When picking which credit cards belong in your wallet, benefits, and category bonuses are the topics we focus on most. But which credit card do you use for everyday spend? If you’re not careful, you’ll be missing out on a ton of rewards when using your credit cards for your daily purchases. I recently applied for the Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Card and I think it might be the best one for non-bonus spend.
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5 reasons why you should apply for the Alliance Cashback Visa Signature Card
Although you may not have heard about this cashback credit card, there are five reasons why you should apply:
3% cashback on all purchases in the first year
Your brain is busy thinking about so many things, the last thing you want to keep track of is another set of category bonuses. With the Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Card, you don’t need to worry. Every purchase will earn 3% cash back during the first year.
Earn unlimited cash back
Some credit cards that offer higher cash back rates, like the Chase Freedom or Discover it, limit the amount of cash back that you can earn each year.
The Alliant Cashback card allows you to earn an unlimited 3% in the first year after approval. Then, you’ll continue to earn an unlimited 2.50% cash back as long as you have the credit card.
Waived annual fee the first year
When applying for a new credit card, I’m not afraid of paying an annual fee if I’m receiving great perks. The Alliant Cashback credit card’s main perk is the 3% cash back during the first year and 2.5% cash back going forward.
It’s from a different bank
There are a lot of great credit cards available out there, however, those cards are concentrated among a limited number of banks. As you know, it pays to diversify your applications away from the big banks to steer clear of their limitations, such as the Chase 5/24, Amex once-per-lifetime bonus, and Citi 24-month rules.
Additional perks of the Alliant Cashback card
There are some additional benefits that may be useful for some cardholders:
- Secondary rental car insurance
- Extended warranty protection up to $10,000
- Travel and emergency assistance services
- 90-day purchase protection up to $500 per item
Some of the credit cards in your wallet may already offer these benefits, so you may not find value in them.
See also: 17 Hidden benefits of the American Express Platinum Card
Two major downsides of the Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Card
As great as this credit card is, there are a couple of downsides that you should be aware of. There is no signup bonus and the annual fee negates the 2.5% cash back for small spenders.
No signup bonus
In our world, we love getting sign-up bonuses when applying for a new credit card. Unfortunately, the Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Card does not have a sign-up bonus.
Instead, the 0.50% extra in cash back is a 20% bump on the standard cashback rates you’ll earn in the second year and beyond. With many signup bonuses equal to at least $500, to earn that much additional cash back on the Alliant Cashback card, you’ll need to spend $100,000 on the card.
Even for big spenders, you may be hard pressed to spend $100,000 in non-bonus category purchases on one credit card. That’s a little over $8,300 per month during the first year.
Spending enough to offset the annual fee
There are some great 2% cash back credit cards available with no annual fee. One of my favorites is the Citi DoubleCash card, and I’ve held it for many years.
The annual fee is waived the first year so you have a year to figure out your spending patterns. Beyond the first year, with an annual fee of $95, cardholders need to spend at least $19,000 (or almost $1600 per month) just to break even on the annual fee vs. a no-fee 2% cash back credit card.
You might be able or willing to do that, but just keep the breakeven point in mind.
See also: My favorite lounges accessible with the Amex Platinum Card
The Bald Thoughts
The Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Card is a tremendous credit card for everyday spend. In some cases, you’ll actually earn more rewards with the Alliant card than some of your other cards’ bonus category spend. During the first year, this credit card is a total no-brainer. After the first year, you’ll have to take a close look at your spending patterns to see if your volume of purchases will offset the annual fee vs. a no-fee 2% rewards card.
Click here to review the latest credit card offers.
So, what is the annual fee.
It is $95 after the first year. I did an analysis at the bottom of the article showing how much you’d need to spend on it to offset the annual fee vs no annual fee 2% cash back credit cards.