US Bank Smartly card: Officially Nerfed.

[unsungivy]

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@Wandering wrote:

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@Gregory1776 wrote:

@Varsity_Lu 

they capped the amount of bonus cash back you could earn to 10k spend in a month and removed the ability to have investment balance with us bank count to the 100k balance to unlock the 4%.

Now you need it in a checking or savings account.

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@Gregory1776 

Incorrect.

You have to have it in the 0% checking account for it to apply to the tiers.

You do have to have a saving account open, but the balance in the savings account does not apply.

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That's... insanity.

[Gregory1776]

@Wandering 
nahh that's gotta be wrong. 😂😊😊 stop spreading misinformation lmao.

If this weren't the biggest lie on the forums rn I'd close that card so quick and take the L. 😂 

if this card sees a 2y/o birthday I'll be impressed.

[Wandering]

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@Gregory1776 wrote:

@Wandering 
nahh that's gotta be wrong. 😂😊😊 stop spreading misinformation lmao.

If this weren't the biggest lie on the forums rn I'd close that card so quick and take the L. 😂 

if this card sees a 2y/o birthday I'll be impressed.

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Maybe read some

v1.0 Archive.org-Link 
What U.S. Bank deposit, trust or investment accounts are eligible for the Smartly Earning Bonus?

Combined qualifying balances with U.S. Bank in open consumer checking account(s), money market savings account(s), savings account(s), CDs and/or IRAs, U.S. Bancorp Investments and personal trust account(s) are eligible for the Smartly Earning Bonus.

Note: Balances in business accounts, commercial accounts, and the Trustee only (IFI) client relationship do not qualify.

v1.1 Current-Smartly-Link 
What U.S. Bank accounts are used to determine if my Bank Smartly card is eligible to earn a Smartly Earning Bonus?

Bank Smartly Cardmembers may earn a Smartly Earning Bonus if they:
Have a U.S. Bank Smartly Savings account; and
Have qualifying balances with U.S. Bank in open Bank Smartly Checking and/or Safe Debit account(s)

[unsungivy]

Ok, found proof of the grandfathering that's not "internal memos", but verifiable in print by card holders themselves.

I dug into my USB bank app. And if you dig deeply enough they specifically have different rules for applications before and after 4/14/2025.

In other words: they're definitely grandfathering, and you can double check that your own rewards earnings have no changes. If you already had the card, your checking+savings+IRA etc still counts. And there are not exclusions (such as insurance and taxes), nor monthly spend cap. The rules are still what they were when you opened the card.

The new apps have all the new limitations.

(When I can finagle it I will post a screenshot, right now my phone says nope, security.)

[Wandering]

This is the internal U.S. Bank memo from 2025-04-08;

of which everything 100% was proven true on 2025-04-14.

Which makes this quotable and not rumor.

Summary:

The U.S. Bank Smartly Visa credit card has undergone some rewards earning changes. Existing accounts won't be changed at this time; instead, there will be two different versions of the Smartly credit card beginning April 14.

Internally, these are referred to as Smartly v1 (original) and Smartly v1.1 (revised).

U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Product Summary and U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card Overview & FAQs have been updated to include information for both versions of the Smartly credit card. There aren't any changes to who services or assists with the accounts.

Action:

• Understand how to identify v1 versus v1.1
• Understand the differences between the two versions to best assist cardmembers.
• Don't proactively discuss the two versions or refer to the product versions as v1 and v1.1 with cardmembers.
  • Focus on the version they have already. If they don't have one yet, keep focus on the version that's available for application at the time of the call.
  • Cardmembers may not be aware of the differences in the versions of the product.
  • If cardmembers are aware and specifically ask about the versions, see the FAQs below to help answer those questions and more.

v1: Product code: 9490 (Application dated before April 14, 2025)

v1.1: Product code: 9497 (Application dated on or after April 14, 2025)

New card: (v1.1)

• Bank Smartly cardmembers who also have an open U.S. Bank Smartly® Savings account and a qualifying balance in U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking Account and/or Safe Debit account can earn even more.
  • $10,000 - $49,999.99: Earn a total of 2.5 points per $1 of eligible net purchases (a base of 2 points plus the Smartly Earning Bonus of 0.5 Points)
  • $50,000 - $99,999.99: Earn a total of 3 points per $1 of eligible Net Purchases (a base of 2 points plus the Smartly Earning Bonus of 1 Point
  • $100,000 or more: Earn a total of 4 points per $1 of eligible net purchases (a base of 2 points plus the Smartly Earning Bonus of 2 Points)

Exceptions:

• Cap: Smartly Earning Bonus applies to a maximum of $10,000 in eligible net purchases each card billing cycle. Eligible net purchases over $10,000 during each card billing cycle will carn the base earn of 2 points per $1 spent in net purchases.
• Non-qualifying transactions for the Smartly Earning Bonus: Not all purchases are eligible to earn the Smartly Earning Bonus. These transactions will earn 2 points per $1 spent in net purchases and may not ear additional points. These purchases are also not included in the $10,000 cap.
• Purchases classified as:
  
  • Education/school
  • Gift cards including discount gift card sites)
  • Insurance
  • Tax
  • *Business-to-business transactions" (transactions with merchants who are in the business of supplying goods and services to other businesses, such as advertising services, plumbing/heating suppliers, construction material suppliers excluding home improvement stores, and computer programming services), even if not made for a business purpose
  • Transactions using third-party bill payment services.

