Extra Review 2023: Debit That Builds Credit

Many people struggle to get or maintain high credit scores. Financial products that are not credit-card based, such as Extra, are designed to help consumers build credit. However, Extra debit can be costly. 

Here’s what you need to know about Extra, the credit-building debit card¹.

What Is Extra?

Extra is a debit card that reports payments to credit reporting bureaus Experian and Equifax. When you swipe your Extra debit card, the company spots you the money. The next business day, Extra pays itself back from your bank account. At the end of the month, Extra reports your payment history to the credit bureaus.

By reporting payment history, Extra helps you build credit. With better credit, you may be able to take out lower-cost loans and qualify for the best rewards credit cards³.

What Does It Offer?

Extra’s main product is the Extra Debit Card. These are some of the card features.

Spending Builds Credit

Extra reports your transactions on the debit card at the end of the month as creditworthy payments to Experian and Equifax. Currently, it does not report your activity to TransUnion, which is the third major credit bureau.

When Extra starts to report payment history to Experian and Equifax, you start to build a credit history. However, you might run into issues because you won’t have the same credit history at TransUnion. Lenders may not view you as a favorable credit risk if you have vastly different credit history at different credit bureaus⁴.

Spend Power based on your Bank Account Balance

Your “Spend Power” on your Extra debit card is based on your bank account balance and other factors. It starts out small for new members and generally increases as you establish a positive payment history.   If you have a large bank account balance, you may have  a higher spending limit each day. However, people with smaller account balances will have lower limits.

The Spend Power limit may seem a bit restrictive, but Extra tracks your bank balance to help you avoid overspending. 

Spend Today, Pay Tomorrow

When you spend on your Extra debit card today, Extra spots you for your purchase and the exact amount you spent will be deducted from your bank account the next business day. Extra helps customers keep track of their purchases. 

Available in the U.S.

You don’t have to be a U.S. Citizen to use Extra. You must be 18 years old, have a U.S.-based bank account, a U.S. address, and a SSN or ITIN number.

Extra can be a great tool for people who don’t have a strong foothold in the U.S.-based financial system to start building credit.

Flat Annual Fee

You’ll pay $149 per year to use Extra’s “debit as credit” service called Credit Building. Users also have access to a spending tracker app, similar to Personal Capital and other Budgeting Apps.

If you upgrade to the Rewards + Credit building level, you’ll pay $199 per year. However, this option comes with up to 1% rewards points on all purchases made on your debit card.

Option to Earn Rewards Points

If you sign up for Extra’s Rewards + Credit Building option, you’ll earn up to 1% in reward points on all debit purchases. Anyone who spends more than $425 on the debit card per month will come out ahead with this option (compared to the $149 per year option).

Of course, once you qualify for rewards credit cards, the up to 1% reward points offered by Extra seems less enticing.

Are There Any Fees?

You’ll pay $149 per year for Extra’s basic credit building service. This service reports spending to Experian and Equifax, and provides access to a financial tracking app.

To gain access to the up to 1% in rewards points, you’ll have to pay $199 per year.

Notice that Extra bills everything annually. There is no longer a monthly payment option. 

How Do I Contact Extra? 

Extra calls its customer support team a white glove concierge, and the company is very accessible. 

You can call the concierge team at 844-932-3955 or email hey@extra.app. For an online chat option visit http://extra.app/help and select the chat icon. After a few minutes, you’ll be chatting with an online agent.

Customers who want to write to the San Francisco based company can send a letter to: 150 Sutter Street, P.O. Box 372, San Francisco, CA 94104.

How Does Extra Compare?

Despite its branding as a “debit card that builds credit,” Extra is very similar to a secured credit card, and it has a fairly high annual fee compared to other cards. This is not to say that the product is bad, especially if credit is important to you.

The company has thousands of reviews on the Apple App Store and seems like it's really helping people to build credit.

Other credit building products such as credit-building loans from Self are less expensive than Extra, but the downside is that not everyone may have the discipline to set aside money to pay it down each month. The benefit of Extra is that it pays itself back the next business day, which  lessen hassle and worry while ensuring the credit-building aspect.

Extra has one major drawback compared to its competitors. Extra only reports credit history to Experian and Equifax. Self Lender and most secured credit cards will report payments to all three of the major credit bureaus.

Check out the comparison table below to see other options, besides Extra and Self.

How Do I Open An Account?

Extra is available to most adults in the United States. To open an account you need to meet the following criteria: 

• 18 years of age or older
• You must have an SSN or ITIN number
• A U.S. address where you can receive your Extra Card
• A U.S.-based bank account

Then you can start an online application or apply through the Extra app.

Is It Safe And Secure?

Extra uses several third-party sources to ensure that your money and your data is safe. 

It uses Dwolla (a well-known financial data company) to process payments. For the financial tracker it uses Plaid, another third-party integration company that is considered a leader in the financial technology space and has a strong record of keeping information safe.

Extra also has several services in place that allow you to lock and replace stolen or lost debit cards. This helps keep you from owing money that you didn’t spend. The company does not share your data except with the credit bureaus and as noted in its privacy policy, as agreed.

Overall, Extra’s formula for handling money and data makes a lot of sense. The company strives to take the appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access.   Of course, a data breach or an attack from a hacker could lead to stolen information.

Is It Worth It?

In most cases, you can build credit without paying interest or fees. If the fees are not appealing to you, you can build credit by using a secured credit card and paying the bills on time or sign on as someone’s authorized user on their credit card to help build credit. However, these methods require time.  

It can take many months of slowly building a positive credit history to be able to take out a mortgage or an auto loan at a reasonable rate. Even getting approved for rewards credit cards can take several years of on-time payments on a credit card.

While Extra isn’t necessarily a must-have, weigh the pros and cons and decide if you believe it’s useful. If you have struggled with credit card debt in the past, may want to rebuild credit without touching credit cards. Extra is a perfect tool for the credit card-averse. Folks in this camp may gladly pay $149 per year to avoid taking out a credit card. Extra tracks your bank balance to help you avoid overspending, so you can build credit and stay on track with your other financial goals.

The downside for people considering Extra is that it doesn’t report to all three credit bureaus. To really build credit, you need credit history at Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

Extra Features

Disclaimers

¹ Impact on your credit score may vary depending on your use. Extra is required to report both on time and late payments, which may negatively impact your credit score.

² Extra sets each Cardholder’s Spend Power based upon a proprietary data-driven risk model, utilizing objective signals to assist in the identification of those Cardholders who intend and are able to faithfully pay for their transactions.

³ Increases or specific changes to your credit score are not guaranteed. On-time payment history can have a positive impact on your credit score. Late or non-payment may negatively impact your credit score. Impact on your credit may vary, as credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus based on a number of factors, including the financial decisions you make with other financial services organizations.

⁴ Extra does not impact your previous credit history. Increases or specific changes to your credit score are not guaranteed. On-time payment history can have a positive impact on your credit score. Late or non-payment may negatively impact your credit score. Impact on your credit may vary, as credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus based on a number of factors, including the financial decisions you make with other financial services organizations.