
Launch HN: Point (YC W19) – First Debit Card with Points - patrickmro
Hi HN community,<p>We’re Patrick, Kenan, and Sid, the founders of Point (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;trypointbank.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;trypointbank.com</a>), a consumer digital bank focused on rewards. After being fed up with the poor customer experience and tactics of traditional banks, we did some digging into why we put up with our own subpar banks. We&#x27;ve discovered that the way most people end up with their current bank is by default (ex: parents set it up for them), rather than by choice. The complete opposite was the case for credit cards; credit cards were actually chosen based on their qualities.<p>We began to wonder why a solution that combined the rewards and benefits of a credit card, with the simplicity of a bank account didn’t exist. After extensive research and testing of various existing products, we determined that everything came up short for our personal needs. That was the problem.<p>Whether it was simply the lack of a clean mobile user experience, or rewards that were relevant, nothing managed to fit the bill. Since banks are a fundamental part of our everyday modern lives, we shouldn’t have to settle for a less-than-stellar experience just because that’s the current standard. That’s when we realized, we don’t have to settle. This was an exciting enough realization for us all to quit our day jobs as product managers, designers, and engineers. We decided we needed to create a revolutionary bank.<p>In order to solve this problem, we created a new-and-improved debit card. We are focusing our efforts on debit because it is currently the most popular payment method. Although debit is the preferred method, in the real world, there is little incentive to use one over the perks offered by credit cards. This unfortunately leads the majority of the dissatisfied group to settle for credit cards, with their offer of limited perks that typically come hand-in-hand with unavoidable debt.<p>Our business model is sustainable because we are partnered with a smaller regional bank and don’t have the hefty over head of a branch network. The reason we don’t see larger banks offering debit cards with rewards is because of the &quot;Durbin Act”; a federal mandate which slashed interchange margins of banks with more than $10 billion in deposits. This was done in order to protect consumers and merchants from increasing and predatory prices that banks were trying to instill.<p>If successful in our mission we hope to keep the up and comers out of un-necessary credit cards and raise the standards of user experience for banks. There is no reason why dealing with your bank should be as dreadful as the DMV.<p>We look forward to hearing your thoughts on what we are building and are open to any and all suggestions. Feel free to drop us a line at hello@trypointbank.com and check out our waitlist on our landing page.
======
jwr
Ok, so here's my take on most new debit card and checking account offerings.

Things I do not care about:

* points and loyalty programs * measly 2% APR * tracking my spending habits * how the card looks

Things I do care about:

* a card that works and gets accepted (no spurious declines because the bank thought so) * a card that works with Apple Pay (hi Revolut) * no nags, upsells, emojis, animated GIFs, or other teenager stuff (hi Revolut) * do not waste my time * have secure online access (as in, do not use SMS for 2-factor auth, because really) * ability to issue new cards quickly * ability to change my address quickly, even if I move to a different country * whether the company will disappear and/or steal my money (don't laugh, this happens, and recent Revolut scrutiny scares me)

In other words, I am looking for no-nonsense banking, and a debit card is just
a small part of it.

This offering, unfortunately, seems to bring nothing new compared to Revolut.

~~~
jldugger
As a modest counterpoint --

Things I do care about in a debit card:

* cash back on transactions I can't put on a CC -- i.e. rent * OFX/Quicken APIs I can use to import transactions * the ability to choose a PIN rather than memorize a randomly assigned one * the ability to send money via western union to family from my house * is accepted at all retailers / Paypal / misc * does not lose my money

Things I do not care about because I have other banking products:

* high APR on cash balances

Things that are dumb:

* emoji * large spend alerts / restrictions * card customization

~~~
mdorazio
I'm curious what landlords accept a debit card for rent payments. I've always
been required to setup an ACH/automated transfer or give a physical check
(note this is in California).

~~~
opportune
My landlord lets you pay with a debit card but they recently changed the
convenience fee from $3 to $75 so you're now highly discouraged from it. It's
porbably in general more common for large property management groups/complexes
than smaller time landlords

~~~
benj111
"$3 to $75"

Can I just clarify that's not a typo? If you really don't want to offer the
service that much, then don't? A $75 debit card (in)convenience fee just comes
across as money grabbing, and harms their reputation.

~~~
opportune
Not a typo, it really increased from $3 to $75 (ownership of the building
changed at the same time). I think it's purely a cash grab. But this city is a
seller's market so they can probably get away with it. It's just a shame
because the previous company that owned the building was so nice and lax about
everything.

