Meet Sequin: The Debit Card that Earns Women up to 6% Cashback⁺
The Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card is the first debit card designed to earn women up to 6% cashback⁺ where we’re already spending — on beauty, drugstores, gyms, your local salon, and more, without subjecting us to costly high-interest credit card debt.
Today, I’m excited to announce that the Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card is live! Our mission at Sequin is to recognize women’s financial power and fight the absurd costs of womanhood — starting with the Pink Tax (estimated to cost us $2,381 more per year for the same goods and services as compared to men).
This timing feels especially historic, because only 50 years ago, women could be legally rejected from bank accounts and credit cards without a male co-signer.
The Driving Force Behind Sequin
I’m Vrinda Gupta, Co-founder and CEO at Sequin. Four years ago, I introduced the idea of a women’s credit card — after I’d been rejected from the credit card I helped build at Visa, the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The next morning, my inbox was flooded with your stories. Ruby, 22, who had just started her first job in San Francisco, shared her frustrations with beauty standards like haircuts, manicures, and waxes: “The guys on my team definitely don’t have to pay for those things — or spend hours at the salon after a long work day when I just want to binge Desperate Housewives.”
I heard multiple stories of similarly ambitious, young professional women exposing how the “floral-scented and pink” versions of skincare, bodywash, and deodorant cost more than the comparable men’s versions at their local CVS or other pharmacies.
I wasn’t surprised — research shows the Pink Tax costs the average woman $188,000 or more over her lifetime on purchases of necessary personal care products. This figure doesn’t even include period products (estimated to cost $9,000 over our lifetimes and still taxed as a luxury good in 21 states). Women also pay hundreds of thousands more in healthcare costs, whether it’s monthly pills, vitamins & supplements, or the hidden costs of a healthcare system designed for men.
What’s more, none of the above costs include the impacts of the gender wage gap, which causes a $1.6 trillion dollar hole in the U.S. economy every year.
A Debit Card By Women, For Women.
Mira isn’t alone in her fear of credit card debt, and for good reason — women pay more in credit card fees and have higher credit card interest rates. This, along with other factors, contributes to women like Ruby and Mira preferring to place most of their everyday spend on debit cards.
I saw myself in Ruby and Mira. I remember the exhilarating feeling of moving to a big city to start my first job. I remember the optimism in my ambitions of one day being a senior leader or gaining the confidence to start my own business. Most of all, I remember the thrill of my first paycheck.
I also remember how anxious I felt navigating my personal finances for the first time.
Your stories over the past four years inspired me to question both the status quo and what I set out to build. Instead of launching a credit card as our marquee product that could subject women to high-interest credit card debt, I wondered why my debit card didn’t earn rewards like the credit cards I had built at Visa.
As a woman equipped with the knowledge on how to build rewards cards, I decided it was time to act and build a debit card to fight the costs of womanhood — for the first time in U.S. history.
I took a look at Ruby and Mira’s Pink Tax spend in a typical month and calculated how much they could earn in cashback⁺ rewards with Sequin:
Case Study 1: Ruby, 22, Marketing Analyst in San Francisco
Case Study 2: Mira, 25, Operations, Brooklyn
Looking at both Ruby and Mira’s monthly spending on their debit cards, it’s surprising how quickly these self-care costs can add up to over $1000 per month — without earning meaningful rewards. However, if they moved their existing spending onto their Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Cards, they’d each be on track to earn over $60 in cashback⁺ rewards per month!
The beauty and personal care industry is expected to grow to $758 billion by 2032. At the same time, women control $10 trillion dollars in assets today, which is expected to triple over the next decade.
It’s time that we as a society started recognizing women’s financial power.
We’ve made this our mission at Sequin, with our card as its symbol.
The Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card was created for you, with you.
- Fight the Pink Tax: Up to 6% cashback⁺ on the costs of womanhood, including beauty, fitness, personal care, drugstores/pharmacies, your local spa/salon, and more — applicable to your entire purchase at merchants in the Pink Tax categories, not just on specific products.
- Banking Made for Women: Earn up to 3.56% APY† on your checking account balance, get access to credit tools³ to build credit and pay off debt, and say goodbye to costly overdraft fees with no overdraft capability.
- Education: Sequin courses and workshops³ go in-depth on money, credit, & wealth, and can aid women in building a side hustle or starting our own businesses.
