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@800wannabe420 wrote:
RBFCU belongs in the MasterCard column...
Done!
@Aim_High wrote:
@JNA1 wrote:
@TheFIGuy wrote:
@spiritcraft1 wrote:Thanks for compliling this, pretty cool. It could be turned into a master thread with who they pull, geofenced or not etc. Thanks again.
Yeah, that would be EPIC!! Way above my paygrade but I'm sure someone with more experience can do it.
Looked into FNBO and I'm out of their "geofence" in the USA, CA.
@Aim_Highhas extensively researched the 2% cards and he could definitely shed some light on it.
Thanks for the tag, @JNA1. I have read and looked up a lot about the 2%+ cards and have thought about starting a reference thread. It just seemed to be a LOT of work and there were many details I either didn't know or couldn't find easily without trying out all the cards myself! A little too much for one person. Lol
Looking over this list, there were a couple I had missed, the Fifth-Third Preferred Cash Back and the Sofi Mastercard. I think these might be newer options since I made my original list last year?
Besides the other ones that have been added, I know of three others that have been missed:
- Key Bank Cashback card, similar to the BBVA card that pays 1.5% but ups it to 2% with some banking requirements.
- Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU) Founder's Cashback Visa
- Signature FCU Visa Signature
There are also a couple of cards that pay 2% or better which are not available for new applications that some of our members are still carrying:
- USAA Limitless Cashback pays 2.5% with no AF for USAA banking customers, grandfathered-in.
- FNBO had a previous 2% card before the Cashback Rewards. The current Cashback Rewards requires no banking relationship. The previous FNBO Complete Rewards required banking accounts to earn the full 2%, similar to some other banking programs.
Cash Back Rewards Complete Rewards
As for the geofence question, just about every one of the 2% to 3% cards have some quirks and stipulations, whether it is geofencing, deposit requirements, minimum redemption values, limited redemption options to get full value, Annual Fees, caps on earnings, rewards expirations, or a combination of these and other things. Basically, it pays to do your homework on the fine print on any of these cards. Still, they all offer the opportunity for some exceptional value over cashback earnings on lesser cards.
Shameless plug here, but most of you know I believe the PenFed Power Cash Rewards is the generally-best 2% card and I also love my AOD FCU Visa that pays the 3% cash back. To me, these cards offer the best combination of simple no-hassle rules, low fees and interest rates, and good customer service. Disclosure: As a veteran I don't need to maintain banking to get the 2% on the PCR; however, I choose to do so since PenFed has great banking rates. With the My Fico loopholes for AOD, both cards are also available to all our community whereas some of the other 2% cards are strictly geofenced.
As far as I know, FNBO is geofenced to the general midwest, but I don't know the entire region. They are available to me in Texas. Wikipedia says they offer products in Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, and Illinois. As with most banks, you can find out if you're eligible for their products by typing in your address for application on their website.
I have no experience with the PCR (though I do believe it's a really good card - and I'll probably end with one down the road), but I have grown to like my PPMC a lot more now than I did when I originally got it. Now that it has instant email purchase alerts and is a contactless card, I like it better than I initially did. I like that I can transfer cash to my bank account with no minimum redemption. I also like that the CL has almost tripled in a year.
My AOD card my favorite non-category card now though. I have complaints about it whatsoever and customer service through AOD has been great.
They seem to have taken it off their website list though it is still available to apply for once you get into their CU application process.
Synchrony Premier Mastercard is a 2% card. Invite only for the time being. I could have sworn the application was open to all back in november.
Synchrony Premier Mastercard | Synchrony Bank
Also, OP I think you were on to something. Nearly all of the "Big Bank" cards are Mastercard.
Key Bank, Sync Premier, Paypal/Sync, Sofi/Bank of Missouri, Fifth Third Preferred, Citi DC, even the Citizens 1.8% is a MC.
The trend seems to be that big banks choose Mastercard for their 2% card. Credit Unions choose Visa for their 2% and above cards. Suggest Visa is friendly to the credit unions, but a little tougher on the big banks.
@Credit12Fico wrote:Synchrony Premier Mastercard is a 2% card. Invite only for the time being. I could have sworn the application was open to all back in november.