~~~
conductr
I have rentals and it’s just a switch from eating the fee to passing it along
to you. This is why most landlords still require paper checks, depositing them
is free.

The % based fees don’t make sense on large payments. Retailers pass it along
too but it’s baked in the price.

One tip I tell everyone, ask for a cash price when getting quotes.
Contractors, etc especially. You might save 3% on Fees or 30% because he’s not
going to report it.

~~~
londons_explore
Debit card fees are typically like $0.20, for any size of payment though.

Only reason I can imagine they might be hesitant is because debit cards allow
a customer to dispute a transaction, which can hold up capital while the
dispute is resolved, and obviously the landlord might be forced to return a
rent payment or two if the credit card company sides with the letter.

~~~
conductr
I think there is still a % component in the US anyway. It’s smaller than
credit, usually <1%. But brings up Another factor, in the US anyway, getting a
merchant account to process debit transactions is not an straightforward
thing, especially assuming It needs to be done online. Sure there’s tons of
options for credit square/PayPal/etc. But even a somewhat big apartment
complex has only a couple 100 monthly transactions and it’s just not worth the
hassle for the landlord. No value add on our side equals no reason to change
our ways. And yes, we change high fees to discourage behavior we dislike. I
charge crazy high late fees because I don’t want to be a debt collector. I
actually have a thing I tell ever new tenant about how I will never bother
them about payments being late because I’m not a debt collector. But they can
expect a eviction notice on the N day late because that’s what the state
minimum requirement. My renters are never late.

------
ferrisford
I've seen debit card's with a points system at a credit union (just sharing so
you can research) [https://www.redwoodcu.org/personal/redwood-
rewards](https://www.redwoodcu.org/personal/redwood-rewards) I have no
affiliation with them, had just been researching something similar a few
months back.

I don't personally want to use a debit card for my everyday purchases, mostly
for security reasons. I figure if I only use a credit card, then if the card
gets compromised I can argue with my bank over the charges rather than asking
them to put money back in my checking account while the fraud is investigated.
Cashback on purchases is just icing on the cake.

~~~
jimmy1
I have similar concerns, although my wife and I have sworn off using credit
cards due to candidly our lack of discipline paying the balance off in time.
Do you think things like Apple Pay with the virtual cards provide that layer
of security?

To any bank out there: I think if you offered a debit card that is backed by
"virtual money" rather than the cardholders physical account, you would get my
business in a heartbeat. The primary difference between the OP's answer is
when your debit card is compromised, you are on the hook until the
investigations are completed and still it is not a guarantee your funds are
recovered.

~~~
patrickmro
Also wanted to mentioned, we offer a virtual card for online purchases as a
security pre-caution.

~~~
ferrisford
That's actually pretty nifty. I think you should add another section to your
landing page about security that mentions chips, mobile wallets, and virtual
cards for online payments. Those are all factors I'd look at when shopping for
a new bank account.

------
iooi
Most credit cards have sign up bonuses worth a couple hundred dollars in
points, that's definitely something to consider for your customer acquisition.

Not sure how you're going to compete in terms of CAC when banks are spending
so much on this already.

Also, MR and UR points are transferrable to a ton of partners -- not all
points are created equally, MR and UR points are some of the best at 2cpp.

Overall, since you're comparing yourself with the CSR, I would much rather get
a CSR with 50K UR point bonus which is worth $750 in travel. I also get $300
in travel benefits, and I can cancel the card later to avoid the second AF
from hitting. And finally, I earn points faster since it's 3x on travel and
dining.

