No, you do not. FirstRoot debit cards are NOT ordinary debit cards like those issued for your personal bank account. Instead, FirstRoot debit cards are "Corporate Debit Cards."
When you sign up for a FirstRoot Debit card, we only need your name, shipping address, email, and phone number. That's it! We do NOT ask you to reveal your SSN or existing card info, and we do not perform credit checks.
How is this possible? When raising funds for your PB Cycle through FirstRoot, that money is sent to FirstRoot's bank account and earmarked for your PB Cycle. Though the money is earmarked for your PB Cycle, the money "belongs to" FirstRoot from an accounting perspective.
When you access the budget on behalf of your students through the FirstRoot debit card, your purchases become business expenses for FirstRoot. They do not impact income/expense reporting for yourself or your school.
Think of yourself as a volunteer, purchasing goods and services for your students on behalf of FirstRoot.
One place to collect all of your contributions - PB Cycle Budgets are often the result of many different contributions from various contributors. The FirstRoot Debit card gives educators a simple way to aggregate these contributions in a single place.
Simple Separation from Institutional (the School's) and Personal (the Educator/Administrator's) Assets - All funds for the PB Cycle remain separated from any existing institutional and/or personal accounts. This helps ensure transparency with donors and students.
Open Ledger (Roadmap) - In time, all transactions performed through a FirstRoot Debit card will be made visible to students within the PB Cycle, promoting financial literacy, trust, and confidence in the student body.
FirstRoot Debit Cards work like any other "credit card" you've used in the past. Your ability to perform online and in-person purchases are only restricted by which card type you request, "virtual-only" or "physical/virtual" (see Card Types below).
FirstRoot debit cards cannot be used to access cash. They will not work in ATMs or Cashback scenarios at local stores.
Who Issues FirstRoot Debit Cards? Which bank do you use?
FirstRoot has partnered with "Chek" to provide debit cards to our educators and clients. For more information on their services, visit their website
https://chekspend.com/