US Bank Business Card
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Benefits
- $1,000 offer: spend $15,000 within 150 days of account opening to earn $1,000.
- Unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase.
- Maintain a qualifying balance in an eligible U.S. Bank Business Checking account to earn up to 3.5% cash back on up to $200,000 in eligible purchases annually. See the table below for details:
Qualifying Balances Cashback Rate $15,000 2.5% $75,000 3% $150,000 3.5% - Earn 5% cash back automatically in your highest-spend eligible category each month, on up to $200,000 in spending annually.
Disadvantages
- $295 annual fee, NOT waived for the first year.
- Money held in U.S. Bank Business Checking earns little to no interest, so the opportunity cost can be substantial.
- Not every spending category qualifies for 5% cash back. The current definition is: “Top Categories” include accounting & tax services, airlines, cell phone service providers, dining, entertainment (such as bowling alleys, golf courses, entertainment parks), office supply stores, postal & shipping services, and utilities. These “Top Categories” may change in the future without notice.
- Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF) 是存在的，所以出了美国就不要刷了。
When to Apply
- We recommend waiting until you have at least two years of credit history, a solid understanding of credit cards, and most of the worthwhile cards you qualify for before bothering with U.S. Bank.
Summary
The boosted cash back rates may look attractive, but the opportunity cost of keeping that much money on deposit is substantial. Assuming you could earn 4% APY in a competitive savings account, keeping $150,000 here would cost you $6,000 per year in forgone interest. Even if you max out the $200,000 annual spending cap, the extra 1.5 percentage points in cash back would earn you only $3,000. And don’t forget the annual fee. By this math, parking money here solely to earn a higher cash back rate simply isn’t worth it.
The 5% cash back category is more interesting. If more than approximately $9,833 of your annual spending qualifies for the 5% rate, the additional cash back compared with a flat 2% card could cover the annual fee. Still, the eligible categories seem fairly limited, so this card probably isn’t worth considering for most people.
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