Bank of the West cash back Mastercard thoughts?

fliphusker · ‎12-21-2016

After Sallie Mae gutted their card I am searching for a new one for groceries. While I was searching another poster mentioned the Bank of the West card so I looked it up and it would be a great fit for me.

3% cash back on groceries, dining and gas purchases

I do not spend much on groceries, only average around $225/month, and I do have the Chase Freedom with its 5% revolving categories. But the 3% dining sounds awesome and beats my Citi.

I just have not seen where they pull from or what the general credit score is needed for it.

happypill · ‎12-21-2016

Looks pretty solid. Seems to have the exact same rewards structure as the Golden 1 Reward card which is pretty good but limited geographically. They seem to have a similar service area as well. No clue on underwriting standards for Bank of the West; Golden 1 is pretty strict.

celluloid17 · ‎12-21-2016

Thank you for posting this! I am definitely in their banking region and this may be the perfect card for me to replace Sallie Mae with.

longtimelurker · ‎12-21-2016

As has been mentioned in other threads, 3% on categories is not a whole lot more than 2%, unless you spend a lot . This card doesn't seem to have a bonus, so compare your spend in the categories to see if the extra rewards over a 2% card would exceed another card with a decent sign up bonus, e.g. so to beat a $200 sign up, you need to spend $20K in these categories (wiith gas capped at $1,500 per quarter)

fliphusker · ‎12-21-2016

While I understand your logic behind going for a card with a signup bonus, that degrades over time and gets worse and worse. What I have right now. Citi Double cash back, Chase Freedom, Discover, Sallie Mae and a hardly used Cap 1. I take advantage of my Chase for groceries and for dining when their categories hit. I do not spend enough to go after the great rewards of the BCP. I am not aware of any other card that gives out 2% for all and a signup bonus of let's say $200. $4k spending for five years is the break even point between a 2% and $200 signup bonus and 3%, like Bank of the West, which is basically your example. Is it wrong to look at CC in the long term like that?

longtimelurker · ‎12-21-2016

@fliphusker wrote:
While I understand your logic behind going for a card with a signup bonus, that degrades over time and gets worse and worse. What I have right now. Citi Double cash back, Chase Freedom, Discover, Sallie Mae and a hardly used Cap 1. I take advantage of my Chase for groceries and for dining when their categories hit. I do not spend enough to go after the great rewards of the BCP. I am not aware of any other card that gives out 2% for all and a signup bonus of let's say $200. $4k spending for five years is the break even point between a 2% and $200 signup bonus and 3%, like Bank of the West, which is basically your example. Is it wrong to look at CC in the long term like that?

It's not wrong particularly, it's just that the cc environment is very dynamic, so long term plans may not make a whole lot of sense: new cards come along, and others get nerfed. It also depends how willing (and able) you are to acquire new cards. So you can certainly get the Bank of the West AND a card with a sign up bonus

Re 2% cards with a $200 sign up, that wasn't what I meant. You already have the DC, which is yorur 2%, so if the choice was getting exactly one more card, then you choose between a small incremental reward on some categories, or a one-time bonus;

NRB525 · ‎12-21-2016

@happypill wrote:
Looks pretty solid. Seems to have the exact same rewards structure as the Golden 1 Reward card which is pretty good but limited geographically. They seem to have a similar service area as well. No clue on underwriting standards for Bank of the West; Golden 1 is pretty strict.

If I recall from others comments, the Golden1 "Restaurants" category leaves out one side, either fast food or restaurants. So the 3% "dining" does not apply everywhere.

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csryang · ‎12-22-2016

@NRB525 wrote:
@happypill wrote:
Looks pretty solid. Seems to have the exact same rewards structure as the Golden 1 Reward card which is pretty good but limited geographically. They seem to have a similar service area as well. No clue on underwriting standards for Bank of the West; Golden 1 is pretty strict.
If I recall from others comments, the Golden1 "Restaurants" category leaves out one side, either fast food or restaurants. So the 3% "dining" does not apply everywhere.

You are right. I just researched it. Please see my previous post on it. I did a comparison on some commmon 3X credit cards.

Anonymous · ‎12-22-2016

3% all the time groceries? That's way better than hoarding gift cards in the Chase Freedom quarter. I tend to hand some of those out to the kids or favors so I lose lol.

Anonymous · ‎12-22-2016

Charts are one thing, and they are correct, but it is not as good as pretending all of your accounts got closed and this new card you are considering is heavy lifting almost all spend category or not. 1.5 to 2% is not significant for me, but a category I didn't take advantage of all along is worth it.