Extra credit card review
The extra card helps you build your credit score without the drawbacks that come with traditional credit card products. While still giving you some pretty awesome rewards in the process.
But is it too good to be true? Today lets find out.
Alright, lets jump right into it. What is going on everyone I hope you are all having a fantastic day.
So if youre like me, chances are youve seen a few advertisements for the extra card and typically I ignore these kinds of ads but when I saw how unique this particular product is and received so many requests from all of you to review it, I figured it was about time we take a look.
So today lets break down how this works, the features that it offers, the rewards you can earn, and of course the cost.
Table of Contents
How the extra card work
How in the world does this build your credit score without accruing deb? Well, weve looked at some credit builder products in the past and Ill tell you right from the start that this one works in a very different way.
When you get your extra card, theyre going to have you link your external checking accounts to this product, and currently, you are able to use one of over 10,000+ select U.S. banks that extra is compatible with.
Then from there, its really simple, you simply make your purchases as you would with any other debit card, and then one day after that purchase extra is simply going to pull that money directly from your bank account in order to cover that transaction.
So essentially extra is spotting you that money for one day when you actually swipe your card or buy something online and then theyre just paying themselves back directly from your bank account one day later which means that from your perspective, this card basically works like any other debit card.
You could also compare it to something like a charge card, where the cardholder is unable to actually carry a balance from month to month like you do with a credit card and instead they are required to pay off that balance every single month.
The only difference here is that instead of having 30 days to pay off your balance it is automatically paid off for you one day after the purchase is made.
Then at the end of the month, extra is going to report all of those transactions and on-time payments to Equifax and Experian which are two of the three major credit bureaus.
Extra is currently working with TransUnion in order to report this information to them as well.
And as you are all well aware, your on-time payment history is the most important factor when it comes to calculating your credit score and that means by having extra report those transactions to the credit bureaus, this is going to have a positive impact on your credit score.
Unlike similar credit builder products, because your balance is constantly being paid off every day that you make a transaction.
Your extra card is also going to have a positive impact on your credit utilization which is another major variable used when calculating your credit score.
But the best part about all of this and really what separates it from a credit card is that your extra card is pulling real-time balance data from the checking account that you have linked and therefore will not let you spend more money than you actually have in your bank account which is exactly how a traditional debit card product works.
And this may not sound like that big of a deal to some of you but this is really the beauty of this product because it gives you the benefits of helping build your credit score, but keeps you from digging yourself into a hole of debt that can be insurmountable to get out of.
Not to mention the fact that your average credit card charges 20% or more in interest on top of the ridiculous fees and penalties.
Whereas with your Extra card there are no interest payments because youre not accruing debt.
How to get the Extra Card
Alright so this sounds cool but how do you get approved because there are over 100 million people in the US alone who either dont want a credit card or are not able to get one for one reason or another.
Meaning that oftentimes these products and the benefits that can come with them if used properly are out of the reach of millions of people.
Well, extra wanted to change that by making their product widely accessible meaning you dont even need a credit score in order to qualify and theres not even a credit check.
That being said there are some standard requirements that apply to most financial accounts such as you have to be 18 or older, you have to have either a Social Security number or an ITIN number.
You obviously have to have a US address where you can receive your Extra card, and then, of course, youll need an iOS device in order to use the extra app and a valid bank account to link your extra card too.
Alright, so most products stop there and are just meant to help you build your credit but extra wanted to take it a step further and actually offers some pretty great rewards and benefits as well.
But before we get to that, lets talk about the two different versions of the extra card and the cost associated with each.
The cost of extra card
So weve got extra credit building which is all of the features that we just talked about and that cost either $8 per month or you can pay for the entire year and get a slight discount at $84 for the whole year.
However, they also offer an extra credit building and rewards that costs either $12.00 per month or $108 for the whole year and you guessed it, comes with rewards on top of all the benefits we just talked about on the credit building side of things.
Youre going to earn 10 rewards points for every $1 that you spend. Now that sounds pretty awesome if youre familiar with your standard credit card rewards points
However in this case the ten points is only worth 1 cent which is basically a really confusing way of saying youre getting up to 1% cash back equivalent on all of your purchases if you are redeeming your points for that max value.
Now one thing that is important to mention here is that you arent able to redeem your points directly for cash back as you would with a credit card for example.
Instead, these points can only be redeemed within the extra rewards store and can be used towards anything from air pods to gift cards and a ton of other cool items.
Personally, Im not a huge fan of this because I know most people would rather just take the cash back and I fear that some people might step in the trap of spending more just to get points to purchase something.
So what Ill say to that is just make sure that you are being really responsible and obviously, you never want to buy something on the extra card or any other rewards card for that matter just for the sake of getting points because you and I both know that that makes absolutely no sense.
That being said the rewards that they offer are actually pretty cool and again you can redeem it for gift cards.
So if nothing else you can just take the gift card and then use that to supplement a purchase that youre already making in your budget.
Is extra worth it
Alright so 8 bucks per month might be a bummer to some of you but if you account for the fact:
- Youre not going to pay any kind of interest or late fees on this card and
- Its going to help build your credit score which will therefore lower your interest rates in the future and hopefully save you moneymoney.
8 bucks per month is actually a pretty small price to pay. For example, the national average APR on a mortgage, if you have a credit score in the low six hundreds, is 5.185%.
However, if you have a score in the high seven hundreds which you could build up to by using a product like the extra card, the average interest rate drops to 3.596.
I tell you that because if you account for that difference in interest rates on your average mortgage payment ($300K | 30-Year Fixed), youd save $282 per month, and over a 30-year mortgage that would definitely add up so using a product like the extra card to build or rebuild your credit will definitely pay for itself even if it is 8 bucks per month.
Now in terms of whether or not the rewards upgrade is worth the few extra bucks for you, it really depends on how much you think youll spend on this card.
But thankfully the math is super easy to figure out. Assuming you pay for the full year and get that slight discount, the credit building equates to $7.00 per month while the credit building and rewards is only $9 per month.
Obviously, thats only a $2 difference per month meaning since you were earning 1% cash back on your purchases, if you spend $200 or more per month on this card.
Which is pretty realistic for most people, then you will come out ahead by upgrading to the rewards and credit building option.
So with all of this in mind is the extra card worth it and does it live up to the hype?
For the right consumer, I would say absolutely yes without a doubt. Having bad credit or no credit is actually incredibly expensive because of the higher interest rates that youll have to pay anytime you borrow money like we showed in the previous example.
So if you either have no credit score or bad credit history and youre looking to rebuild your credits but you have difficulty accessing traditional credit card products.
Then the extra card is literally the perfect product for you and will more than pay for itself in the amount you will save by increasing your credit score and therefore lowering your interest rates when you borrow money in the future.
Now if you already have a fantastic credit score or maybe youre a credit card nerd like myself, then this product isnt necessarily designed for you.
But if you do feel like you have problems with overspending and digging yourself into a ton of credit card debt, then regardless of what your credit score is this product would be a great way to fix that problem.
My final thought or conclusion of extra credit card review
So the extra card definitely gets a thumbs up from me but as always Id love to know what you think of this product down in the comments section below.
As always if you did get value out of this content and you want to help support me the easiest way to do that is by checking out the extra card.
As always thank you so much for your time I seriously do appreciate it so much. Take it easy and Ill see you in the next one!
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