Rewards

• Cardmembers earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase.
• Bank Smartly cardmembers who have an open U.S. Bank Smartly Savings Account and qualifying balances in specified U.S. Bank consumer accounts can earn even more. See chart below for details of each card version.
• This card earns cash back rewards in the form of points. Rewards can be redeemed as a deposit into an eligible U.S. Bank deposit account. Other redemptions, such as for statement credits and gift cards, may be at a reduced redemption rate.
• U.S. Bank revised the Bank Smartly Card on April 14, 2025, to focus on improving reward benefits. Key changes for V1.1 include:
  • Cardmembers must have (BOTH!) a U.S. Bank Smartly Savings account and qualifying balances in U.S. Bank Smartly Checking or Safe Debit account(s) to earn a Smartly Earning Bonus.
  • The minimum balance required to earn a Smartly Earning Bonus is now $10,000 (up from $5,000).
  • Balances in U.S. Bank Smartly Savings, CDs, IRAs, U.S. Bancorp Investments or trust accounts no longer qualify.
  • Bonus reward exclusions now include tax payments, business-to-business purchases, insurance, education/tuition, third party bill payments and direct selling Gift Card online sites. These purchases will earn the base earn of 2% cash back.
  • Smartly Earning Bonus spend cap is $10,000 per billing cycle (previously unlimited, no caps on spend). Any additional spend beyond the $10,000 in a billing cycle will still earn 2% cash back on every purchase with no caps.

v 1.0 Customer Qualifying Balance:

• 2%: base
• 2.5%: $5k+
• 3%: $50k+
• 4%: $100k+

v 1.1 Customer Qualifying Balance:

• 2%: base
• 2.5%: $10k+
• 3%: $50k+
• 4%: $100k+

Must have or open (BOTH!) a Smartly Savings Account with a minimum opening deposit of $25 and Smartly Checking or Safe Debit Account (v1: Only needed Savings)

At the end of each day an average Qualifying Balance is calculated. The balance is based on a 30-day (v1: 90-day) average balance of all qualifying accounts.

$10K per billing cycle spend cap.

[unsungivy]

In other words: the sky is only falling if you didn't open the card already. Just treat this as "no longer available to new applicants (unless you're insane)" and move on.

For now.

[GZG]

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@unsungivy wrote:

In other words: the sky is only falling if you didn't open the card already. Just treat this as "no longer available to new applicants (unless you're insane)" and move on.

For now.

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putting the card back out in this form is just so completely unfathomable, it's grossly negligent

[bs1234]

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@creditrizz wrote:

Maybe now they just want to attract the biggest ballers of ballers.  Those who spend so much cash that they keep 100+ racks in their non-interest bearing checking accounts at all times anyway because that's just a week's worth of spending to them. 

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It's the $10K monthly cap that really prevents this of being value to the ballers.   Without that, the extra 2% on <lots of spend> more than makes up for the lost interest on $100K, especially as that is taxable.

[CreditMagic7]

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@GZG wrote:

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@unsungivy wrote:

In other words: the sky is only falling if you didn't open the card already. Just treat this as "no longer available to new applicants (unless you're insane)" and move on.

For now.

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putting the card back out in this form is just so completely unfathomable, it's grossly negligent

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I had visited a US Bank Branch in Kentucky back when i <now would have been grandfathered in>. The bank offical i sat down with while i was needling them over the enemic SL on my instant approval, well the more i tried to reason with them the less interested they seemed to be. We are talking moving assets and the like into their ecosystem after all. I came away with a phone number to call someplace in North Dakota whom they said could better handle my first issue and more importantly the core criteria of the assets end.

Needless to say i just threw in the towel and chalked it up simply as a wasted hard INQ and effort. They US Bank seem to not be on the same page when it comes to such an attention grabbing product as they made themselves out to be. Poor business practice IMO and now this NERF!

[Kforce]

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@GZG wrote:

Putting the card back out in this form is just so completely unfathomable, it's grossly negligent

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It betters the Amex - BCP as the most misleading, exaggerated reward card.

I thought the Amex 6% grocery really being 4.42% was bad, but 4% really becoming a  { -30% (1k spend)  to 0.6% ( 10k spend) has the record  }.

New leader in possible negative rewards.