Wells Fargo to launch "Active Cash Card" on July 1st

[FormerCollegeDJ]

Wells Fargo has released more details about the Active Cash Card.  It will be a 2% flat cash back card with no annual fee, offer a $200 SUB after $1000 in spend in the first three months, and have a 0% purchase and balance transfer APR for the first 15 months.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/active-cash-view-details/?vendor_code=WF&sub_channel=WEB

The card is intriguing to me, but the fact it has foreign transaction fees is a significant negative.  Most 2% rewards cards don't offer fairly easily attainable SUBs though.

[CBartowski]

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@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:

Wells Fargo has released more details about the Active Cash Card.  It will be a 2% flat cash back card with no annual fee, offer a $200 SUB after $1000 in spend in the first three months, and have a 0% purchase and balance transfer APR for the first 15 months.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/active-cash-view-details/?vendor_code=WF&sub_channel=WEB

The card is intriguing to me, but the fact it has foreign transaction fees is a significant negative.  Most 2% rewards cards don't offer fairly easily attainable SUBs though.

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Thanks for sharing!

I'm actually pretty disappointed with this one. 2%s really are a dime a dozen now a days and the Propel was a marketable product. Taking that and replacing with a 2% imo is not great. Besides now whats the point of cash wise at 1.5%?

[Anonymous]

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@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:

Wells Fargo has released more details about the Active Cash Card.  It will be a 2% flat cash back card with no annual fee, offer a $200 SUB after $1000 in spend in the first three months, and have a 0% purchase and balance transfer APR for the first 15 months.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/active-cash-view-details/?vendor_code=WF&sub_channel=WEB

The card is intriguing to me, but the fact it has foreign transaction fees is a significant negative.  Most 2% rewards cards don't offer fairly easily attainable SUBs though.

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So as suspected, not a great card. Thanks for the info. 

[UncleB]

I agree this is rather 'meh', but it's about what I expected. 

I can see how this card and the Propel together would make a decent combo for 3%/2% back for everything, especially if the rewards earned with the new product are transferrable to/from the Propel.

The 'Cash Wise' is going to be a tough sell going forward, though.

[Andypanda]

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/source-wells-fargo-to-release-active-cash-credit-card-on-july-1st/

Deciding if i want to get it, just so I don't have to wait a year to get my rewards from costco since my current 2% cards are either MC or amex.

[Jordan23ww]

Thank you for the info! It will be interesting to see if the Cash Wish is next on the chopping block. Seems like a no brainer to go for the Active Cash over the Cash Wise if both are an option.I'm also curious to see if any new travel card will be offered by Wells Fargo since that was a nice perk of the Propel.  Thanks again for posting this! 

[Jordan23ww]

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@CBartowski wrote:

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@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:

Wells Fargo has released more details about the Active Cash Card.  It will be a 2% flat cash back card with no annual fee, offer a $200 SUB after $1000 in spend in the first three months, and have a 0% purchase and balance transfer APR for the first 15 months.

https://creditcards.wellsfargo.com/active-cash-view-details/?vendor_code=WF&sub_channel=WEB

The card is intriguing to me, but the fact it has foreign transaction fees is a significant negative.  Most 2% rewards cards don't offer fairly easily attainable SUBs though.

---

Thanks for sharing!

I'm actually pretty disappointed with this one. 2%s really are a dime a dozen now a days and the Propel was a marketable product. Taking that and replacing with a 2% imo is not great. Besides now whats the point of cash wise at 1.5%?

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@CBartowski  I agree!  I love my Propel and already have 3 cards that give me 2% back.  If I had to chose between this or the Propel I'd pick the Propel every time!  I'm sure someone will benefit from this card though. Just wish people could get the Propel still too if they wanted it. 

[summerterrace]

A 2% cash back card with a $200 sub is pretty unusual.  This could be a good option for those looking for a flat cash back with no af and a good sub.  

[FormerCollegeDJ]

According to the Bloomberg News article linked below, the WF Active Cash Visa is only the first step in Wells Fargo's plan to revamp and improve their credit card lineup in an attempt to make them more competitive with companies like Citi, Chase, and American Express.  The article indicates the bank plans to introduce a new low APR card in the next few months, roll out a new rewards card line next year, and increase its number of co-branded credit cards (joining the WF Hotels.com card introduced in 2020).

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-08/wells-fargo-s-scharf-goes-on-offense-with-new-cre...

(You can view a limited number of Bloomberg News articles for free per month, then a subscription is required.)

It should be noted the article includes comments from various Wells Fargo executives who previously worked in the credit card space for Chase, Citi, and Visa.

[FormerCollegeDJ]

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@summerterrace wrote:

A 2% cash back card with a $200 sub is pretty unusual.  This could be a good option for those looking for a flat cash back with no af and a good sub.  

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The good SUB for a no annual fee card is really the distinguishing feature about the impending Active Cash Card IMO; to me this new card is a pretty good offering.  It also doesn't have as many strings attached as the Citi Double Cash or the Synchrony PayPal Cashback cards.  As I noted above, the only real negative IMO is the 3% foreign transaction fee.  It is also possible Wells Fargo cash back options will be less user-friendly than some other cards (i.e. no direct deposit into any non-Wells Fargo bank account).

One other note - with its $200 SUB, the 2% WF Active Cash Card would come out ahead of a 3% rewards card like the AOD Credit Union card for up to $20,000 in spend.

I'll personally consider the Active Cash Card vs. my primary credit union's (PSECU's) 2% cash back card, which doesn't have a SUB but also doesn't have foreign transaction fees.  (Both cards will be evaluated against the Chase Sapphire Preferred and whether or not I want to go further into the Chase ecosystem or focus more on cash back rewards; I'm leaning towards the latter currently.  However, I don't plan to apply for one of those cards until probably fall 2022.)