~~~
patrickmro
We are exactly competition with cc's since we are a digital bank offering a
debit card, and checking/savings accounts.

We are targeting a different type of user that: 1\. Do not qualify for a
rewards card or have a dis-dain for credit (likely due to student loans &
growing up during 08/09 crisis) 2\. Not interesting to banks (yet)

------
isoskeles
> The reason we don’t see larger banks offering debit cards with rewards is
> because of the "Durbin Act”; a federal mandate which slashed interchange
> margins of banks with more than $10 billion in deposits. This was done in
> order to protect consumers and merchants from increasing and predatory
> prices that banks were trying to instill.

OOC, will this limit your growth in the long-term? What happens if you grow
beyond $10B in deposits? Is the plan to partner with other small regional
banks that have less than $10B in deposits, and does that circumvent the
"Durbin Act"?

~~~
benj111
Agreed, also harms potential investment (limited upside).

What would be stopping you setting up a 'savings' bank. Set a higher interest
rate on that, and make it trivial to swap the money between accounts?

------
sosodev
I'm not sure I see the value proposition. Currently my bank (Alliant Credit
Union) gives 2.08% on my savings and .648% on my checking. I'd say they're
very reasonable with their fees considering I don't think I've ever gotten
one.

For rewards I'd just use my credit card which is arguably better for daily
transactions anyway. My bank even offers a credit card with 3% cash back in
the first year and 2.5% after that.

So why would I use Point over already existing and arguably better solutions?

------
bravura
Why should I prefer a debit card over a credit card, when fraud protections
are so much better on a credit card?

~~~
elliekelly
Not OP but from their website it looks like they rely on Mastercard:

> Every dollar in your Point Bank Account is insured by the FDIC up to
> $250,000, and unauthorized charges are covered by Mastercard Zero Liability
> protection.

And Mastercard offers the same protection for both debit and credit card
products[1].

[1][https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-
do/...](https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/about-mastercard/what-we-do/terms-of-
use/zero-liability-terms-conditions.html)

~~~
gumby
Credit cards have specific legal protections and abilities (e.g. chargeback)
that debit cards do not. MC's policy (thanks for linking to it!) offers none
of those -- for CCs because there's no need, and for debit because the banks
really really want to not provide them.

Ironically those protections were pushed for by the CC providers in the 1960s
to encourage use of CCs. Now that CCs are ubiquitous, banks are pushing debit
cards because they don't have those protections.

It's quite painful trying to get an ATM card from your bank that isn't also a
debit card. Doable, but in my experience hard.

------
RandallBrown
My Chase debit card has had rewards for over a decade. How is this going to be
better?

~~~
patrickmro
We are initially focusing on life style oriented rewards similar to the Chase
Sapphire Reserve credit card.

~~~
fredophile
I don't see this as being competitive with the Chase Sapphire Reserve via
points. The best use of points with this card is for travel. This can be done
either using the points to book travel through their website for $0.015 per
point or through transferring to their hotel and airline partners. Assuming
someone also has a Chase Freedom United card they can get at least 1.5 points
per dollar spent which is equivalent to at least $0.0225 in savings on travel.
Combining this with a credit cards purchase protection and other benefits, why
would someone choose your debit card over this?

Do you plan to add hotel and airline transfer partners to make your points
more appealing?

Credit cards often have high sign up bonuses. The Sapphire Reserve launched at
100 000 points and later dropped to 50 000. If someone doesn't have one yet,
why should they sign up for your debit card instead of the Chase card and
putting all of their spending on it to earn the bonus?

~~~
patrickmro
We are not trying to compete with an elite credit card.

Instead we are offering a product designed to combine some of the perks of a
Chase Sapphire into a debit card which prevents you from overspending/going
into debt.

Many people (especially younger millennials/gen-z) have thin credit files and
a strong disdain for credit. We want to prevent folks from getting them selves
into financial trouble without missing out on the good parts of having an
elite rewards card.

