U.S. Bank has launched the U.S. Bank Shield Visa card. Card offers the following:
- $0 annual fee
- 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 24 billing cycles (5% balance transfer fee)
- Earn a $20 annual statement credit for 11 consecutive months of purchases
- 4% cash back On prepaid air, hotel and car reservations booked directly in the Rewards Center when you use your card
Balance transfer fee kills the usefulness of this for a lot of people as other purchases don’t earn rewards, but I guess it could still be useful for purchases if the credit limit is high enough.
As an alternative to this card for the v1.0 Smartly folks, I had an option to spread half my credit limit (35k) of purchases over 24 months with their ExtendPay program with no fees or interest. The main drawback is that less of the CL is available for spending while the uncapped 4% cash back for insurance and tax spending is still around, figure it will be a silver lining once USB inevitably nerfs the card
Anyone considering this given the turmoil in the market? I would love the 175k Amex or the 100k CSP but both require upwards of 5k spend. Maybe a 24 month 0% cc is the way to go.
Are credit limits usually low with this kind of card?
Not I, as SUB cards tend to have great returns on spend. For high spend cards, I’ll prepay bills (utilities, tax) to make it work. I’ll also look for opportunities to fund bank accounts that also have opening bonuses.
Credit limits will depend on your profile, but generally yes. People have reported low credit limits on the 4% Smartly card.
So essentially its a rebuilt platinum card with minor new benefit. Also, I think the bank should probably understand that no one else calls their background ‘the shield’. XOXO
Apparently the Shield card has a bunch of benefits, including Cell Phone Protection, Auto CDW, Purchase Security, and Extended Warranty: https://rewards.usbank.com/benefits/card/ShieldBenefits
Yet US Bank is so damn cheap that the Smartly card has zero benefits?
I think the point of this card is to finance a single trip and pay it off over 2 years.
I say this because it’s a 0% interest card which means that the credit limit will usually be fairly low (maybe $3K) and the bonus seems to be geared towards travel. The $20 credit is probably just to keep you using the card after your trip.
My best guess at it.
Comments didnt disappoint
The benefits on this card suck so much because the CFPB is being shut down.
They were the only thing keeping the bennies good on cards.
I could definitely use 24 months of 0%, but I’d rather get another 12 month 0% business card than use add to my 5/24 count
This card isn’t meant for bank bonus grabbing average Doc-ers, so why the hate?
I’ve never used a bank’s travel portal because I’ve seen the markup is 10%+ which offsets that 4% reward and I don’t get loyalty points with the airline and hotel I use most frequently.
Not sure why the hate on this card. 24 months APR free on purchases is pretty solid. It serves a purpose.
Also, a one-time balance transfer fee of 5% is essentially a nominal 2.5% APR considering it’s a two year “term”. Even with minimum payments you should be able to come out slightly ahead if you were to put a transferred cash balance into a HYSA (particularly with bonuses) assuming you can absorb the temporary hit to your credit score.
Good point
I mean, you don’t have to use it for BT if you have no other debt. It’s 0% for purchases too.