Visa

How the Direct Rewards Program works:

The Direct Rewards program earns you points each time you use your new Direct Rewards Platinum Visa card for purchases.

You earn three points for every dollar spent using the new Visa card at gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores.
You earn one point for every dollar spent using the new card for any other purchases.
100 Points = $1 Cash Back
You’ll have opportunities to earn bonus points throughout the year. See your Direct Rewards Platinum Visa statement for more information on this promotion.
Total points earned are reported each month on your Direct Rewards Platinum Visa statement.
You can earn up to 100,000 points each year.
Your points never expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.

And the best part is:

When your birthday comes around each year (beginning with birthdays in November 2007), we send you a check equal to 1% of your total points. If you earn 10,000 points, you'll get a check for $100. If you earn 30,000 points, you'll get a check for $300 and so forth. So, go and buy yourself something special. After all, it’s your birthday.

The more you use this card, the more points you earn and the bigger the check you see at your birthday.

Some details include:

A minimum of 5,000 points needs to be earned to receive a Direct Rewards birthday check. Remember, every Direct Rewards Platinum Visa purchase you make earns you points.
Earned points cannot be redeemed if your Direct Federal account has been closed or is not in good standing.
Once your points have been redeemed, they cannot be converted back into points.