Synchrony has just launched the new Nissan Visa Card and Nissan Visa Signature cards. Let’s take a look at them in this review.
Quick Overview
- Cards earns at the following rates:
- 5x points per $1 spent at NISSAN or IFINITI retailers and on gas
- 3x points per $1 spent on restaurants, cafes and eateries
- 1x point per $1 spent on all other purchases
How Much Are Points Worth?
Points have two different values:
- 1¢ per point when redeeming at Nissan or Infiniti Dealerships in connection with the purchase or lease of new, certified pre-owned or used Nissan or Infiniti automobile, or the purchase of service, parts or accessories
- 0.5¢ per point when redeeming for statement credit (maximum of $300 per year)
Our Verdict
I thought this card might have some limited use, but given that points are only worth 1¢ when redeeming with Nissan/Infiniti dealerships that unfortunately doesn’t really look like it’s the case. If you want a card that earns at a higher rate on the same categories, check out these posts:
You can read more about Synchrony credit cards here.
Hat tip to reader David E
Received a mailer for 10,000 points after $1000 in purchases. Tempted to MS a new nissan but thinking that synchrony will claw back at some point or discontinue the program, or shut anyone down buying 504.95 at gas stations.
Wanted to share a humorous data point. Made a large purchase at a volvo dealership using the card, and this coded as 5x. However, I also made a $9 purchase at a Nissan dealer’s parts counter, and that coded as 1x. Bonus did not post even though the $1k min spend was met. Synchrony trying to complete with citi for most incompetent IT.
DO **NOT** GET NISSAN/INFINITI CARD.
Only a few Nissan and Infiniti dealerships accept Nissan/Infiniti rewards. See links below.
https://nissancreditcard.syf.com/InfinitiDealer/getDealer
https://nissancreditcard.syf.com/NissanDealer/getDealer
The list looks to be much longer now. It includes every Nissan dealer I’m aware of in a couple hundred miles’ radius of me, at least.
The search won’t load directly from those links, btw; start at http://nissancreditcard.syf.com/dealers
Would this pair well with lease hackr at all? I know they have some killer deals on some nissan/infiniti leases….and just another way to maximize that?
what are the killer deals for nissan?
do you have the LH link .. I looked around
Do they have a customer service number?
Could it be possible to get one of these using the Shopping Cart Trick?
Of note is that you earn 5x at pretty much any dealership, as is standard with these types of cards. From the terms:
When you use your Nissan Visa Card for Eligible Purchases made at Nissan and Infiniti Dealerships which use the Car & Truck Dealer (New & Used) Sales, Service, Repairs, Parts and Leasing merchant category code (“MCC”) (MCC 5511), or any merchant using MCC 5511, you will earn 5 Rewards points for every US dollar spent, rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Synchrony Bank is not responsible for awarding Rewards points for Eligible Purchases at Nissan or Infiniti Dealerships or other merchants that do not accurately report transactions made at their locations using the Car & Truck Dealer MCC.
Yup, I was going to draw more attention to this but lost interest once I saw the cash rate redemption.
Very interesting… If this had a confirmed time period and guarantee of no shut down, I would probably go to town on this and buy my wife a CPO Armada.
How long until they shut down someone with 100k monthly gas spend, though? haha
This could be lucrative for MS on gas and buying towards a Nissan. Unlimited 5% (effective 4% back after fees) at gas stations that sell GCs would be pretty sweet if redeeming against leases/purchases/accessories. Too bad that subset of individuals is too small. (side note: c’mon Synchrony, get this partnership with Toyota and I will slam this deal!!!)
The problem is that you can already get 3x MR on gas or 3%+. If we compare it to 3%, your marginal cashback is $20 per $1,000.
As per usual, the terms state that you forfeit all your points if Synchrony decides to shut you down. Given that you can then only safely MS up to your credit limit, the marginal cashback you can earn probably tops out at around +$500 / mo ($25,000 CL), or +$6,000 / year. With a $10,000 CL, it’s +$200 / mo, or +$2,400 / yr.
While I won’t discount the fact that that’s a lot of money, I think the question of whether it’s worth being locked in to Nissan / Infiniti (and new / CPO) makes it a questionable gambit.
On the other hand, if somebody comes out with a similarly structured card for Mazda, hmu. I’d be all in.
Well it seems like uncapped 5% gas as long as you use it to by a Nissan? If you can MS gas can’t this get you ~50% off a vehicle? (I say 50% off since one can MS a 2.5% card for cashback all day)
At least the buypower is 5% back toward a car up to 6k/year then 2%. But agreed both are bad