The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1

[iced]

It sounds like they're trying to differentiate themselves with the "own to activate" nature of rewards, but setting the bar of "owning" at $0.01 worth of a company's stock is such a pathetically low bar they might as well have just been another "click to activate" reward card. It also seems that stock has to be owned within the M1 account one has -- no linking to Fidelity or another brokerage to confirm ownership.

Not sure I can quite figure out which market they're targeting with this, either.

[DONZI]

I can understand, M1 being a broker, requiring the holdings within their accounts.. the trivial amount of ownership I didn't read much into -- was actually happy about it since my primary use is to park cash for the 1% APY and hold some index ETF.

Maybe the card is mainly to promote the "PLUS" subscription.

Ironically, I may end that $125/yr benefit suite since Celtic Bank seems to be a lemon.

[DONZI]

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@DONZI wrote:

I just got notice from M1 that the card waiting list is going to go live soon so I figured I'd fish around for some DP on Celtic Bank..

Turned up some subprime cards like Surge, Reflex, Indigo and Affirm loans.

Sadly I expect the likes of Celtic Bank / Continental Finance and powered by Deserve would be more hassle and regret than I'm looking for and don't want to taint my credit with a relationship with this issuer / card.

Here's a few links within the forum(s):

The "Which Banks Pull Which Report For Apps" list

Continental finance reflex mastercard removal of late payments

Deserve Pro Mastercard is the WORST card out there

Newly Released Wine Enthusiasts Card...

FWIW, once they deliver formal application, terms and such I'll drop that info in here.

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I received the go-ahead on applying for this card the other day -- didn't look very far into it, but here are links to the relevant legal docs as of Oct. 14, 2021 FWIW:

Cardholder Agreement

Reward Terms

With any luck, maybe future DP on this card will surface and make it more palatable.

[Red1Blue]

Does any one support the M1 Owners Account. I have opened the account few months ago and just now started funding it and buying some shares. I like the idea of being able to buy partial shares. But I am not a fan of Celtic Bank and their credit cards. Should I just invest some money in M1 and buy some stocks? I am also not thrilled about M1 Plus and having to pay $125 / year.

[thewally]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

Does any one support the M1 Owners Account. I have opened the account few months ago and just now started funding it and buying some shares. I like the idea of being able to buy partial shares. But I am not a fan of Celtic Bank and their credit cards. Should I just invest some money in M1 and buy some stocks? I am also not thrilled about M1 Plus and having to pay $125 / year.

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I don't have the card but I do have an account there; as for is it a good deal or not, thats up to you.  There are many other providers that offer the option to buy partial shares.  One of the biggest drawbacks is that they only have two trading windows (if you're plus) and one if you're not. This makes it hard to buy the dip, but I think most advisors would say "don't try to time the market."  In any case, their "pie" strategy essentially allows you to direct index without a huge amount of upfront investment.  They're not my primary broker but they do offer custodial accounts so I have an account for each of my kids there that gets auto-tranfer every couple weeks.  I like that it's on autopilot and that when dividends come in they get re-invested across the whole pie.

[DONZI]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

Does any one support the M1 Owners Account. I have opened the account few months ago and just now started funding it and buying some shares. I like the idea of being able to buy partial shares. But I am not a fan of Celtic Bank and their credit cards. Should I just invest some money in M1 and buy some stocks? I am also not thrilled about M1 Plus and having to pay $125 / year.

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RE: "Does any one support the M1 Owners Account."

I'm guessing you're asking is anyone has their owners's card and their experience with it?

I've held off on it for reasons previously mentioned in this thread. However I have hung onto the Plus add-on for various reasons. I too would like to discover some DP specific to this card..

As with @thewally , M1 is also a secondary brokerage account for me. M1 continues expanding features of the base and Plus and the first year Plus is still free AFAIK.

The service and support has been fine, although I've not really too much experience with that since initial account creation. The Lincoln Savings Bank relationship has been okay for me -- this is their "spend" partner bank.

There are some nice features to the Plus account option aside from the second trade window, it's a YMMV situation though on if the $125 is justified. I'm on my 2nd year with the plus options, first was free.. The first year the 1% APY justified the future fee in my mind, however as rates go up elsewhere it's likely I'll clear out of spend and plus next year for another place to hold my emergency cash -- unless something special comes along with plus and/or the M1 card before that time.

[Red1Blue]

Hi @DONZI and @thewally Thank you very much for your input for my question. Right now I have an M1 account and put some money in the stocks. I like the PIE approach and simplified investment strategy. Not sure if it is good or bad. Need to give it some time and see. Right now it is a secondary investment account for me. I have not put much money in the spend account and I do not plan to use the spend account as I already have bank accounts with other banks. Only thing I am not sure is if I want to extend the Plus membership after the free first year. I am looking at their VISA Card. If I dont maintain the Plus membership it will cost me $95/year. Not sure if that AF justifies the M1 Credit Card. I am going to take one day at a time and see what progress they make. Did any of you get the Paid Plus membership after free first year membership?

[DONZI]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

Did any of you get the Paid Plus membership after free first year membership?

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You're welcome. Yes, I did... somewhat out of laziness since I read it would take more than one xfer out of spend due to M1 daily limits, and the fact that I added the cash via a push and am unsure if I can pull it out or will require adding a bank account to M1. I also figured over the second year maybe something may surface to attract my interest which further warrants the Plus fee for me.

Regarding the card, the core visa benefits IIRC were nothing spectacular for a $95 fee card. I suppose that might change and maybe there will be some sort of tweaks or plans to the lineup of $%back offerings, etc...however I'd still shy away from the card unless some positive DP surface on the card/bank and for now the plus fee or card fee value is diminishing slowly in my thoughts.

[thewally]

Yeah, if I was going to get the card I would do so under the thought of keeping plus.  $95 annual fee for the card probably isn't it worth it but $125 with the card and plus may be.  I too am of the mindset that they will add more value over the coming years.  I'm still in the free year of plus though.  

For me the card may be worth it in the future depending on who their partners are.  I have a large enough stable of other cards that I almost always have a targeted offer or bonus on one of them when I buy something.

[Red1Blue]

Hi @thewally Thanks for your input. It is not just AF for the card. They will add a new HP for the report. Also from what I understand this card will not report to CRAs and will stay as hidden line. I guess there is positive and negative. I am not going to apply for a new card until July 2022 and my Plus membership will expire in May 2022. I am not sure. At this time I have to wait and see and possibly let the plus drop out and just keep the investment portfolio. I am not doing day trading so I dont need the plus trading window they offer. We will see. I do like the simple Pie based investment strategy they are offering.