US Bank Cash + Restaurants category downgraded to 2% next quarter...

[wiivile]

^ Exactly. I feel bait-and-switched. It's things like this that make me afraid to sign up for new credit cards.

[mongstradamus]

I know its not an popular sentiment here, but US bank has been known to do this so i am not surprised in the least that it happened. Credit cards in general are known to nerf rewards and the such. I know its not exactly same example but Chase did some nerfing when they nerfed the 7% annual div or whatever for freedom. 

[longtimelurker]

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@celluloid17 wrote:

This card really has been nerfed to death.  Look at these original 5% categories (choosing just two 5% options would have been really difficult):

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And the real nerf was going from uncapped to capped.  Prior to that, things like bill pay were real money savers.

[celluloid17]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@celluloid17 wrote:

This card really has been nerfed to death.  Look at these original 5% categories (choosing just two 5% options would have been really difficult):

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And the real nerf was going from uncapped to capped.  Prior to that, things like bill pay were real money savers.

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That too!...and the checking account bonus seemed to also sweeten the pot when you consider that you're automatically eligible for their Gold Checking without any fees or minimums when you have one of their credit products.  You could have had a checking account with only a $1 balance and been reaping the extra rewards.  Alas, too good to be true...for long!

[wiivile]

CSP getting rid of the 7% annual dividend is nothing compared to the nerfs this card has experienced... CSP's real vulnerability when it comes to nerfs is the airlines devaluing their award charts, which isn't chase's fault

[Brax]

I knew this was coming someday, as Cash+ is the only card still attainable with a 5% restaurant category.
 
Restaurants pay some the highest merchant swipe fees in the industry, often > 2% for Visa Signatures. This had given me false hope that the Restaurants category would stay untouched for at least a while. Guess not.
 
Seems like this card continues to be unprofitable for US Bank, since they continue to nerf categories and will probably continue to do so in 2015. When they replaced Hotels with Gym/Fitness Centers it really showed they are transitioning over to low-spend categories.

Sadly I think Electronic stores will be nerfed next, then maybe Bookstores (but luckily plenty of other options for Amazon). I don't see Cell Phone going away as $100-300/month on that is still low-spend.

[longtimelurker]

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@Brax wrote:

I knew this was coming someday, as Cash+ is the only card still attainable with a 5% restaurant category.
 
Restaurants pay some the highest merchant swipe fees in the industry, often > 2% for Visa Signatures. This had given me false hope that the Restaurants category would stay untouched for at least a while. Guess not.
 
Seems like this card continues to be unprofitable for US Bank, since they continue to nerf categories and will probably continue to do so in 2015. When they replaced Hotels with Gym/Fitness Centers it really showed they are transitioning over to low-spend categories.

Sadly I think Electronic stores will be nerfed next, then maybe Bookstores (but luckily plenty of other options for Amazon). I don't see Cell Phone going away as $100-300/month on that is still low-spend.

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Once they capped, I thought the need to nerf would be a lot less, but I guess they still want to stop 5% spending as much as they can.  I'm surprised they don't also go to $1,500 per quarter to match Freedom and Discover

[wiivile]

Exactly, I thought the cap was their big nerf - it doesn't matter what the 5% category was, the most "damage" you could do in a quarter is $2,000 spend. I was fine with that tradeoff - it let you use the card to reward you for your lifestyle, within reason. The cap made it hard to 'abuse'. Now it seems they only want to put categories where the average user will have big problems meeting that $2,000 limit. e.g., who spends $2000 a quarter on clothes? Cell phones? Gym memberships? Lame.

The Freedom and Discover categories don't give choices, but at least they are 5% categories that people can really max out the categories... gas, groceries, restaurants, online shopping...

[takeshi74]

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@wiivile wrote:

I feel bait-and-switched. It's things like this that make me afraid to sign up for new credit cards.

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Terms can change per the agreement so there's no bait and switch.  Don't rely just on advertising and read and understand your terms.  Don't assume that anything -- not just rewards -- will be offered indefinitely.

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@wiivile wrote:

Now it seems they only want to put categories where the average user will have big problems meeting that $2,000 limit. e.g., who spends $2000 a quarter on clothes? Cell phones? Gym memberships? Lame.

The Freedom and Discover categories don't give choices, but at least they are 5% categories that people can really max out the categories... gas, groceries, restaurants, online shopping...

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Spend varies from person to person.  You can't just assume that categories you'd max out are categories that everyone would max out (as well as the opposite).

[Involver]

Will post a redacted screen cap of the 9% when I get to work.