An earlier version of this article was contributed by a reader and edited by Kuku.
[Update 3/9/2024] The account will be shut down on 3/29. It's best to transfer your money out as soon as possible.
[Update 4/20/2023] The $110 account opening bonus is back. Of that, $10 is awarded immediately after opening the account. The remaining $100 referral bonus requires you to complete $500 in Direct Deposit within 60 days of account opening and make 5 debit card purchases; see below for details.
[Update 7/25/2022] Point is about to go out of business, and they also promoted some other products, such as Oxygen. Many people thought Oxygen was a new product and applied through them, but Oxygen has actually been around for a long time. Oxygen's referral bonus is $110. If you're interested, please follow the instructions in this article to request a referral link—there's no need to subsidize Point's ad spend.
[Update 2/10/2022] The APY on the Savings Account has increased. It is now as high as 3% for the Fire tier, on balances up to $20,000; any amount above that earns 0.5% APY. See details here.
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About Oxygen Bank Checking
Oxygen Bank is an online bank offering personal and business accounts. Its checking account has no monthly fee, no overdraft fee, no minimum deposit requirement, and no ACH transfer fee. Oxygen Bank's partner bank is The Bancorp Bank, and funds are FDIC-insured, so deposits are protected. One notable feature is debit card cash back, similar to Cash App and Albert Bank. There is currently a $55 $110 account opening bonus if you complete the Direct Deposit requirement.
Account Opening Bonus
If you sign up for Oxygen Checking using our referral link, you can get a $55$110 account opening bonus. Because Oxygen Bank generates a different referral link each time, there is no single public link to share.
- Request a referral code: send an email to [email protected] with the subject line "Oxygen referral".
The requirements to earn the bonus are as follows:
- Within 60 days, receive $500 in Direct Deposit and make 5 debit card purchases to earn the $
55$110 account opening bonus.
We recommend opening the link in your mobile browser; it should automatically redirect you to the app store to download the app.
- You need an SSN to open the account, and in theory only RA can apply online. The overall application process is very simple: download the app, fill in your personal information, and in most cases you'll be approved instantly. You'll be able to see your account number right away, and a virtual card is also supported for immediate spending.
Overall, this is not a difficult bank bonus to complete. It does not require Direct Deposit It now requires Direct Deposit. The 5 debit card transactions can also be used toward the cash back offers.
Oxygen Tier System
Oxygen has 4 different tiers: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. (These names reminded cloud of the four elements from the favorite animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Did the person who named these tiers watch it too?) Each tier has different features.
Earth: $0 annual fee, 2% cash back. Deposit APY is 0.5%, up to $20,000.
Water: $19.99 annual fee, 4% cash back (eligible merchants listed in the next section). Deposit APY is 1%, up to $20,000. Activation requirement: in the past 30 days, receive $1,500 in deposits and spend $500.
Air: $49.99 annual fee, 5% cash back (eligible merchants listed in the next section). Deposit APY is 2%, up to $20,000. Activation requirement: in the past 30 days, receive $3,000 in deposits and spend $1,000.
Fire: $199.99 annual fee, 6% cash back (eligible merchants listed in the next section). Deposit APY is 3%, up to $20,000. Activation requirement: in the past 30 days, receive $6,000 in deposits and spend $2,000.
If you meet the activation requirement for your tier for 12 consecutive months while holding that tier, you can keep it the following year without paying the annual fee. Otherwise, you must either pay the annual fee or drop to a lower tier. Special promotion: if you met the activation requirement in November and December 2021, you could upgrade to the corresponding tier with a $0 annual fee.
Cash Back Offers
Oxygen offers cash back on debit card purchases. Before each use, you need to activate the boosted cash back offer for the relevant category. Each boosted cash back transaction is capped at $5 back. After using a category once, there is a cooldown period before you can use it again, similar to Cash App and Albert Bank. The cash back rate depends on your account tier, as described above. The only exception is the Fast Food and Coffee category, which gives a flat $1 back each time regardless of tier. Current participating merchants/categories include:
- Usable once per day: Gaming, Gas, Meal Delivery, Pharmacies, RideShare and Transportation, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, The Container Store, USPS, Fedex and UPS
- Usable once every 5 days: Walmart
In the author's view, Oxygen's merchants are slightly more numerous and better than those from Cash App and Alber Bank. Walmart and USPS are especially worth paying attention to.
Below are some screenshots to give you a rough idea. (These are older screenshots; the 7% rate is no longer available, and the current maximum is 6% for the Fire tier.)
- Trader Joe’s: 7% cash back, up to $7 back, $3 minimum purchase, usable once every 4 hours, valid for 90 days.
- Walmart: 7% cash back, up to $10 back, $5 minimum purchase, usable once every 12 hours, valid for 60 days.
Overall, there is some small upside here from the cash back offers. These offers must be activated manually, and you can only use one offer at a time. You can also stack them with debit-card-linked cash back apps such as Dosh. After using the same offer, you must wait 1 day, or 5 days for Walmart, before using it again.
Oxygen Identity Verification
Oxygen uses the database under the USA PATRIOT Act. If your information does not match the data in that database, your application will be denied. Customer service generally cannot help except to correct a potential typo. There are three ways to contact customer service: In-App Email, Email, and phone. In most cases, approval is instant, but if you have just moved and your ZIP Code and address changed significantly, an instant denial is indeed possible.
In addition, if your identity (SSN) has been stolen, you may also see a message saying an account already exists. For example, KUKU found that even the classic 0-1 SSN had apparently already been used to open this checking account.
Debit Card and Virtual Debit Card
The Oxygen Bank debit card has a pretty distinctive design. The card is vertical, and the card number is also arranged in 4 rows of 4 digits each. It also supports contactless payments.
Oxygen Bank also supports virtual debit cards. You can create one-time-use or multi-use virtual cards and set spending limits and expiration dates.
Unfortunately, this card does not support Apple Pay; otherwise completing 5 purchases would be very easy.
Account Management
Oxygen supports linking your other accounts through Plaid to manage spending records and money flows. This functionality is somewhat similar to Personal Capital and Mint.
Summary
Besides waiving various fees, the biggest highlight of this account is the debit card cash back. Supported merchants include pharmacies (CVS,Walgreen), meal delivery (DoorDash, Uber Eats), and Walmart, which is pretty solid. From time to time there are also DD promotions offering a $200/$300 bonus, although each account can only receive such a bonus once.
Application Link
- Request a referral code: send an email to [email protected] with the subject line "Oxygen referral".