To get the full 2% cash back value from a Fidelity credit card, you have to deposit the money into a Fidelity brokeage account. That's okay - no min on the brokerage account, and Fidelity brokerage is excellent.
To get 2.625% cash back from a couple of BofA's credit cards, you need to have $100K combined in Merrill accounts (and/or BofA bank accounts). That's okay if you've got the investment assets; Merrill is passable as a brokerage and the cash back is good. And you don't need to deposit the cash back there.
Bonus: BofA will add an extra 2% cash back (or points) for charges you make on
any of its credit cards on
Nov 7, up to $2500 in charges (an extra $50 back).
https://promotions.bankofamerica.com/card/morerewardsdayUS Bank has a couple of interesting credit cards.
One that is not out yet will give 4% cash back on all charges if you've got $100K in combined assets (like BofA). From the little I can see, its brokerage arm
does not impress: only 100 free stock/ETF trades/year and a $50 annual fee for balances under $250K. But that extra cash back will likely cover the brokerage annual fee and more.
Another US Bank card,
Altitude Connect, has no annual fee and some quirky travel benefits. No foreign transaction fee, four free airport lounge passes/year, additional passes if your flight is delayed by over two hours, $100 credit every four years toward TSA Pre-Check (or Global Entry), some travel insurance, and 4x points for travel without having to use its travel service. Like Fidelity, you have to redeem points into a US Bank account to get full value.
Comments
https://robinhood.com/creditcard/
Technically, the card has no annual fee, but you have to be a Robinhood Gold member ($50 annually or $5 per month). Robinhood Gold also comes with a bunch of other perks, including 4.5% APY cash account, 1% Deposit Boost, and 3% IRA Match on contributions.
https://robinhood.com/us/en/gold/
There is a variety of redemption options, including into Robinhood brokerage account.
https://api.robinhood.com/creditcard/legal/reward-terms
I also tend to discount the value of points earned/redeemed through proprietary travel "portals". I've usually been able to do significantly better with other travel sites. The one exception to worse pricing at "portals" I'm aware of is Capital One. That is because they price match.
On paper at least, the Robinhood credit card looks good. The brokerage, not so good, at least for me since I use mutual funds and Robinhood doesn't. YMMV.
https://robinhood.com/us/en/support/articles/investments-you-can-make-on-robinhood/
I appreciate that it offers 2% cash back on all purchases so that the cardholder
doesn't have to contend with varying cash back rates in "revolving categories."
Flat rate cards cited above:
Fidelity: Fidelity Rewards (2%) - must redeem into Fidelity account for full val
BofA/Merrill: Unlimited Cash Rewards (1.5%, 2.625% w/$100K invested) but foreign xact fee
BofA/Merrill: Travel Rewards (1.5%, 2.625% w/$100K invested) - must redeem against travel charges
Robinhood: Robinhood Gold (3%) - $50-$60 annual fee, for full cash val must redeem w/app into RH acct
US Bank: Smartly Card (2%, 4% w/$100K invested) - $50 annual brokerage fee, foreign xact fee, for full val must redeem to bank acct
It's not hard to find cards paying 2%, but they are usually inferior in some way(s) to Fidelity. For example, Wells Fargo Active Cash (WFC, need I say more?) and Bread Financial Cash Back (Amex, not Visa/MC)
Cards paying more than 2% come with strings and/or costs, some slight some more consequential.
I do pay auto, home & life insurance via a credit card and I get cashbacks for those.
Say my tax is $100. I would be charged $102 and get 2% of that back, i.e. $2.04. Not a big win, but a win none the less. Add in the security of a credit card, not giving access to my bank account to the city, and the roughly 30 day float I get on the payment, and using the CC seems like an obvious choice.
Only downsides are that it eats into my credit limit and potentially affects credit ratings.
But here's a PSA, off-topic as it doesn't involve a brokerage: For Verizon cellphone customers I call attention to their black Visa card (Synchrony), as for all food-related purchases, gas, and Vz purchases (including Fios service) it gives you 4% ... applied to your cell bill. Quite something.
So in many months our cell bill is like something from the 1990s. If we ate more (fed kids, e.g.) and used more gas (we buy v little in our hybrid dotage), it would be crazy.
with it's 4% credit for gas and all food-related purchases.
I use my Costco Anywhere Visa by Citi for gas, restaurant, and travel purchases.
This card offers 4% cash back on gas and EV charging purchases for the first $7,000 per year.
Card holders receive 3% cash back on restaurant and eligible travel purchases.
These days in foreign travel we get the best exchange rates using our credit card. Still having some cash is good in certain places, but majority of places readily accept credit cards.
Some consulting stuff goes on Amex business which earns me double points.
