Also see: 

• Search SmarterBucks & Radius Bank Unlimited 1% Cash Back Toward Student Loan Debt
• DTMFA: Barclaycard Arrival Plus. Still a good card?

I was excited to explore this dark alleyway of the internet, because there are so few rewards debit cards left.

This one, through SmarterBucks and Radius Bank seemed like it was gonna be a doozy. But, unfortunately, it’s pretty worthless, for me at least. I’m gonna have to DTMFA.

I’ll explain.

Does NOT work with Evolve Money

I was a little disappointed about this because the debit card offered by Radius Bank is a true debit card, unlike say, the PayPal Business Debit MasterCard.

I also wanted to find a way to make Evolve Money useful somehow. But nope, it continues to be a suck, a drain, a waste. There is literally no use for their service, except maybe to meet minimum spending requirements.

All this to say I was expecting the debit card to be fee-free on Evolve Money. But nope. For some reason, it’s got that 3% service fee tacked on to it.

My thinking/hope was that I could funnel money into Radius Bank, then pay my student loan with my new, real debit card. And then get another 1% applied toward my student loans via the debit card rewards.

There are a few ways to think about how the 1% would have worked. But, it doesn’t. So.

I can’t use it with RadPad – but maybe you can

My other thought/hope was that I could use the Radius Bank debit card with RadPad, a service I really enjoy using.

In theory, in should work. 

But, I noticed when I got the debit card there was no daily spend limit included.

I assumed they would be the usual $5,000 per day.

You know what they say about assumptions…

I asked the customer service lady, uhhh…

• – What’s the daily spending limit?
• – $2,000.
• – Can I raise it?
• – No, sorry. You can call us to temporarily raise it.
• – It would easier if I could raise it just a little, even to $3,000.
• – Here’s a short pier. Take a long walk! (In not so many words.)

Sorry, but the rents I pay with RadPad are all more than $2,000 (as sad as that is).

For me to call each and every time, every month, to get a transaction to go through, and then to risk it not going through, is something I can’t do.

FWIW, the limit on the debit card I use now via my Fidelity Cash Management account (the best!) is $5,000 per day and that’s just great. So I’ll just keep rocking on with that.

But the upshot is… if your rent is under $2,000, Radius Bank + RadPad might be great. At the upper range, you’d score an extra $20 a month toward your student loans for paying your rent. I was hoping to earn even more than that, but the daily limits don’t jive with what I need.

But if it could work for you, sign up for SmarterBucks, and follow the links to open an account with Radius Bank.

Bottom line

I was hoping the debit card from Radius Bank + SmarterBucks would play nicely with Evolve Money and RadPad.

Unfortunately, Evolve Money imposes a 3% fee on bill payments, rendering the card as useless as a hole in the head.

And with RadPad, well. The $2,000 daily limit on the debit card doesn’t help me at all. But maybe it’ll help you.

I am still praising humble beginnings.  And I’m still scrappy. But I’m gonna have to pass on this one.

If you could use a new rewards debit card, consider this one. I wanted to share in case maybe it could be useful for you.

If you’re interested, sign up for SmarterBucks to get started.

Have you heard of Radius Bank or SmarterBucks? Does anyone currently use either?

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