USB Smartly rumors

[swankytiger]

yea my thoughts were that US Bank went too high for cash back percentage.

[G2244]

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@swankytiger wrote:

yea my thoughts were that US Bank went too high for cash back percentage.

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You could look at it a couple of different ways. I think the cash back percentage is just fine (and helps market the card for them). I think the error on their part was making it unlimited. If there were a monthly cap, it severly limits the behavior they are likley seeing. With, say a $10K monthly limit which would still be worth it for many to get the card, they would not get people going all in on XXL manufactured spend or even just paying a larger tax bill. They could even do a reverse scale. At 4% back $5K limit, at 3% back $10K limit, on down to 2% being the unlimited category. Then just allow us to pick what we see as our best option.

[AndySoCal]

@Bockrocker @With Logix the 100000 in deposit accounts (CD's are excluded)  or loans.  Currently you can get 3.75% on the high yield savings for up 100k the amount over that is at 1.8%

[Aim_High]

09/07/24

^ This. 

The only thing really surprising to me is how quickly it seems to be folding.  This could put a black eye on US Bank's products in the eyes of the public.   Not very well thought-out, IMO. 

[Aim_High]

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@G2244 wrote:

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@swankytiger wrote:

yea my thoughts were that US Bank went too high for cash back percentage.

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You could look at it a couple of different ways. I think the cash back percentage is just fine (and helps market the card for them). I think the error on their part was making it unlimited. If there were a monthly cap, it severly limits the behavior they are likley seeing. With, say a $10K monthly limit which would still be worth it for many to get the card, they would not get people going all in on XXL manufactured spend or even just paying a larger tax bill. They could even do a reverse scale. At 4% back $5K limit, at 3% back $10K limit, on down to 2% being the unlimited category. Then just allow us to pick what we see as our best option.

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I think you're both correct, @swankytiger and @G2244.   The problem with the Smartly could have been resolved in multiple ways and seem to indicate to me they didn't do their due diligence before trying to roll it out. 

Let's remember, too, that size matters.  US Bank was apparently trying to compete with much larger banks, namely Bank of America.  Merrill Lynch has a full 10x assets under management than US Bank Asset Management Group.  (About $472 Billion versus $4.7 Trillion.)  And outside of invested assets, Bank of America has 4x the assets deposited of US Bank, ranking them number2  in the USA to US Bank's number 5 position.  ($669B versus $2.5T.)  That size probably makes it much easier for BofA to offer very competitive credit products than US Bank for a variety of reasons.  

So the short-comings could have been mitigated by not trying so hard to out-do BofA by either making the rewards lower, and therefore more sustainable, or by capping the rewards, or by raising the bar on what it takes to earn those higher rewards.   

[Anonymous]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@G2244 wrote:

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  The problem with the Smartly could have been resolved in multiple ways and seem to indicate to me they didn't do their due diligence before trying to roll it out. 

And as I mentioned, this is not the first time.   The Cash+ was launched with 5% uncapped and underwent a series of nerfs.   Did some oldtimer at USB say "Well, 5% uncapped didn't work, but I bet 4% will!"

[Cashbackjunky]

Wow!! I was about to app for this card and move quite a bit of money from my BofA/Merrill accounts to US Bank. Probably not gonna happen now, since there is no guarantee of being grandfathered in.

Sigh... Oh well, guess I HAVE to keep gardening now. Thanks for sharing @NoMoreE46 

[MJ-san]

So my experience has been ...

Smartly Visa encouraged me to move 100k in investments - and I have ~4k/month spend on the card. Also added a checking and savings - I keep about 5k in the savings. Not abusing the system in any way. I'm probably doing exactly what they were hoping?

It's my main card other than 5% Amex-Amazon or 5.25% BofA custom cash (online) or Citi ThankYou/Sears 10% grocery/restaurant.

If they can figure out a cap (at a reasonable amount) to weed out the folks taking advantage, that's cool, I'll stick with it.

My experience has also not been great with the advisor side of things - calls and emails not returned, not getting anything close to the attention I would expect- I have $2m with Merrill and I said the 100k was a start if they could show me that there was value in moving more to US Bank. Crickets... 

BofA and Merril remain as our primary bank- thee experience with US Bank has actually solidified that thinking. But I still will use it for the maximum rewards I can get 😇 with the minimum investment.

[911gt34life]

people were abusing this card therefore they're gonna shut down which is sad...

you beat me to it even had  the link yesterday ready  😆   ...

can you imagine applying for this card and wasting inquiry ... 

[AndySoCal]

If you read the post by the Doctor of Credit at the end it mentions that USB has sent letters to select customers were ones using the card for business transactions. The card is a personal credit card not a business card. This is a violation of the card holder agreement. If those that were or are doing that keep doing that dont stop USB could close the card possibly more.