------
alehul
Hey there!

What is the value of a point? You say '2x points,' but I can't find the value
of a point anywhere on your website. Is it one cent = one point? How do we
redeem points?

That aside, love the design and concept. :)

~~~
patrickmro
Hi!

You're correct $0.01 = 1 point.

Initially points are redeemable for cash-back, eventually we will partner with
different merchants where you will also be able to redeem points.

~~~
ac29
For what its worth, "2% Cash Back" sounds better to me than the ambiguous "2x
Points".

------
the_watcher
A few questions:

* What's the ATM network that you're using with no fees? Since I have good rewards credit cards that I can pay off every month, my debit card is essentially just for accessing cash and paying the very few bills I have that won't take a credit card, my debit card choice is entirely related to "no ATM fees, anywhere in the US."

* I'm a little confused about "All-in-one" including checking, savings, etc. Does that mean I'd get multiple accounts by default? Or does the debit card just pay HYS-competitive APY?

~~~
the_watcher
Very cool by the way. I've definitely looked for rewards debit cards in the
past.

~~~
patrickmro
Awesome to hear! We believe there is a fundamental shift towards debit
especially as the new generation is burdened with student load debt and has a
stronger disdain for credit cards due to growing up in the 08/09 financial
crisis.

------
ds
Ive always wanted a better credit card to be honest. Something that had a
insane amount of transfer partners, similar to how the starwood preferred
guest card used to be. Something as simple as 1 point per dollar on everything
and 2 points per dollar on dining/gas. The ability to also throw in the
benefits that amex/chase cards offer would also be awesome (lounge access,
return protection, roadside assistance, etc..) - I would switch to a card like
that instantly. Im currently stuck putting all my spend on a American Airlines
card, just because all the other options suck.

Now, with that said. I wouldn't use this product. Its not listed what the
'points' they give you do, so i can only imagine its nowhere near the value of
being able to transfer them directly to airline or hotel partners. Im guessing
its either a built in travel portal redemption they host or simply cashback.
Either option is pretty garbage compared to other redemptions.

The interest is standard if you have a private bank, so its nice they give it
to common folk, although i think many banks offer this now.

But most importantly, Using a debit card is risky. It lacks the chargeback and
other protections a credit card has. (I could be wrong here, but I know it
used to be this way a few years ago)

Anyways, dont take this as a negative guys. If anything, please continue
improving your product and I will be a user. As it stands though, Its still
lagging behind existing players.

------
Bluestrike2
Minor suggestion: rework the "Compare Point to Other Banks" part of your
homepage to better differentiate the two columns and explicitly identify which
column is for which bank. While it's obviously implied that Point is the one
on the left with the more impressive point (ugh) in the comparison, at first
glance it's possible to miss that for a second until your brain catches up.

------
77yy77yy
As well as [https://www.pointbank.com/](https://www.pointbank.com/)

Rebrand in the making.

~~~
patrickmro
Haha - we are not related!

~~~
77yy77yy
1\. You are trading very closely to their mark (financial services), leaving
yourself open to these litigation issues from day one.

2\. If you succeed, you'll have to rebrand. You have a lousy and confusing
name and domain (sorry for being brutally honest). We see this all the time.
Rebrands are expensive as hell.

3\. If you fail, it will be largely due to naming.

