Meet Sequin: The Debit Card that Earns Women up to 6% Cashback⁺

Sequin is the first debit card designed to reward women with up to 6% cashback⁺ where we spend — on beauty, drugstores, gyms, salons, 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).

Women control 85% of U.S. spending, yet debit cards have never been designed to intentionally reward women’s spending. That stops with Sequin.

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.

In addition to stories about how costly it is to live in a man’s world, I heard so many of you express high levels of anxiety about personal finances, especially credit card debt. Mira, 25, Brooklyn, shared how she opened up an Ulta credit card in college and how a significant portion of her paychecks are being spent paying off $10,000 in credit card debt (with a 32.24% APR — yikes).

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 both 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.

In addition to Visa's Zero Liability Policy that you should expect from all high-quality Visa cards, The Sequin Rewards Visa® Debit Card offers the following:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 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).