Cards with Multiplier Bonus

[VanderSnoot]

I've been following the BB&T SP threads and was intrigued by their Cash Rewards card because it offers 3%/2%/1% categories plus 10% bonus if the cash is deposited into a BB&T account. Are there other card systems that offer a multiplier/bonus?

[Anonymous]

3/2/1 is pretty common, BoA has their cash back card, a lot of credit unions offer 3/2/1 cards like my More Rewards from NFCU, and there are even a number of 3/3/3/1 cards too. 

I have seen the extra 10% awards on a few cards. HSBC gives you 10% bonus rewards each year, for example. It’s not really compelling enough on the cards I have seen it on to make it worth the app (although if I could get a BBT card I would just because it’s an SP). 

[simplynoir]

BofA and their Preferred Rewards program come to mind. Does require a nice sum of money to really take advantage of it though.

[VanderSnoot]

I guess it's unrealistic to hope that Chase or Amex will do the same? Sigh....

[Andypanda]

Some wf card gave bonuses (10/25/50) if you have a banking relationship with them, a d how much in deposits.

[coldfusion]

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@simplynoir wrote:

BofA and their Preferred Rewards program come to mind. Does require a nice sum of money to really take advantage of it though.

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I thought I recently read that they've nerfed the related program where cardholders with less than $20K in  checking/savings deposits received a 10% multiplier.

[coldfusion]

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@VanderSnoot wrote:

I guess it's unrealistic to hope that Chase or Amex will do the same? Sigh....

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Chase CSP/CSR do have a multiplier of 1.25x/1.5x UR when applied toward travel through the Chase-sanctioned portal. 

[wasCB14]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@VanderSnoot wrote:

I guess it's unrealistic to hope that Chase or Amex will do the same? Sigh....

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Chase CSP/CSR do have a multiplier of 1.25x/1.5x UR when applied toward travel through the Chase-sanctioned portal. 

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Chase used to offer extra points on Freedom for checking customers, but they ended that a few years ago. CSP had some similar feature for a while, but I don't recall if it required a checking account.

Amex offers an asset-based "loyalty credit" on Schwab Platinum, but it's pretty trivial compared to BofA Preferred Rewards for cash back-focused people. ($100 per year for $250k, $200 per year for $1M.)

*And not long ago, Citi gave customers extra TY points on CCs for being in the Priority/Gold/whatever checking/savings/investment tiers. I don't know if it's still going on.

[Anonymous]

Ok, this might not make sense to everyone but, here it goes!

So, instead of focusinng on the micro % of a % back on your CC charges why not focus on the real value of a higher APY on your checking or savings accounts?

For example... 50K balance in checking/savings 2.5% APY monthly is $104/mo or  $1250/yr

Now to do those sorts of numbers on your CC monthly or annually how much would you have to be spending to make that?  

For instance with your best option at 6% on a BCP that's going to take a couple of grand in groceries per month to get close.  10% of very little is even littler.   Rules to live by if you want to make the most of it.... PIF, Don't "bank" where you CC....01%-0.10% doesn't make you enough $$$ to make a difference.  Sure sometimes there may be a convenience to open a C/S account with the same bank just for redemption puposes instead of needing to hit a threshold but, not for the sake of the pennies they're going to "bonus" on your spend.

ETA: looks like there's even a couple of places offering 4% APY on balances up to 50K these days. 

https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/tab-bank.html (nationwide)

https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/greater-nevada-credit-union.html (NV only)

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ok, this might not make sense to everyone but, here it goes!

So, instead of focusinng on the micro % of a % back on your CC charges why not focus on the real value of a higher APY on your checking or savings accounts?

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I certainly agree with your general point that a little extra in CC rewards doesn't make up for earning next to nothing on a large cash balance.

However, a lot of these programs include customer assets other than cash, such as retirement accounts and investments, so it's possible to have some of the higher-tier benefits with relatively little cash actually in the account earning a low yield.