Can't believe YC didn't tell you that ahead.

~~~
patrickmro
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it's definitely something we will
keep in mind as we grow.

Appreciate the brutally honest feedback, it's usually the best kind :)

------
jammygit
I dont personally care about points, but I do care about being able to make
purchases without wondering who my bank is selling/trading the records to.

Points are manipulative anyway, they're designed to make people spend/do more
than they ordinarily would. Eg, scene points, drug store points, credit card
points, points in arcade games maybe even

------
martin-adams
I don’t really have much to comment on the card itself. I’m from the UK and
use a credit card for most spending due to the consumer protection it gives
you.

One thing that I feel is extremely important, but not well executed in general
is the budgeting. This does budgeting, but looking at it, I suspect it reports
the categories of spending. The marketing site is somewhat vague at how that
works. If that is correct, that’s reporting not budgeting. Budgeting is
allocating your spending to predict and plan for the future.

A couple of years ago I switch to YNAB and it’s been a remarkable mindset
change in how I manage money. I feel a lot of young people are missing out
because they don’t have the education or tools at the bank level to do it
right. Most people I know of all ages do bank balance budgeting.

------
kevinyun
This is pretty sweet! Looks like it checks all the boxes of what I currently
have spread across multiple accounts and apps:

* Savings (want sitting cash to make market-competitive interest) * Checkings with no monthly fee * Budgeting analysis (if you can integrate with other Banks via Plaid or something that would kill 5 birds in one stone) * No international fees * Dining/travel points

## Questions:

* Do dining/travel 2x points apply internationally? And any chance this can become 3x? * 30k ATMs... compared to Schwab, who credit all ATM fees, how reasonable is Point to work overseas in the same manner?) * How fast (business days) do transfers take? * When is launch? * Mobile Apps --> do you support Android?

Great job, I think there's definitely something here.

------
koolba
Is this a debit card that transacts as a credit card? ie you validate the
balance on the spot, approve or reject the transaction immediately, and then
run the transaction on the network as a credit card so you can charge credit
card rates? (Enough for rewards)

~~~
patrickmro
This is a pure debit card, it processes on the debit network.

~~~
koolba
So how are you able to collect enough transaction fees to cover the referenced
rewards?

Does that debit card transaction fee limit only apply to banks with assets
over $10B?

------
epodox
Hello,

I signed up for your waiting list. I was redirected to a page with my current
position in your queue. I have since lost that link and dont see a way to get
back to it on your website. Can you provide a link on how to get back to this
list?

Thank you, Joshua

------
arosier
How do you plan on dealing with the nightmare of the other organization in the
finance space that is named "Point" [http://point.com](http://point.com)?

------
kevindong
Your website mentions that a customer would receive 2x points on travel/dining
which raises the questions of:

1\. how many points are received on non travel/dining purchases?

2\. what's the value of 1 point?

~~~
patrickmro
1\. No points for non travel/dining currently 2\. $0.01 = 1 point

~~~
gnicholas
FWIW, you lost me with "no points for non travel/dining currently". I get 2%
on my credit card on all purchases, and I get 2.20% on my high-interest
savings. I also have virtual card numbers, though admittedly through a
terrible (Flash, so desktop-only) interface.

I can see how this card is great for people who haven't established good
credit and need to use debit cards, but I'd think that even this audience
would want to get credit cards so they can get improve their credit rating.

Innovation in the space is certainly welcome, so I'm absolutely rooting for
you. For now though, it's from the sidelines.

------
motivated_gear
You mentioned the Durbin act which limit debit card fees. Since you're exempt
from it, I assume you'll be jacking up fees for merchants in order to pay for
your rewards program which is basically just a credit card.

This might not be a large enough of a pain point to be viable. Actually it
might be detrimental to consumers who are living paycheck to paycheck. They
rely on an incremental paycheck and short term credit fills the void.

~~~
patrickmro
We don't have the power raise merchant fees that's dependent on the card
networks (mc, visa, amex).

Our card is designed for people who don't/can't have an elite card but want to
enjoy the benefits such as spending rewards, consumer protection, and travel
perks.

