There are a lot of fintech startups in the U.S., and when they launch a new product, they often promote it with a waitlist. Most of the time, those launches fizzle out, and all you really did was hand over your email address and data. We’ve previously covered two relatively credible ones, mainly because they were virtual cards already issued in Europe:
- An Introduction to the UK’s Curve (Planning to Launch in the U.S.; waitlist opened in June)
- Virtual Credit Card Revolut Now Offers a Shopping Portal (No waitlist required; already live)
The TreeCard featured in this post is especially creative. Even if there’s a good chance we’re just giving away our data for nothing, I still signed up. That’s because it’s a card made entirely of wood except for the chip, and each card’s wood grain is unique. In other words, your card would truly be one of a kind. The waitlist is already huge, at 3w+. The official site says the card will launch in 2021 (but don’t get your hopes up too much).
- Join the TreeCard waitlist
- This is our referral link. It says there’s a mystery reward — maybe it just means they’ll plant a few extra trees for us.
[Update: Thanks to readers signing up, the mystery reward has been revealed! It really is one tree.]
As for me, the rest of the card’s features are just standard U.S. debit card stuff: various fees waived, $250,000 insurance, etc. (see the official site for details). So KUKU won’t go into them here, since there’s nothing especially noteworthy from a rewards angle.
TreeCard says 80% of interchange fees will go toward planting trees, kind of like Ant Forest. If you’re environmentally minded, or if you prefer using a single debit card for everything, this card could be a good fit.
Personally, I think the only real highlight is this: a wooden card face that looks cool. This kind of idea is much more appealing than most other startup products, so thumbs up for the creativity.
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