Us Bank’s Smartly Visa Signature card has no annual fee but also no welcome bonus. Even so, because of a benefit from their savings account which can increase earnings on the card, it’s worth a discussion on today’s Card Talk episode.
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Up to 4% Back Everywhere: US Bank’s Smartly Card
(00:11) – What are the basics of the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card
Learn more about this card here.
(00:56) – You can increase earning with a U.S. Bank Smartly Savings account and have certain amounts deposited w/ US Bank…
(02:43) – You’ll need a Smartly Savings Account
(04:03) – But you can point your money toward Self Directed Investing
(07:53) – Be careful how you redeem rewards
(09:58) – How does the US Bank Smartly Card compare to Bank of America’s Platinum Honors?
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Everything was pretty reasonable about getting setup for the Smartly card until I got to the self-directed brokerage. Most mutual funds have $25 transaction fees, setting up dividend reinvestment requires a call (there is no way to enable or see if it is setup online), if you want to sell a specific tax lot you have to call and pay for a broker assisted trade, and account activity alerts are non-existent. I received no notice when my transfer in was complete, and likewise I never got a single notice from USBI when I drained my entire account transferring back out again.
Note that most functions require calling, and phone support is only available M-F during business hours. Form submissions are PDFs that you fill out, sign, scan, and email to a group email address. There is no secure website document submission process.
If you transfer funds in, make sure you record the cost basis of the tax lots before you transfer back out. USBI’s system is broken and despite several escalations and being required to provide the basis information per IRS code 6045, it’s been a month since my transfer out and I’ve had to supply cost basis for the tax lots manually in the meantime. USBI has been unable to provide any ETA for when they might be able to export this required information.
If they are this bad at standard everyday operations for brokerages, how do you think it’s going to go if dividend reporting gets misclassified, or if they bungle the IRS reporting and it doesn’t line up with your 5498 for IRA contributions when you file your taxes? The phone agents are friendly, but you can ask the same question twice and somehow end up with 3 different answers to absolutely basic account functions. It doesn’t inspire any kind of confidence things will get sorted out when anything abnormal happens with your account.
I really like the idea of “simple” 4% cash back, but in the end the brokerage component exceeds my personal risk threshold. I don’t ever plan on crashing my car, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to buy a car without seatbelts and airbags. There are plenty of online brokerage options with effective account monitoring, fully functional online interfaces, 24/7 phone support, and support teams that don’t make you feel like your assets are being tracked in a single beat-up Mead notebook kept locked up in some random office in St Paul.
In terms of avoiding “international” transactions (so as to avoid the “international” transaction fee), does Puerto Rico count as domestic or international under the US Bank Smartly Card definition? For example, here in Puerto Rico the car dealers for some reason want you to pay for your new car with credit card (as opposed to check or wire transfer), so if you buy a $30,000 car then this would mean $1,200 off at the 4% Cashback rate. Also, for paying other expenses here in Puerto Rico such as healthcare insurance premiums, electricity bill, property tax, etc. But I don’t want to pay an international transaction fee.
No mention of the Chase freedom unlimited with xtra 1.5% meaning 3% everywhere, 4.5% dining and drug stores. No annual fee.
I think that extra 1.5% expired
nope. I just got the card 2 weeks ago and am enjoying 3% everywhere, 4.5% drug stores and dining.
I’m in the minority, but I am planning on sticking with my US Bank Altitude Reserve instead of jumping through hoops for 4% cash back.
4.5% cash back worldwide for all ApplePay purchases (almost every place in Europe accepted ApplePay and I can use ApplePay in most apps and on most mobile websites to pay for orders).
I don’t want to bother moving retirement accounts around for the other purchases that I cannot use ApplePay for. I won’t lose sleep over those purchases. Where is the Devil’s Advocate when you need him?!?
I was uncertain at first, then decided to get it as I think it fits my situation.
I’m nearing the “endgame” of SUBs, and are at 42 cards between P1/P2 currently.
I have much more points currency than I have free time to travel.
Ink train seems to be running out of steam.
I’m valuing cash more than points due to diminishing returns.
Also, why not earn 4% cash going forward, and keep points currencies, vs cashing those points out sub optimally.
I have a good amount of non-category spend.
I think of the Smartly as a “long term SUB” to a certain extent.
Given my biz spend, I was considering a PNC biz card that had a 750 sub and 1.5% back on 25k spend.
Well that amounts to about 4.5% cash back on only 25k.
I went through all the hoops to get the Smartly card and to Qualify for the 4%. I already have the USBAR. Right now I’m waiting to see if you can credit cycle I made tax payment and paid it off. My available credit hasn’t changed. So theoretically If they don’t credit cycle your cap is your card limit. You do get 4x on tax payments and if you can write off the fee you are making close to 2.5% making tax payments depending on your tax bracket. The USBAR and Smartly I feel like is the perfect combo. USBAR for domestic travel and Smartly to buy points if you find a deal.
Yes You can product change this card from a cash back card like GO, but NOT from Korean Air card or any other co branded card. Been there done that.
As you point out the lost cash from use of other cards has now gone up by 50%
It was 2.625c at BofA now it is 4c
I think of Cap One Venture or Citi Double Cash as buying points with 1.3c cost
Now those points will cost me 2c each in lost cash
Ditto the businessPlus Amex
I still use my Amex Platinum for airfare and my Ink Cash for (cough cough) office supply stores, but the lost cash aspect of them is now a toss up.
I can get 200$ cards for free = 8$ cash back here = 5 Ultimate Rewrda @ 1.6c each
= about their value
I predict a devaluation in earn soon, but am going to maximize this while the going is good. Long term if this lasts any other card will only be used for signup bonuses.
This is a great card for the P2
By extension, using the CSR for hotels or restaurants at 3X is like buying points at 1.333 CPP. Greg and Nick, would you be “buying” points at that price?
It’s close but for Ultimate Rewards, yes I’m a buyer at that price.
I understand the buying points concept. But, I also look at the value I’m getting. If a person’s airline target is a domestic carrier, with low redemption rates, I get the argument and four percent cash back is the better deal. But, if we’re talking about international travel, to me, it’s not.
If a person transfers a bank point to (say) Air France with a 25 percent transfer bonus AND is redeeming Air France points for a minimum of 2.5 CPP, the person is getting just over 3 CPP for their MR, UR, or TY points. At 3X, we’re talking about a reward rate of over 9 percent.
Now, imagine when TY points transfer to AA. And, you book Etihad Apartment for how many AA points? My sense is you’ll go the transferable points route over the four percent cash back route.
Under such circumstances, I’ll buy points for 1.333 CPP all day long. Other people have other circumstances and priorities and will opt for the cash back. That’s fine.
Until Citi allows TY transfer to AA, getting AA points by SPENDING is costing you 4c each = 70k redemptioni is actually 2800$
SUB cost is lower obviously, but spending for AA points not a good idea.
Did you not read what I wrote? I said that in the case of a domestic airline as a person’s target, four percent cash back is the better choice. I was agreeing with you.
But, if the target is Etihad first class using AA points, you’re looking at $6200 for LHR or CDG to AUH and a roughly 9 CPP redemption rate. The points costing 1.333 CPP.
“Until” is 2026
I think that an important piece of the puzzle is how many transferable points you already have. If I was low on them I’d be a buyer at 1.33 and maybe even more. But when flush with points the price I’d buy them for is lower.