receive overdraft protection, you would incur a non-sufficient funds fee and your payments would be rejected in instances where you write a check for more money than you have in your account, causing the check to bounce. The retailer or biller may also charge you a fee.

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Obviously nobody wants to pay fees. But our customers who have overdraft protection like the fact that they're covered, even if they make a mistake. Overdraft protection also protects them from the hassle --- and additional cost --- of bounced checks. Don’t worry, if you’re not interested, you can always opt-out of overdraft protection. But for those who want it, it's there for you.

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