Update 3/14/19: Deal has been increased to 25,000 points from 15,000 points. Hat tip to reader HailState
The Offer
- Earn a sign up bonus of 25,000 points after $500 in spend within the first 90 days (worth $250)
Card Details
- No annual fee
- Card earns 3x points on the following categories:
- Grocery Stores/Supermarkets (Whole Foods Market, King Soopers, Target, Walmart, Costco)
- Gas/ Service Stations (Conoco, Shell, Circle K, Corner Store)
- Automated Fuel Pumps (King Soopers Fuel, 7-Eleven Fuel, Jenny’s Market)
- Sporting Goods Stores (Cabela’s, Sports Authority, Bass Pro Shops)
- Shoe Stores (DSW, Payless, Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, Zappos.com)
- Sports/Riding Apparel Stores (Dick’s Sporting Goods, Eddie Bauer, Lids)
- Fitness/Member Clubs & Private Golf Courses (24 Hour Fitness, OrangeTheory Fitness, Gold’s Gym, CorePower Yoga)
- Misc. Food/Convenience Stores (Starbuck’s, GNC, Schwan’s Home Delivery)
- Rec Centers/Ski Lifts/Var. (Arapahoe Basin, Boondocks, JumpStreet)
- Public Golf Courses (The Links, Deer Creek, Foothills Golf Course)
- Bicycle Shops/Sales/Service (Performance Bike, Bicycle Village, TriBella)
- Movie Theatres (AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, Elvis Cinema)
- Camper/Trailer Dealers (RV America, Ketelsen Campers, RV World)
- Tourist Attractions/Museums (Denver Art Museum, History Colorado Center)
- RV Parks/Campgrounds (Great Sand Dunes, Royal Gorge KOA)
- Sporting/Recreational Facilities (Colorado Clays, Challenger Sports, Altitude FC)
- Wholesale Clubs (Sam’s Club, Shamrock Food Service)
- Aquariums/Var. Zoo (Denver Aquarium, Butterfly Pavilion)
- Bowling Alleys (Brunswick Zone, Lucky Strike, Fat Cats)
- Card earns 2x points on the following categories:
- Cable / Satellite Services (Hulu, Comcast, Netflix, DIRECTV)
- Internet Services (XBOX Live, GoDaddy, PayPal, AOL)
- Phone Services (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket)
Our Verdict
You can read our full review of this card here. $250 bonus plus lots of 3% categories is pretty good, especially for those chasing cash sign up bonuses. It’s a shame that this is restricted to Colorado residents (although if you have a family member that is also a member that should work). Bellco also offer a 2.25% APY rewards checking account, make sure you compare this with the best savings accounts first.
Hat tip to caverunner17 on /r/churning
Was anybody able to join from out of state? I see the bellco foundation option, but most blogs/posts still say Colorodo residents only. Would love this 3% card
According to the link, the increased bonus offer was only available from 3/11/2019 to 3/19/2019. However, the link still works. I opened a checking account with them today, which cost me a hard inquiry, so I went ahead and applied for this card using the link in this thread, hoping to combine the inquiries. I didn’t know about this credit card deal before I visited the branch today, or I would have asked about the $250 deal – whether it will be back or if it’s possible to get matched. Anyway, they did send me home with a flyer for the $150 version, so I’m assuming that’s the deal for now.
I’m too lazy to remember every single 3% category, so I just remember The Four Fs: food (stores), fuel, fitness, fun.
[Removed. Please only share referrals when it’s specifically allowed]
Hi Scott, I wouldn’t mind an invite when you have the time- [removed]
Interested in this as well. Can an out-of-state person be referred? If so, I would be interested, but DoC bans referrals via his articles unless he explicitly allows it, and he does not here.
[removed. Follow the rules]
My bad. There was a blog post from 2017 specifically about the referral bonus; I’m surprised it isn’t referenced in this blog post.
That’s not a bad spectrum for a free card with a sign up bonus. Paired with something like a Pathfinder for their travel category, one has got a decent ‘free’ hand.
Yea but you have to spend 3k to redeem the cash back as a statement credit, ouch….
Instant “conditional approval,” got a call from a loan rep about an hour later. She tried to sell me some add-on “protection” for the card, didn’t ask any other questions, approved. 8/24.
Personally can’t recommend this card very well because the redemption system is kind of ridiculous. You can redeem for a lot of items at pretty cruddy rate. But to get the advertised statement credit percent of 3% on spend, which I assume everyone is after, you have to redeem in increments of 100 dollars, which is terribly difficult amount to plan.
I’ll agree with you, you have to spend $3k just for redemption is stiff…
There’s always a catch. I doubt they could afford to give a true 3 percent in all those categories with no catches or headaches.
Yea for Costco I got my Vantage West Credit Union connect Visa cred card, my gas with Fort Knox federal CU credit card, grocery and restaurant Golden 1 CU, and 2% on everything else Penfed power cash Visa credit card
Just a word of caution with this card for those who want to MS on it. I got this card four months ago and they just sent me a warning letter.
The 5% bonus over Christmas was 5% in place off all their 3% categories.
Also getting the card took some work. They wanted tax income records and also proof of residency. It took over 3 months for my wife to get her card. Just an FYI.
Any chance you could shoot me an email ([email protected])? Have some questions about getting the card!
How much volume were you doing?
Only have a 5k limit. Most cards are 4-5x this limit. I was running usually around 10k.
The sheer breadth of categories and merchants is amazing! 3% on so many might beat out the 5% on Freedom, Cash+, and other category cards. That $150 bonus and no AF makes this a very tempting offer indeed.
And as Matt points out, it may be open to anyone who donates $10 as well.
If you try the $10 donation, please let me know.
I was looking at membership requirements for this card out of sheer curiosity, and it looks like they openly say you can join even if you’re out of state- “Do you want to join Bellco but live out of state? We’ve got you covered. By joining the Bellco Foundation, you become eligible for Bellco membership.” (https://www.bellco.org/open-an-account/become-a-member.aspx). Intriguing…
To those outside of colorado who want to join:
https://www.bellco.org/bellcofoundation.aspx
Hi Matt, have you successfully done this?