Extra Debit Card–Build Credit Without a Credit Check

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How Extra Works

Extra is a debit card and app that you link to your bank account. Once linked, the Extra app determines your spending limits each day based on, among other things, your bank account balance and account history. Extra calls your daily spending limit your Spend Power.

When you use your card for a purchase, Extra spots you the money. In other words, the money is not immediately taken out of your bank account. Instead, Extra pulls the money you spent from your bank account on the next business day. This distinction is important.

At the end of the month, Extra tallies up all of your purchases and reports them to the credit bureaus as credit-worthy payments. At present, it reports your payments monthly to Experian and Equifax.

What is Required to Sign Up for Extra

To sign up for Extra, you must be:

• 18 years of age or older;
• Have a social security number (SSN) or an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN);
• A U.S. address (a P.O. Box is not valid for this purpose); and
• A U.S.-based account that is compatible with Plaid, a free service that works with more than 10,000 banks.

Extra Rewards

With the Combined Plan (see below), you’ll earn 5 reward points for every $1 spent on the Extra card. Five points are worth up to 1 cent, depending on how you redeem the rewards. Points can be used to purchase products in the Extra Store.

Frankly, I don’t think the rewards are worth the extra (no pun intended) cost for most people.

Extra Debit Card Fees

The Extra card offers two fee plans.

The Credit Building plan costs $20 a month or $200 a year, but it’s currently on sale for $149/year. This gives you the debit card and monthly credit reporting to Experian and Equifax.

The Rewards + Credit Building Plan costs $25 a month or $265 annually, but the current sale price is $199/year. In addition to credit reporting to build your credit, you can also earn reward points on purchases and have access to Extra’s Rewards Store.

FAQs