United Debit Card
I picked up the United MileagePlus Debit Rewards card from Sunrise Bank several weeks ago for a few specific reasons. To be clear, the United debit card isn’t particularly special.  But for individuals like me who refuse to bow to Chase’s draconian rule, it’s probably the best alternative to a United credit card for certain endeavors. But now, I’m done using the United debit card for the foreseeable future. It happened almost as quickly as I signed up for it, yet I have no regrets.
United Debit Card Issues
Putting It In
Adding funds to my United debit card account was more challenging than even my low expectations. The card FAQ document mentions the following “top financial institutions” to link to my card account:
- Chase (of course)
- Bank of America
- Citi
- Wells Fargo
- US Bank
- PNC
- Truist
- Capital One
- TD
- BMO
- Citizens
- Charles Schwab
- State Street
That’s 13 solid options Sunrise Bank endorses. I have accounts with a few banks from that list, and linking was fairly straightforward with those. But for more flexibility, I wanted to add accounts from other institutions – large banks to smaller credit unions. I was unable to link the United debit card account to the majority of these entities’ websites. These unsuccessful attempts resulted in errors and/or Sunrise Bank not even being recognized.
I know what some of you are thinking. Why not just link these institutions on the United debit card side? Unfortunately, an account linked this way is limited to $750 in transfers over a rolling 30-day period. That’s relatively useless for what I was trying to accomplish.
So placing funds in the account was fairly inconvenient for me. But over time, I was able to shift the necessary funds to the United debit card for my planned activities. That’s only half the story, though.
Taking It Out
My first couple purchases, a few thousand dollars each a week or so apart, processed without issue. I then attempted to use the card a bit more frequently, maybe once or twice every few days. That’s when the fraud alerts started – not that I knew that at the time.
My card was declined a few times. I received no notifications from Sunrise Bank. After logging into my account, I saw no signs of anything amiss. I called the Sunrise Bank number on the back of the card to see what was going on. After validating my information, the rep advised of potentially fraudulent transactions. We stepped through the purchase attempts, where I verified each as a legitimate one which I made. All good, right? No.
The rep then advised I needed to discuss the matter with the “higher service department” in order to have the card unlocked for use. Of course, that department wasn’t open by the time I called (around 7 pm ET). The next day, I basically had to start the process over. It’s like the previous call didn’t happen. In order to be connected with the higher service department, I went through the same potentially-fraudulent charges again before being connected to a rep who could actually help. I was on hold for almost 30 minutes waiting for this agent. We reviewed some of the same card use information yet again and the rep unlocked my card.
Back Up and Running, Sort Of
I subsequently made another purchase at a similar level of my first couple which processed fine. A day or so later, the fraud alerts started happening again, and I talked to Sunrise reps at varying levels like before. This alternating pattern continued – a successful purchase, fraud lock, call, unlock, repeat.
I got past the $10k spend threshold, the primary thing that mattered to me. Indeed, that’s where United debit cardholders can obtain higher mileage earning rates (which I wanted for my United Travel Bank use) and discounted award pricing. I zeroed out my United debit card account and have no plans to use the card in any meaningful way for the foreseeable future.
Along the way, the higher service department shared a few useful, or at least noteworthy, items. Sunrise limits United debit card use to $7.5k in total purchases daily. I asked if that was per day or rolling 24 hours, and the rep didn’t know. She offered to look, but I respectfully declined. Over those several days, I had been on the horn with them long enough. Besides, I wasn’t near that number and had still been declined. Eventually, a rep offered that Sunrise Bank was aware of widespread fraud alerts with the United debit card and was working on a fix.
Conclusion
But I’m not actively hanging around to see what that solution is. I’m sock-drawering this thing as the above benefits no longer require me to spend more with it. I imagine I’ll go back to using the card when I need to requalify for those perks – some time next year, I presume. But it’ll be collecting sock fuzz until then.
Our points and travel hobby is a very giving, fun one. But every now and then, we need to hold our noses to get what we want. I’m alright selectively embracing that grind. On the flip side, I know some individuals who’ve had no issues actively using their United debit cards.
How has your experience been with the United debit card?
