New Uber Visa looks great for a no-fee card

Today, Barclaycard introduced a much-anticipated new card: The Uber Visa Credit Card. This card has been announced and applications will be available on November 2nd.

The Offer

• Get 10,000 points (good for $100 cash back) after you spend $500 in the first 90 days

Card Details

• Earns 4% cash back at eateries
• Earns 3% cash back on some travel categories (including hotels, airlines, and vacation home rentals)
• Earns 2% cash back for online purchases
• Earns 1% everywhere else
• Annual $50 subscription credit when you spend $5,000 in a year (good for things like Netflix, HBO NOW, Amazon Prime, etc) — note that this benefit kicks in during the second year if you spend $5K in year 1)
• Up to $600 mobile phone insurance against theft or damage when you charge your total monthly bill to the card ($25 deductible)
• No foreign transaction fees
• Link to more information
• Link to FAQs

Quick Thoughts

This is probably the most interesting no-fee credit card we’ve seen in a while. First of all, it’s really got nothing to do with Uber. Sure, you could redeem the points for Uber credit instead of cash back, but why bother with that when you could buy discounted Uber gift cards now and then? Aside from that, it’s just a really interesting cash back card.

I’d rather have 3 points per dollar on dining offered by the CSR, but I know that many people would argue that cash is king. At 4% back on dining and 3% on certain travel categories (including AirBnB in vacation home rentals), this card offers the best bang for your buck in those categories on a no-fee card. Between those categories and 2% for online purchases, I think that this card will offer a spending bonus on the vast majority of purchases for most millennials and many of other generations. The one key drawback is the exclusion of PayPal/Android Pay/Apple Pay/other mobile wallets — those purchases will only earn 1%. That’s kind of surprising, but you can’t have it all on a no-fee card. I think this card is likely to be more attractive to many people than the effective 2% offered by the Citi Double Cash and even the long-term 2.5% earning of the Alliant Cashback Visa, though that depends on your spending patterns.

Furthermore, the inclusion of cell phone insurance when you charge your entire bill to the card is a slick move that will ensure card holders keep those charges on the Uber card and the annual subscription benefit is yet another shrewd move to keep cardholders spending on it throughout the year. A fifty dollar credit won’t be enough of a carrot to entice those who regularly open new cards for signup bonuses, but I suspect it will influence the behavior of their target market.

The Uber Credit Card will be live for applications in November 2nd. When it is, we will add it to our Best Offers page.

H/T: Doctor of Credit

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