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Are Rewards Debit Cards Worth It? Here’s How the Credit Card Versions Compare

By U.S. News & World Report

Dear Clever Credit,

I’m seeing more and more debit cards popping up that offer rewards. Are they better than credit cards? Because if I can earn the same rewards without dinging my credit, should I apply for one?

Signed,

Debit vs. Credit

Dear DvC,

I’ve seen these cards popping up, too. There are quite a few out there that earn cash back, points or miles. Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts launched rewards-earning debit cards just last year.

But a lot of these debit cards come with fees or don’t earn as much as their credit card counterparts. Let’s take a look at Southwest since I called them out. Now, Southwest isn’t a bank, so its debit card is powered by Sunrise Banks, N.A., and your funds are insured up to $250,000.

They have three personal credit cards, all with varying annual fees and corresponding benefits — the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card and the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card. The debit and credit cards all earn bonus points every calendar year toward a Companion Pass, but the amount varies by card. Just for comparison purposes, though, let’s look at rewards rates and annual fee only.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Debit Card Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
Annual or Monthly Fees $6.99 per month (roughly $84 per year), waived if you have a minimum monthly balance of $2,500 $99 per year
Rewards

— One point per $1 spent on eligible Southwest Airlines purchases, on qualifying dining purchases, and on subscriptions, including utilities and streaming services

— One point per $2 spent on all other purchases

— Two points per $1 spent on eligible Southwest Airlines purchases

— Two points per $1 spent at gas stations and grocery stores (up to $5,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year)

— One point per $1 spent on all other purchases

So for just $15 more a year, you earn more rewards with the lowest-tiered Southwest credit card.

[Read: Credit Cards With No Annual Fee]

Another 1:1 comparison is the United MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card and the United? Explorer Card. Each has an annual or monthly fee, but both have options to waive. And while the United credit card is $102 more expensive than its debit card counterpart, you can’t deny those rewards have a lot of earning potential.

United MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card United? Explorer Card
Annual or Monthly Fees $4 per month ($48 per year), waived if you have a minimum monthly balance of $2,000 $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150
Rewards

— 1 mile per $1 spent on United purchases

— 1 mile per $2 spent on all other qualifying purchases

— 2 miles per $1 spent on on United purchases, dining, and on hotel stays booked directly with the hotel

— 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

[Read: Airline Credit Cards]

Let’s take a look at other travel cards. If we compare the Wyndham Rewards Debit Card with a top travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, for example, the winner is clear. (It’s the Chase Sapphire Preferred.)

Wyndham Rewards Debit Card Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Annual or Monthly Fees $6 per month (or $72 per year), waived if you have a minimum monthly balance of $2,500 $95 per year
Rewards

— One point per $1 spent on eligible purchases made at participating Hotels by Wyndham and qualifying gas and grocery purchases

— One point per $2 spent on all other qualifying purchases

— Five points per $1 spent on travel purchased through Chase Travel?

— Three points per $1 spent on dining, select streaming services and online groceries

— Two points per $1 spent on all other travel purchases

— One point per $1 spent on all other purchases

[Read: Travel Credit Cards]

Now, this isn’t to say all rewards debit cards aren’t as good as credit cards. Some are quite impressive.

For example, the PayPal Debit Card earns 5% cash back in monthly rotating categories (up to $1,000 a month), and it doesn’t come with an annual or monthly fee. Your categories include restaurants, apparel, fuel, groceries, and ride-hailing and public transit. It’s a good supplementary card so you can pair it with a credit card that also has rotating categories. That way you’re always earning in your top category.

So it really depends on your credit score, the type of card you’re looking at and if you plan to pair it with another card (either debit or credit) to maximize rewards.

More from U.S. News

How Do Credit Cards Work?

Credit Cards vs. Debit Cards: What Should I Use in 2026?

Clever Credit: Can My Credit Card Be Tracked at Protests?

Are Rewards Debit Cards Worth It? Here’s How the Credit Card Versions Compare originally appeared on usnews.com

Trump declines to rule out declaring a national security emergency to control the 2026 election

By CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump in a new interview declined to rule out declaring a national security emergency as a means to try to assert more control over the 2026 midterm elections.It’s merely the latest warning sign that Trump could try to mess with the election not just by baselessly claiming voter fraud and challenging the results afterward — as he did in 2020, leading to a violent riot at the US Capitol — but by trying to unilaterally take control before votes are cast.In the interview, Wayne Allyn Root of Real America’s Voice pitched such a scenario to Trump. He suggested it as an alternative, given the Senate has failed to pass Trump’s coveted elections bill, known as the “SAVE America Act.”“If they never get the SAVE America Act done, you have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections,” Root said. He added that “if you declare a national security emergency as the president of the United States, they can’t challenge it. It can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress. So if you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship (for voter registration) and a limit to mail-in ballots.”It’s at this point that Trump cut Root off and coyly suggested such an option was indeed in play.“Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK?” Trump said. “I’ll leave it at that.”Despite Root’s comments, it’s far from clear such a gambit would even work. And CNN has asked the White House for more detail on what the president meant.Trump often responds to hypotheticals by declining to rule them out — no matter how extreme the proposal might be. So it’s possible to read too much into this.But as CNN’s Jake Tapper has noted, there are plenty of signals that Trump at least aspires to try to exert more control over elections. And these methods often appear transparently geared toward helping Republicans.A major one is the administration’s threat to have the US Postal Service not deliver mail ballots for states that don’t comply with its demand that they hand over their voter lists. This is a request that even many red states have rejected, citing privacy concerns.Democrats are much more likely to use mail ballots, which Trump has baselessly connected to widespread fraud. So curtailing them could greatly help Republicans.(Federal courts have blocked this Trump executive order, and the administration recently appealed to the Supreme Court.)Trump has also gone to great lengths to try to substantiate his still-baseless claims of widespread fraud. That includes the administration seizing 2020 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, and Trump’s recent primetime address about election security that some read as a statement of intent — a pretext for more direct federal involvement in elections, which are run by states.Ty Cobb, who served as White House counsel in Trump’s first term, said he interpreted the speech last month as a “predicate that he needs to declare an emergency.”And Trump has occasionally said things, like he did in the new interview, suggesting he would like to take control of US elections.Back in February, he urged his party to “take over the voting in at least 15 places,” adding: “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”The Washington Post also reported in March that pro-Trump activists were circulating a potential executive order that claimed Chinese interference in the 2020 election gave Trump emergency authorities over the 2026 election. And Trump’s primetime address focused on China, despite the tenuous evidence.Trump’s intense focus on the “SAVE America Act,” which has never appeared to have a chance to pass but Trump has said is vital, could also be read as part of building the case for more drastic action.But whether Trump could take over elections himself, as Root posits, is far from certain.As CNN’s Marshall Cohen and Michael Williams reported in February, the Constitution makes it difficult for Trump to truly “nationalize” elections. Courts have overwhelmingly upheld the principle that states are in charge of elections.Presidents generally have more authority to act unilaterally when national security is involved — hence the significance of invoking China — but some experts are skeptical that Trump’s effort would pass legal muster.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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