Amazon/WF purchases go on the Prime card, and it's my general backup with no FTF.
A few bucks gets put on my United Visa each year just to keep the ~1M miles I have active.
I probably could do more / get more from my cards, but I don't want to open a bunch of cards and/or play rotating-benefits/perks and keep track of all that stuff.
and/or play rotating-benefits/perks and keep track of all that stuff."
Same here.
Many just add it after you hand them your credit card and neglect to mention a 3% fee.
If merchants neglect to mention surcharges for Mastercard or Visa purchases,
they are not following defined rules for surcharging.
Visa
I am a U.S. merchant who intends to surcharge. What is the process I need to follow?
• If you intend to surcharge Visa requires that you:
• Notify your acquirer at least 30 days prior to commencing surcharging
• Include the surcharge amount within a dedicated data field (labelled Field 28) in the transaction
message sent to Visa (your acquirer will enable the population of this field)
• Limit surcharging to credit cards only (debit cards and prepaid cards cannot be surcharged)
• Limit the amount to your merchant discount rate (MDR) for the applicable credit card or 3% whichever
is lowest
• Disclose the surcharge as a merchant fee and, for both in-store and online transactions, clearly alert consumers to the practice at the point of entry, the point of sale or transaction, and on every receipt
Visa Merchant Surcharging PDF
Mastercard
Merchant disclosure to consumer
A merchant must provide clear disclosure to the merchant's customers of the merchant's surcharging practices at the point of interaction which shall include the amount of the surcharge and the dollar amount of the surcharge on the transaction receipt provided by the merchant to its customers. Merchants should refer to the specific rule for additional consumer disclosure obligations.
Nothing in the Mastercard rules affects any obligation of a merchant to comply with applicable state or federal laws, including but not limited to state laws that may prohibit or restrict surcharging of credit transactions, and federal and state laws regarding deceptive or misleading disclosures.
https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/business/overview/support/merchant-surcharge-rules.html
1 debit & 1 CC here
I have also noticed "prepared food Tax" or "Meal tax"... as much as 12%.
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/meal-taxes-prepared-food-restaurant/
Then there's often a variety of suggested tip amounts 18% - 22%.
Now this CC 3% surcharge...
Don't get started on what they charge to chill and pop the top off a beer.
Leery to use my debit card.
Several sources indicate surcharges can only be added to credit card transactions
and not to debit card or prepaid card transactions.
However, assessing debit card surcharges is a commonly broken rule according to Hancock Whitney Bank.
https://www.hancockwhitney.com/insights/surcharging-on-card-payments
I live in the Seattle area and frequently dine at restaurants.
I scanned the Tax Foundation article and discovered Seattle
has the fifth highest combined tax rate on meals - 10.35%.
"Then there's often a variety of suggested tip amounts 18% - 22%."
Tipping has gotten way out of hand.
Many restaurants and food trucks in my area provide tipping options for customers who pick up take-out orders.
During the height of COVID-19, I would leave tips for take-out orders due to the extraordinary circumstances.
I have now stopped tipping for take-out orders.
What additional service is being provided which warrants a tip?
I always tip when dining in a restaurant which provides service.
That's interesting. Verizon gives a $10 or $20 discount when you pay FiOS bills with autopay, so long as you don't pay by credit card. But it makes an exception for its own Verizon Visa. Doesn't work for me though. I've already got other cards that give me 5% on groceries and 4% on gas and can't see getting a card just for FiOS.
A few bucks gets put on my United Visa each year just to keep the ~1M miles I have active
United stopped expiring miles a few years ago. "Our miles never expire ..."
Perhaps there's something special about keeping a 1M balance?
If merchants neglect to mention surcharges for Mastercard or Visa purchases, they are not following defined rules for surcharging.
In NYS, a merchant must disclose total price including credit card surcharges (in dollars) prior to sale. AFAIK it's an open question as to whether out-of-state merchants selling to NYS residents must comply.
Still with CapitalOne at 1.5% for everything, no fee
CapitalOne seems to have an excellent reputation, and as I noted above, price matches on its travel "portal", making its Venture cards more valuable than other banks' for travelers.
This may need to be verified, but it seems like if you enroll in the free U.S. Bank Smart Rewards program they will waive the IRA fee starting @ $50K plus give you a few other perks.
If so: 3% cash back @ $50K IRA and 4% cash back @ $100K IRA - no annual fee.
Cash payment is far from dead. Many utility companies accept auto-pay only through your checking account. Some grocery stores and small retailers accept cash payment in form of either checks and debit card, Gas stations offer two tier pricing on gas for either debit card or credit card.
The surcharges in restaurants are ridiculous. Many now are asking for 20+% for tips. In Europe there is no tipping required. The business pay their decent wages.