Considering signing up for the Amazon Flex Debit Card?
Here are a few pros and cons
Delivering on Amazon Flex has been my most recent gig. I've been signed on for a year but it took me a few months to make my first delivery. I only deliver on Flex at Whole Foods since there are tips involved.
A couple of months ago, I received an e-mail to sign up for the Amazon Flex Debit card so I could get 2% cash back on select purchases, including at Whole Foods.
Since I'm also a Prime Shopper, I decided to give the Flex card a try. Here are some of the perks it listed in the e-mail that got me to sign up.
Spoiler alert
I didn't read the fine print. You don't start earning cash back until you're at Level 2. That's not a huge deal but I did go to check out at Whole Foods after I had about $100 in my account from my deliveries and saw no cash back whatsoever.
Then I realized the error of my ways.
Yea, you have to keep delivering and keep Level 2 rewards to get some of those perks. I'm only at Level 1, although I do plan on sticking with Flex for the time being since Instacart has become somewhat of a drag money wise.
As you can see, the 6% cash back promised in the e-mail that got me to sign up for the card doesn't even kick in until Level 4. This means you have to dedicate a pretty good chunk to delivering on Flex.
Is it worth it, sure. Would I have signed up if I had known it wasn't an automatic cash back kind of thing? Probably not.
Earning points is relatively easy. I got 150 points for delivering 15 orders but still. To get to 6,500 points would take quite a bit of time and effort so I'm still a little salty that the e-mail to sign up was a big misleading to say the least.
But the account is free so it's not a huge loss or anything.
Let's get to the pros and cons
Assuming you get to at least Level 2 as a Flex driver, there are definitely some perks and 2% cash back isn't too bad but of course, I do wish you could just qualify if you're an active Flex driver on any level.
So the pros for the Flex card, I suppose are the cash back rewards when you reach certain levels and that you can also either use it to squirrel away money for tax season or groceries if you do occasionally shop at Whole Foods.
It's also free so you don't need to pay a monthly account fee to keep the account open.
Side note: I also have the DasherDirect debit card through DoorDash and I use it to squirrel away money for tax season and occasionally for gas because I get 2% cash back (it was 10% when I originally signed up) and there were no strings attached like how many orders you completed so that was a nice perk for a while. However, when I took a break from dashing, I got a notification that my account was going to be deactivated and that I had to pay $2 for inactivity.
I assume the Flex Debit card doesn't have this kind of nonsense but given the fact that it was a little bit misleading in the e-mail, I don't entirely rule out any hidden weirdness. I'll post an update if I come across something iffy.
The cons are the misleading intro e-mail to get you to sign up. Sure, everyone should always read the fine print but the alleged perks were just bigger and brighter than the fine print.
Again, no big loss but I prefer a bit less ambiguity when signing up for anything financial.
I will post an update once I reach higher levels with some screenshots of my cash back experience, etc. Until then, I hope this helps you decide wether or not to sign up for the Amazon Flex Debit Card.
Related Pages
How to deliver an order on Amazon Flex at Whole Foods