Frequently
Asked Questions
Got questions? We have some answers.
Meet Firstcard
The Firstcard Debit Card is a Mastercard®debit card that allows college students to earn up to 15% cashback at stores in our rewards network that consists of over 27,000 global and local vendors. The Firstcard Debit Card is student-focused and offers quick cashback through the mobile app.
Firstcard is the first-ever online banking solution built for college students! Our mission is to help every college student become more financially empowered so they can pursue their academic and professional goals without worrying about their finances. Our hope is to reshape the online banking experience for college students.
When you open an account through Firstcard, you’ll receive a Mastercard® debit card and a checking account that automatically tracks your spending, savings, and balance entirely through your smartphone.
Unlike traditional debit cards, the Firstcard Mastercard®Debit Card is specifically curated for college students. Our debit card has no annual account fees, no overdraft fees, and no minimum balance requirement. Firstcard offers up to 15% cashback for students, whereas many other debit cards only give 0% to 3% cashback.
The Firstcard Debit Card can be used anywhere Mastercard® is accepted.
The Firstcard Debit Card has no signup fees, annual account fees or overdraft fees.
You may be charged an inactivity fee if there are no deposits or withdrawals in your account for a period of 15 months.
Please note that we do not have control over fees charged by other institutions you choose to do business with while using your Firstcard debit card.
You can search for cash back partners by name, category, or location under the “Rewards” section of the Firstcard app. You can also find a selection of merchants on our Student Discounts page on our website. You can also reach out to our team at support@firstcard.app if you have questions about cash back or merchants in our network.
Because we’re committed to charging minimal fees for students, we instead generate revenue from our merchants through marketing and affiliate fees. We’re also able to collect a portion of the interchange fees that are obtained in each processed transaction.
Firstcard is trying to partner with as many merchants as possible. We’re also making sure to reach out to merchants that are most loved by students!
Firstcard’s always open to new merchant partnerships, whether it be local businesses or online shops. If you’re a merchant interested in partnering with us, feel free to let us know by filling out this interest form.
Yes, cashback may change over time. Please check out the “Rewards” section of our mobile app to see current offers. You can also reach out to our team at support@firstcard.app if you have questions about cash back or merchants in our network.
Firstcard is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Lewis & Clark Bank, Members FDIC. Firstcard is also not a prepaid debit card. We partner with a bank to provide a streamlined, technology-driven checking account and a Mastercard® debit card that offers up to 15% cashback at select merchants.
If you’re a student who is part of a student organization, check out our Student Club partnerships. If you’re a merchant who would like to partner with Firstcard, check out our Merchant page. And if you’re anyone else who has an idea about how we could partner together, send us a note at info@firstcard.app.
Signing Up For Firstcard
Just complete our sign up form at web.firstcard.app. It takes less than 2 minutes!
Once you submit the form, we'll review the information to make sure it's correct, and if you're approved, you can download the app, fund your account and start enjoying Firstcard right away!
You must be 18 years of age or older to sign up for Firstcard.
Unfortunately, Firstcard is unable to provide banking services to customers without a U.S. Social Security number. However, Firstcard is currently working to implement an alternative identity verification method as soon as possible to cater to students who do not have a Social Security number.
No, you do not need a parent or guardian to open an account with Firstcard. If you need any help with signing up, feel free to reach out to us at support@firstcard.app!
To invite friends and family to open an account with us, log into the Firstcard app, go to “Home” and select “Refer Friends.” You and your student friends are eligible to get rewards through referrals! You can see our current referral rewards here.
Using Firstcard
After opening an account, you’ll have immediate access to your virtual Firstcard. Let the savings begin!
You can then order a physical card at no cost if you want, and you should expect to receive it within 5-10 days. You can easily activate your card in our app once you receive it! If you don’t receive your card after 10 days, please reach out to us at support@firstcard.app.
Yes! Your virtual Firstcard will be available in the Firstcard app right after you sign up so you can start using it right away after you fund your account.
There are many options to fund your Firstcard account! You can send money instantly from Venmo or Cash App, link your authorized bank account within the Firstcard app, or link your account from another bank using Plaid or your routing number and account number! In the app, you can also set up recurring deposits easily, so you never run out of funds!
Currently, you can link one external account at a time. If you need to change the linked account, reach out to support@firstcard.app or contact us directly from the app and we'll be more than happy to help you!
Currently, some restrictions apply on account linking: you can have only one account linked at a time to pull funds from. You can ask us to unlink your account at any time, but a new account can be linked only once every 30 days. Also we do have a limit on 5 maximum different external accounts that can be linked over the lifetime of your Firstcard account. We're always working on improvements, and we expect to allow you to link more than one external account soon!
Definitely! We are part of the Moneypass ATM network, so you can withdraw money at multiple ATMs across the country, including multiple fee-free ATMs! You can see all ATM locations at https://www.moneypass.com. Besides that, you can also use ATMs in the Pulse network and in the Mastercard Maestro network. We do not charge a fee for ATM operations in or out of our network, but some ATMs may charge you a fee.
Moving Money with Firstcard
Definitely! In October 2022, we started accepting instant transfers from Cash App, Venmo, PayPal and similar providers! It's free for you, and you can then get instant access to your funds on Firstcard to enjoy all of our cashback deals or just keep your money safe in your Firstcard account!
Of course! You can do that using ATMs or you can also transfer money to your authorized linked bank account - for free! Besides that, you're free to use Cash App or other similar apps to move your money.
To deposit money into your account, log into the Firstcard app, go to “Move Money” and select “Add Money to your Firstcard.” Or click on "Add Money" directly from the Firstcard app dashboard!
Currently, Firstcard does not allow the transfer of money to other users through our banking app. However, we’re constantly innovating and developing new and exciting features to improve our products and services. If there’s something you’d like to be added, feel free to let us know at support@firstcard.app!
Unfortunately, Firstcard does not currently offer paper checks due to low demand. However, we’re constantly innovating and developing new and exciting features to improve our products and services. If there’s something you’d like to be added, feel free to let us know at support@firstcard.app!
Safety & Security with Firstcard
The Firstcard Mastercard® Debit Card is issued by Lewis & Clark Bank, Member FDIC. The funds in your account are insured up to $250,000 per depositor. Firstcard also uses TLS 1.2 or better on all data being transferred on the internet and strong AES-256 encryption to protect data at rest.
Our priority is protecting you, your money, and your personal information.
All financial institutions are required to verify their account holders’ identity, and many of them use Social Security numbers as a verification medium. Firstcard is currently working to expand this eligibility outside of social security numbers to items such as international passports and more.
If you believe there is an error with one of your transactions, please contact us immediately at support@firstcard.app. You can also lock your Firstcard Debit Card to stop any further transactions from going through (to lock your card: log into the Firstcard app, go to “Settings,” and click on “Lock card”).
No, Firstcard does not check our customers’ credit history.
Account Maintenance
To update your phone number, log into the Firstcard app, go to “Settings” and select "Edit" in the “Personal info” section. To update other information, reach out to support@firstcard.app.
If you’d like to close your account with us, send an email to support@firstcard.app and we'll assist you. If you have any feedback as to how we could improve our product or service, please reach out to us at support@firstcard.app.
Future Expansion
Yes, Firstcard does have plans to offer other student-catered financial services in the future. In the meanwhile, though, we’re making sure that our current products are as good as possible by incorporating feedback from students like you!