Visa Extras Is Now (For Wachovia Customers) Wachovia Possibilities Rewards

I mentioned before how I registered my debit card at Visa Extras so that I can earn bonus points whenever I use my debt card. Well, apparently, individual banking institutions have started to use the Visa Extras interface to create their own debit card bonus rewards websites. I received an email from my bank, Wachovia, noting that my Visa Extras account had been converted to a Wachovia Possiblities Rewards account. (Of course, I did NOT click on any of the links in the email itself. Instead, I went to the Wachovia homepage so that I could verify that the email was not a scam. Please, if you ever receive an email from what appears to be a bank, even if it’s your bank, do not click on any of the links in the actual email. The email could be a scam, ‘phishing’ for your account information and password!)

How do you earn points? By making “qualifying purchases”. From the Wachovia Possibilites Rewards FAQS

Qualifying purchases include:

* Signature-based purchases
* Internet purchases
* Phone and mail order purchases
* Bill payments

Basically, if you use your debit (check) card but you don’t enter your pin number, you’ll receive points.

So, how much are these points worth? Not much. Each “point” appears to be worth, seriously, $.002. If you spend $20,000 using your debit card, you can cash in your 20,000 points for a $40 gift card. (The new Wachovia Possibilites Rewards site allows you to register your debit (check) card AND your Wachovia credit cards. Credit cards earn more points per transaction (between 2 and 6), depending on the type of credit card.)

I’m disappointed by the value of each point rewarded, but every little bit helps.

Wachovia customers, click here to go to the Wachovia Possibilites Rewards homepage.

Others interested in checking the eligibility of your debit (check) card for rewards should head over to Visa Extras.

(By the way, the links provided are for informational purposes only. I will not receive any compensation should you choose to enroll in either of these programs. I mention these sites because I like to encourage people to use debit (check) cards instead of credit cards.)

Oh yeah. Since joining Visa Extras several years ago, I’ve accumulated over 15,000 points.