Synchrony Premier Mastercard | Synchrony Bank
Also, OP I think you were on to something. Nearly all of the "Big Bank" cards are Mastercard.
Key Bank, Sync Premier, Paypal/Sync, Sofi/Bank of Missouri, Fifth Third Preferred, Citi DC, even the Citizens 1.8% is a MC.
The trend seems to be that big banks choose Mastercard for their 2% card. Credit Unions choose Visa for their 2% and above cards. Suggest Visa is friendly to the credit unions, but a little tougher on the big banks.
Sign up on the wait list to get a Synchrony 2% card??
The other interesting thing is that the 2% Mastercard Bank cards tend to come as Mastercard "Basic" or limited benefit World Elite cards while the Visa's are all exclusively Visa Signature benefits.
Sync Premier, Paypal 2%, Key 2%, Citizens 1.8% are all mastercard "basic". Citi 2% is a fake World Elite card. Sofi has limited W/E benefits. The 5/3rd preferred card is only for Fifth third preferred members with $100,000+ in assets held at fifth third so it's paying for itself when you consider interest rates at a bank like 5/3.
@Credit12Fico wrote:The other interesting thing is that the 2% Mastercard Bank cards tend to come as Mastercard "Basic" or limited benefit World Elite cards while the Visa's are all exclusively Visa Signature benefits.
Sync Premier, Paypal 2%, Key 2%, Citizens 1.8% are all mastercard "basic". Citi 2% is a fake World Elite card. Sofi has limited W/E benefits. The 5/3rd preferred card is only for Fifth third preferred members with $100,000+ in assets held at fifth third so it's paying for itself when you consider interest rates at a bank like 5/3.
Didn't Paypal start issuing WEMC recently (about the same time as the redesign?) I still have basic but thought others got the WEMC.
Also, my Citizens is a World.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Credit12Fico wrote:The other interesting thing is that the 2% Mastercard Bank cards tend to come as Mastercard "Basic" or limited benefit World Elite cards while the Visa's are all exclusively Visa Signature benefits.
Sync Premier, Paypal 2%, Key 2%, Citizens 1.8% are all mastercard "basic". Citi 2% is a fake World Elite card. Sofi has limited W/E benefits. The 5/3rd preferred card is only for Fifth third preferred members with $100,000+ in assets held at fifth third so it's paying for itself when you consider interest rates at a bank like 5/3.
Didn't Paypal start issuing WEMC recently (about the same time as the redesign?) I still have basic but thought others got the WEMC.
Also, my Citizens is a World.
Paypal gave some, but not all, cardholders "World" benefits.I think it's just cell phone protection.
Sofi is "World elite" but the only thing it gives is cell phone protection.
Citi DC is another fake world elite but does not have cell phone protection.
Key Bank is like Paypal. World card with cell phone protection.
Citizens World Card comes with the most Mastercard perks of all of these cards. It has the cell phone protection, trip protection, extended warranty, and rental insurance. However, it's a 1.8% card technically. That missing 0.2% probably broke the bank.
It seems as though as the big banks approach full flat rate 2%, they go with mastercards that a stripped of benefits. And if you are looking for a big bank 2% Visa, you can basically forget about it. Most all of the Visa flat rate big bank personal cards top out at 1.5%.
Whereas the credit union Visa Signatures come in 2% and even 3% flavors while carrying most all Visa Signature perks.
@longtimelurker wrote:
@Credit12Fico wrote:The other interesting thing is that the 2% Mastercard Bank cards tend to come as Mastercard "Basic" or limited benefit World Elite cards while the Visa's are all exclusively Visa Signature benefits.
Sync Premier, Paypal 2%, Key 2%, Citizens 1.8% are all mastercard "basic". Citi 2% is a fake World Elite card. Sofi has limited W/E benefits. The 5/3rd preferred card is only for Fifth third preferred members with $100,000+ in assets held at fifth third so it's paying for itself when you consider interest rates at a bank like 5/3.
Didn't Paypal start issuing WEMC recently (about the same time as the redesign?) I still have basic but thought others got the WEMC.
Also, my Citizens is a World.
The recent upgrades were WMC.