Is this a 3% card? Y12FCU Sig Visa

[ChargedUp]

Just browsing through some CU's and I came across this. It seems it's "up to 3% on every purchase."  Small print says "3% cash back requires Relationship Rewards membership and redemption for a new credit union product. " Of which, I can find no info. Seems gimmicky but I figured I'd let the experts here at MF make the call

It also seems geo-stuck to those living in Eastern TN.

https://y12fcu.org/credit-cards/visa-signature-rewards-card/

[Anonymalous]

Found this:

https://www.y12fcu.org/getmedia/32fe6ed5-21f9-4506-9464-1412720edfac/Loyalty-Rewards-flyer-8-5-21_1....

"Our loyal card members will automatically earn points for every dollar spent with Loyalty Card Rewards. There are no eligibility requirements for Loyalty Card Rewards. You will earn 1.5% for all purchases when you use your VISA Signature Credit Card, or 2%2 when combined with Loyalty Relationship Rewards."

(That seemingly out of place 2 is a footnote: "Credit card bonus points: Points for 0.50% of purchases are posted at beginning of the following month when you meet the Loyalty Relationship Rewards criteria.")

So it looks like it's normally a 1.5% card, or 2%, if you meet the criteria. Which aren't trivial:

"Checking account with direct deposit & $45,000 or more in combined loan and deposit balances. OR Checking account with direct deposit & 45 or more monthly combined card transactions.."

While they don't explicitly say it, it sounds like the 3% is a holiday promo. I know other credit unions are running similar deals -- American Heritage CU's Cash Rewards, for instance, is a 3% card until 1/31/22. Others are adding 3% categories to 2% cards, and so on.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymalous wrote:

Found this:

https://www.y12fcu.org/getmedia/32fe6ed5-21f9-4506-9464-1412720edfac/Loyalty-Rewards-flyer-8-5-21_1....

"Our loyal card members will automatically earn points for every dollar spent with Loyalty Card Rewards. There are no eligibility requirements for Loyalty Card Rewards. You will earn 1.5% for all purchases when you use your VISA Signature Credit Card, or 2%2 when combined with Loyalty Relationship Rewards."

(That seemingly out of place 2 is a footnote: "Credit card bonus points: Points for 0.50% of purchases are posted at beginning of the following month when you meet the Loyalty Relationship Rewards criteria.")

So it looks like it's normally a 1.5% card, or 2%, if you meet the criteria. Which aren't trivial:

"Checking account with direct deposit & $45,000 or more in combined loan and deposit balances. OR Checking account with direct deposit & 45 or more monthly combined card transactions.."

While they don't explicitly say it, it sounds like the 3% is a holiday promo. I know other credit unions are running similar deals -- American Heritage CU's Cash Rewards, for instance, is a 3% card until 1/31/22. Others are adding 3% categories to 2% cards, and so on.

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I ran into a similar thing chasing IRA CD rates, there was a bank with very good rates.   But it turned out it used similar "relationship" points.   Base rate was OK but nothing special, but if you had a checking account, savings accounts (both with conditions) and a mortgage and an auto loan, then .......    So for those into one-stop shopping, guess it's apealling, but the higher rate is often going to be negated as the other products do not have the best available rates.

[rostrow416]

One of my CUs (Purdue FCU) has a tiered points system where you can "earn" bonus Cashback on top of the standard rate.  They use the term "up to 2% cash back" with their Signature Visa (which is actually a 1.25% card) because you need to have a pretty full relationship with them to earn the points needed for the full Cashback (direct deposit, loans, number of transactions a month, several accounts open, years with them, etc).