------
not_a_moth
"2x points" is advertised front and center, but since I couldn't find
information on how they can be used or redeemed, I'm not sure if they are
actually worth anything. For me, if you do not have, for example, airline
transfer partners, I would not particularly value these points. FYI,
optimizing for travel rewards is probably the #1 reason folks with a healthy
disposable income use credit cards.

~~~
krisrm
Noticed the same thing. I have a deep seated distrust for "point" cards. I
guess I don't really fly much either, so airmiles are useless towards me. I
just don't see the benefit of acquiring points in a corporation's economic
fiefdom, where they control the value of both the currency and the products
you purchase with them.

FWIW, I have a decent amount of disposable income and do use a credit card,
but with cashback. I'm ~keeping pace with inflation and providing some sort of
cushion between my chequing account and disreputable folk, so it's better than
most other payment methods as far as I can tell.

------
keshwa01
Congrats on the launch. I would have thought that instead of trying to convert
existing CC holders, you would have a better shot at converting cash/debit
card holders who don't have great alternatives. Often these people will have
low credit scores, keeping them from the very best CC opps, but by linking to
their cash balance, you can give them rewards without having to handle credit
risk.

------
newscracker
I read through all the marketing on the homepage and got to the end where it
says it's currently invitation only and that one can sign up for the waitlist.
Where exactly is the link to the waitlist? I tapped all over that box and
didn't find any links. The contact link goes to Twitter, whereas your email
address should be the main way to contact you (not everyone uses Twitter).

~~~
patrickmro
Tap on "Reserve Your Account"

~~~
newscracker
It doesn't work for me. There is nothing that accepts a tap or click on those
words or in that entire box. I tried with iOS and Firefox on a computer.

------
Kye
I couldn’t find anything about the partner bank on your site. Most people
probably won’t care, but it matters to enough people to mention it.

~~~
narak
All rights reserved Point Up Inc. Additional banking services supplied by
Evolve Bank & Trust, Member FDIC. Point Card is accepted at all Mastercard
locations.

------
anonfunction
Looking at the career section I noticed you're backend stack consists of:

Node.js, Express, GraphQL Yoga, Prisma, PostgreSQL, Docker, and Fargate in
AWS.

I'm wondering why you chose JS for a financial services org instead of a
language that offers more safety in the sense of types and memory control such
as Rust or Go?

------
elliekelly
Very cool! There's a lot about the banking industry that needs improvement so
I'm always excited to see people trying something new. I'm curious if you have
(or perhaps have applied for) one of the OCC's new nondepository "financial
technology" charters?

~~~
patrickmro
We have not (yet). Our plan initially is to focus on launching a live product
in the market getting users/traction then exploring a fintech charter once we
reach scale.

------
eternalny1
How does this compare to secured credit card offers?

Those are also backed by a linked bank account, and Discover offers good
rewards:

[https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-
cards/secured](https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/secured)

------
opportune
Will you be funding this with merchant fees? What about fraud protection, will
it be as good as a credit card?

If the answers are "yes" and "no" it seems like there's almost no reason for
me to pick your card over a credit card right? Unless I'm missing something
big.

~~~
patrickmro
Yes, the rewards will be.

For fraud protection there is 0 liability and we will credit you with the
disputed amount instantly and there are several security features built into
the card to protect you (on/off switch for ATM withdraws, daily spending
limits, virtual cards, and instant push notification).

Point is a digital bank so we offer a checking account and high interest
savings in addition to the card, so product/feature wise quite a bit different
from a cc.

~~~
vesinisa
> instant push notification

Did you consult Apple on this? I was recently investigating Apple Developer
Program T&C for APNS (Apple Push Notification Service) and they seem to
expressly prohibit delivering financial transaction data over push:

> You understand and agree that in order to provide the APN and make Your Push
> Notifications available on iOS Products, Apple may transmit Your Push
> Notifications across various public networks, in various media. You
> acknowledge and agree that the APN is not, and is not intended to be, a
> guaranteed or secure delivery service, and You shall not use or rely upon it
> as such. Further, as a condition to using the APN or delivering Local
> Notifications, You agree not to transmit sensitive personal or confidential
> information belonging to an individual (e.g., a social security number,
> _financial account or transactional information_ , or any information where
> the individual may have a reasonable expectation of secure transmission) as
> part of any such Notification, and You agree to comply with any applicable
> notice or consent requirements with respect to any collection, transmission,
> maintenance, processing or use of an end-user’s personal information.

