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In my recent post “Cash+ Experiments in Progress,” I described some experiments I had launched with my new US Bank Cash+ credit card. In the comments of that post, readers pointed me to some helpful threads on FatWallet and SlickDeals. Based on reading those threads and some personal experience so far, I can now give an interim update.
Verify that the cash back rate is 6.25% when redeeming rewards $100 at a time.
Interim answer: True, but with a catch
When you cash out your awards in $100 increments, US Bank promises to give you a $25 bonus. What I didn’t realize before is that the $25 bonus is delivered as a bank gift card. It’s still a very useful perk, but not as great as getting cash or a statement credit.
Interim findings are based on multiple posts from FatWallet and SlickDeals.
Verify that checking account bonuses stack with other bonuses for up to 9.375% cash back.
Interim answer: False
US Bank has two checking accounts that offer an automatic rewards bonus for Cash+ and FlexPerks cardholders. The Gold account offers a 25% monthly bonus, and the Platinum account offers a 50% monthly bonus. You can find the checking account signup offers here. In my last post I speculated that if these bonuses stack with the $25 bonus for each $100 withdrawn, then you can increase your 5% return to 7.8% or 9.375%, respectively! However, reports from FatWallet and SlickDeals assert that the 25% and 50% bonuses are on the 1% base rewards, not on the bonus category rewards. If that’s true, then you can only increase your 5% return to 6.5625% or 6.875% depending on which account you get.
Interim findings are based on multiple posts from FatWallet and SlickDeals.
Platinum Checking Package
In order to get the 50% bonus on cash rewards, I signed up for Platinum Checking Package, which is a combination of a checking account and money market. In the process, I discovered two nice bonuses: 1) I was able to fund the accounts up to $500 with a credit card; and 2) I don’t need to deposit $25K to get fees waived…
Upon sign-up, I was prompted to fund the checking account and money market and was given the option of using a credit card. I used my Target Amex and put $300 into one account and $200 into the other. It’s possible that some credit cards would treat this as a cash advance and charge a fee, but American Express prepaid cards do not. This was a nice way to cash out $500 from that card!
Regarding fees, the signup page for the Platinum Checking Package says that monthly fees can be waived with “$25,000 in combined personal deposit, investment and/or credit balances.” That sounded like a big hurdle to me until a US Bank rep told me that my combined credit limit across US Bank credit cards is more than $25,000, so my fees will be automatically waived. I didn’t realize that “credit limit” was what they meant by “and/or credit balances”. I sent a secure message to US Bank to double check this and they confirmed the same answer. So, while getting an extra .25% cash back (over the Gold package) isn’t a big deal, it’s nice that one can qualify for that without having to maintain a large balance!
It’s also almost worth noting that the Platinum accounts accrue interest, but the current rates are so small that I almost didn’t bother mentioning it.
Check whether Kiva loans count as charity contributions
Interim answer: Yep.
See what counts as Department Store purchases
Thanks again to commenters from the earlier post, I learned about a great website that helps to figure out which stores count within different categories. Please see “How to find bonus merchants“. From this site, it is clear, for example, that Target will not count as a department store, but Kmart probably will. I’ll do a test purchase at Kmart to confirm.
I also learned that information has been actively collected on SlickDeals already. See this wiki page for details. Most of the information on the Wiki so far relates to the Bill Pay and Electronics categories, but hopefully the list will grow over time. One item about Department Stores struck me as odd: supposedly Sears counts as a department store, but Sears.com does not. I find that hard to believe, so I’ll run my own experiment there.
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Amol: I don’t remember, but I think that I opened the checking account pretty much right away after getting approved for the Cash+.
Quick question, when did you open your Checking Account in relation to your Cash+ card? I’ve had FlexPerks for about 6 months now and just opened my checking account, and want to see when my .25-point bonus will kick in.
Interesting. I am actually opening a US Bank Gold checking account right now (was at Walmart filling up Bluebird and saw a $175 bonus for opening a Checking + Savings, so figured might as well).
I manufacture a lot of spend on my FlexPerks, so even a .25-point bonus is welcome, even if just for 6 months before my AF is due.
Update: A fee for my Platinum checking account showed up on my latest statement. When I called and explained that multiple reps had previously told me there would be no fee, they reversed the fee, but said that I would be charged in the future. So, I switched to a Gold account and will fund it to $2500. I’ll cancel that too if they remove the checking bonuses..
Amol: I don’t know. Sounds like more of a devaluation…
FM, the current US Bank website says that the Checking account bonuses are only good through August 10, 2013. Is that for new accounts, or have you heard anything about your checking bonuses leaving after that?
Got this clarification from customer support.
Thank you for using U.S. Bank’s online services to contact us.
We can certainly clarify the requirements of the Platinum Checking Package. The combined balance requirement means you must have on deposit, or owe, U.S. Bank at least $25,000.00 across all of your accounts to have the monthly maintenance fee waived for this account type. Having available credit limits that exceed $25,000.00 will not waive the fee.
Again, thank you for contacting U.S. Bank via email. Please let us know if we can assist you with anything else.
Sincerely,
Kelli Doyle
Email Operations
U.S. Bank 24-Hour Banking and Financial Sales
Will Wong: That’s so strange. The email clarification I got was very different and confirmed my understanding. I also still have not been charged a fee in all this time. I only have $500 in my accounts.
Confucius Jackson: Thanks for the tip!
[…] and department store purchases. Within those categories, I earn a 6.875% rebate (see “Cash+ Update“). Each quarter I’ll have a chance to re-evaluate which categories to select for 5X […]
I’ve found that the $25 GCs are good to use at Target for paying for prescriptions, since the Target Redcard debit doesn’t give you 5% back on those. The prescription still counts as one of the five towards a 5% storewide coupon.
[…] test the limits of my new credit cards: the U.S. Bank Cash+ and the Discover More card (see “Cash+ Update” and “Discover More Experiments in Progress“). Here is what I […]
I was planning to get this card on my next cycle, but according to the U.S. Bank website, this card is currently only available in person at a branch.
There are no U.S. Bank branches where I currently live, so this makes things challenging.
Is the in-person application requirement new? I’m just wondering if they’ve tightened the reigns on this.
Ki7roy: Yes, this seems to be new. Hopefully they’ll open it back up to online applications soon.
Has anybody else had trouble finding a signup promo for the checking account? I can’t seem to find any working links for the recent bonuses that were offered as recently as 2 weeks ago ($200, $150, etc.)
Thanks!
Jason
Thanks again for the great post.
FYI –
As for the Platinum package, I just called to ask for an upgrade from Gold as my combined limit is over 25K too. However, I was told that the 25K does not include credit card limit. I will need to transfer some money to my account to make it Platinum.
I see you meant Kiva Loans in the context of US Bank count in the charity contribution category, but not for IRS purposes. I was thinking because you eventually receive your money back (possibly not all), I don’t see how that is a charitable contribution.
Sun: I see what you mean. No, Kiva loans are definitely not counted as charitable contributions for IRS purposes. It is just that US Bank counts them as Charitable contributions for 5% back.
JX: I have an email from US Bank confirming that my credit limit does count, but I won’t be surprised at all if I get hit with the monthly fee anyway. I’ll post about it once I know one way or another for certain.
@FM: Do you have any experience with combined balances with other banks? I do not have a US bank credit card but I’d love to get benefits of my credit card limits for getting better Savings/ Checking accounts in other banks (Chase, Citibank).
Picmeup: No, I don’t have experience with that