I can’t wait to see our coral Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Cards in your hands — we chose coral because it complements all skin tones and is a refreshing departure from the black and blue cards we’re used to.
Additionally, I look forward to seeing your Money Mantras that you can customize on the front of your Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card. Affirmations, “Who Run the World”, or your favorite lyric from Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” welcome and encouraged!
My commitment to you.
Over the past four years, I’ve been asked countless times — what does it mean to design a card by and for women? The true difference is that, as women, we understand how spending can make us feel.
We are the women whose $10 trillion dollars in assets are expected to triple in the next decade.
At Sequin, our mission is to recognize and amplify our financial power as it continues to strengthen, grow, and evolve.
My commitment to you is to promise to hear you and let you know your voice matters in a financial system designed for men. We’ll continue to adapt our products and services to support your life’s dreams — starting with the Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card and checking account.
The best way to support our mission is to sign up for the Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card today at www.sequincard.com/launch! Tag us on IG @sequin_card when your card arrives and we’ll feature you on our socials! ❤
Please share this article with as many women in your life and encourage them to sign up too — that’s how our movement grows. Money is power. Let’s design a world where women have more of both.
All of my love,
Vrinda Gupta
Co-Founder & CEO of Sequin Financial, Inc.
If you’re interested in partnering with Sequin or covering our journey — please email us anytime at team@sequincard.com (it’ll go straight to my inbox).
Terms & Conditions
All genders welcome!
Sequin is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.
The Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used anywhere Visa cards are accepted. FDIC insurance is available for funds on deposit through Thread Bank, Member FDIC.
Your deposits qualify for up to a maximum of $3,000,000 in FDIC insurance coverage when placed at program banks in the Thread Bank deposit sweep program. Your deposits at each program bank become eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000, inclusive of any other deposits you may already hold at the bank in the same ownership capacity. You can access the terms and conditions of the sweep program at https://go.thread.bank/sweepdisclosure and a list of program banks at https://go.thread.bank/programbanks. Please contact customerservice@thread.bank with questions regarding the sweep program.
+ Terms and conditions apply to the cashback rewards program. See http://sequincard.com/rewards-terms for details. Cashback rewards earned will be credited to your account on the second day of the month. ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or cash equivalents, and account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cashback. Please refer to the Rewards Terms and Conditions for more details. No minimum opening deposit required to open a Sequin High-Interest Checking Account & $25 minimum opening deposit required for a Sequin Rewards Checking Account.
Earn cashback rewards at a rate of 6% on “Pink Tax Categories” in a calendar month in which you spend at least $500 on the Sequin Visa® Rewards Debit Card. If you make less than $500 in settled debit transactions on the Sequin Visa® Rewards Debit Card in a calendar month, you earn cashback rewards on debit transactions at a rate of 0.5% cashback on “Pink Tax Categories”.
§ We are not affiliated, associated, or endorsed by the brands we list on sequincard.com. All names, marks, emblems and images are registered trademarks of their respective owners. Any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the Sequin website (sequincard.com) and/or on any social media forum are the property of their respective trademark holders. We declare no affiliation, sponsorship, nor any partnerships with any registered trademarks.
† The interest rate on your account is 3.50% with an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 3.56% for a Sequin High-Interest Checking Account, and 1.00% with an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 1.01% for a Sequin Rewards Checking Account effective as of 01/04/2024. Rate is variable and is subject to change after account opening. Rate is compounded daily and credited monthly. No minimum deposit required to open a Sequin High-Interest Checking Account & $25 minimum deposit required for a Sequin Rewards Checking Account. Fees may reduce earnings.
³ Sequin University, Credit Tools, and Perks are not affiliated with Thread Bank. Sequin Member results are based on a 2022 study of 100 participants over a period of three weeks. Results may vary.
Content for Educational and Informational Purposes Only. Our Service is designed to provide you with a general overview regarding finance, credit, and investing. It is not designed to be a definitive finance guide or to take the place of advice from a qualified financial planner or other professional. Given the risk involved in investing of almost any kind, there is no guarantee that the investment methods suggested will be profitable. We will not assume liability of any kind for any losses that may be sustained as a result of applying the methods suggested through the Service, and any such liability is hereby expressly disclaimed.
