Is the Plutus really any better than other debit cards or is it just hype?

I have been earning and investing in crypto since 2017 after hearing about Ethereum’s ICO. Since then, I have been looking at different ways to mix my everyday spending with my ETH and crypto holdings, beginning with Monolith before moving to CDC and then subsequently, Plutus.

I joined Monolith [I wonder if anybody else actually remembers or used them?] because I liked the idea of it being non-custodial and utilising the Ethereum network which I had grown to love. The tokenomics were not great (a community burn pool if I remember correctly) and there was no cashback, but it used DAI and allowed fiat onboarding in a way I had not seen other than using an exchange.

A few months/years later, I heard of the growing demand for CDC around 2020, and I was now a full on DeFi degen with a Uniswap airdrop bag and whatever else, much more comfortable fomo’ing into projects etc. Around this time, CDC were forcing their users to turn MCO into CRO and I used this moment of selling and anger with their users to establish a stake to my liking so that I could get a cashback card. This was an obvious move as it allowed me to earn cashback but with the drawback that I no longer had custody of my coins, I was using an exchange with quite a spread, and I was locked in for 6 months. Alas, the cashback was exactly what I wanted and the token itself grew alongside the huge marketing campaigns.

Around 9 months ago (August 2021) I then read about Plutus when researching other alternatives (UK user who did not have access to the same products such as Swipe) however Plutus caught my attention more when I saw that they were advertising a survey for their Rewards & Accounts 2.0. They were asking the community what subscriptions, staking options and rewards were wanted and what seemed to be on offer was extremely lucrative. I started building a position and joined the Discord, where, as far as I could tell, there was a much smaller community who were working extremely hard to build a decent competitor in the crypto cashback/fintech market. The icing on the cake for me was the ability to keep custody of my coins in my own wallet whilst also contributing to a ‘staking’ level, simply by holding. This is where I have settled for now. I have noticed that there are concerns with new CDC users as they arrive: they are looking at the 3% cashback for new users and they are concerned that it is too generous and therefore unsustainable. Many argue that as Plutus grows, it could make changes to its rewards much like CDC did.

I have checked out Nexo however it is a lower cashback 2% and therefore not as lucrative to me. I have also checked out Wirex, but again, the subscription fee of £29.99 per month still only gives me 2% on transactions.

Am I missing another option? Is the Plutus card really the best option when it comes to the ethos of self-custody and avoiding ponzinomics of crazy APY staking pools? Am I looking at Plutus through rose-tinted glasses?

I would love to have a discussion about your thoughts on the project and how it compares to other competitors you use or know.