~~~
ceejayoz
Interesting. I've got several banking apps, each of which sends push
notifications for charges. Either there's wiggle room on what's deemed truly
"private", or everyone's openly violating this.

~~~
vesinisa
My thoughts exactly! It seems either all the banking apps have entered into
special arrangements with Apple, or they are violating this provision out of
ignorance or "me too" mentality.

------
snr
I bank with SoFi. 2.25% APY on a checking (like) account. $1.5M FDIC insured
(not that I care/need it). Access to practically ALL ATMs. Beautiful app.

I use Uber Visa Credit Card, which is free, which auto pays itself from my
SoFi, with helluva lot benefits: 4x dining, 3x travel.

Why should I use Point?

~~~
dansoto
1) SoFi, by itself, isn't offering you points 2) You're only getting points by
using your Uber Visa Credit Card. That's defeating the purpose of this product
which is getting away from CCs.

~~~
snr
I'm really asking out of ignorance here: What's wrong with credit cards other
than the fact that they don't bill my account immediately (which might
actually be an advantage sometimes?)

------
qv1x0te
To reward your costumers for spending money is not exactly the same tactic of
a traditional bank?

------
jwr
> because we are partnered with a smaller regional bank

This here is the problem. This industry is heavily regulated and dominated by
behemoths. You can't innovate when you are partnered with a whale. Sooner or
later there will be an impedance mismatch.

------
dansoto
It's disheartening to join a waiting list then see that the top two spots are
reserved by two of the founders. It makes you wonder how many other of their
people are holding spots while we're sitting at 2,000th in line :(

------
JimDabell
Is this for Americans only? There's no mention of availability on the website.

~~~
patrickmro
Yes currently for US only.

~~~
anonfunction
Can you add that to the website? It's a glaring omission, as I was wondering
the same thing.

------
chelovek89
I think HN skews towards high income engineers who qualify for Chase
Sapphires/Amex Platinum. Theres definitely a dearth of good rewards card for
lower income people so I can see why this is a great idea.

------
bluedino
Why, when I can just use a credit card? What's nex, checks with rewards?

------
wolco
Do merchants pay 3% on debit card transactions similiar to credit cards.

~~~
primitivesuave
Yes - all payment processing networks impose a ~3% fee regardless of the
credit/debit nature of the card.

~~~
ceejayoz
Payment processors like Stripe may fix the rate at something profitable for
ease of explanation, but the underlying interchange fees are _not_ the same.

They even vary by credit card type (rewards cards have a higher interchange
rate than a non-rewards card), and by type of merchant. See the MasterCard
rates at [https://www.mastercard.us/content/dam/mccom/en-
us/documents/...](https://www.mastercard.us/content/dam/mccom/en-
us/documents/merchant-interchange-rates.pdf), for example.

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atdrummond
Patrick - I'm in the payment services space. Do you have a phone number or
email I can contact you at?

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donpdonp
Nice feature set. I'd also like to see an API/Direct OFX access.

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ninetax
Loved the artwork so much, I impulse bought a print from Laura Berger!

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thoughtstheseus
I thought everyone used a CC just to build credit. Guess I was wrong.

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truthhurt
Should have mentioned synapsefi in the website because it's big lie that they
partner with this bank.

They really don't partner with bank. They use synapsefi

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Giorgi
whaah? We have had debit cards in Georgia (Country) with points for years now.
Maybe first in the US - Yes.

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matz1
Instead of giving cashback/point, why don't lower the transaction fee instead
?

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umeshunni
Because that doesn't benefit the cardholder. It only benefits the merchant.
And, due to contractual restrictions, merchants cannot offer different prices
based on payment methods.

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matz1
Lower transaction fee will benefit the cardholder, it enable the merchant to
lower the price of goods/service.

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77yy77yy
Point.com is in the business of financial services. Sounds like you chose a
terrible name.

