Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card Review

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A Great Long-Term Option for Maximizing Cash Back

While many rewards credit cards tempt you with bonus rewards for specific purchases, these cards invariably offer a mere 1% rewards rate on the vast majority of charges that don’t qualify for a bonus. And with many of these cards, the amount of purchases that are eligible for your bonus is capped, restricting the overall potential value.

But with the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card, you simply receive a high level of cash rewards on purchases. There’s no need to register for anything, and there are no limits on the amount of cash rewards you can earn.

Pros

Earn an unlimited 2% cash back on every single purchase
No annual fee
Automatic cellphone protection when you pay your monthly bill with the card

Cons

Points don't transfer to travel partners unlike other card currencies
No bonus earning categories

Welcome Bonus

New applicants can earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $1,000 on the card within the first three months of account opening.

Just remember that the three months you have to meet the minimum spending requirement begins when your account is opened. This is typically the day you’re approved for the card, and is not when your credit card is mailed, received, activated or first used. However, you can immediately use the card’s digital wallet features once you’ve been approved for a new account.

Rewards Rate

With the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card, you earn 2% cash rewards on purchases. There’s no need to sign up for anything.

Introductory APR

New accounts receive 0% intro APR financing on both new purchases and qualifying balance transfers for 15 months from account opening (then a 19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% (Variable) APR applies depending on creditworthiness). Qualifying balance transfers must be made within 120 days of account opening (the day your new account was approved).

When you perform a balance transfer, according to this offer, there’s a 3% balance transfer fee applied to your new balance. But after the 0% Intro APR offer ends, a balance transfer fee of up to 5% applies, and transfers won’t receive the 0% APR promotional financing. There’s a minimum $5 fee for each transfer.

Be sure to use caution with these types of 0% intro APR offers. Receiving financing is great, but not if it encourages you to make unnecessary purchases and incur debt.

Fees

Other fees include a 3% Foreign Currency Conversion fee applied to each transaction converted to U.S. dollars. This appears to be slightly different from most cards' foreign transaction fee, which applies more broadly to any transaction processed outside the United States, even in U.S. dollars. Either way, you’ll come out 1% behind if you use this card to make purchases from foreign merchants in a foreign currency, whether or not you’re actually visiting that country or placing an order from home.

Credit Score

Unlike some credit card issuers, Wells Fargo doesn’t list either the credit score needed to qualify for their cards, or even a description of the credit score required, such as “good” or “excellent.” Instead, Wells Fargo considers many factors when considering applications for new accounts.

In general, people who’ve had serious credit problems are unlikely to qualify for the most competitive reward cards, like this one. And those without excellent credit who are approved are unlikely to qualify for the lowest interest rates. But the fact that the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card is offered with a range of interest rates could be an indication that those with a range of credit profiles could be approved for this card.

Great Cash Back Card

Earn Unlimited 2% Cash Rewards on Purchases

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Secure application on issuer’s website

Rates & Fees

Benefits

Some card issuers, like Citi, have stripped nearly all of the once common purchase protection and travel insurance benefits from their cards. Other card issuers, like Chase and American Express have retained their benefits and even enhanced some.

Wells Fargo's stance on cardholder benefits is somewhat in the middle. It never offered a huge amount of benefits, but in recent years, it hasn’t gone out of its way to eliminate the ones it has traditionally offered.

Included are:

Cellphone protection policy. This policy offers $600 worth of coverage if your phone is damaged or stolen. To utilize this coverage, you just have to pay your monthly mobile phone bill with your card. Just note that there’s a $25 deductible.
Visa Signature Concierge. This service is available 24/7 and offers assistance with travel, dining and entertainment planning.
Visa Signature Luxury Hotel collection. This program offers you substantial hotel discounts and benefits when booking accommodations through it. Sample offers include a third night free when you book two nights, or 30% off room rates. And when staying also receive a $25 food and beverage credit, free continental breakfasts and complimentary in-room wifi. And upon availability, you’ll receive room upgrades and a 3 p.m. late checkout.

Redeeming Rewards

The Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card offers rewards as part of the Wells Fargo Rewards^® Program. Redemption options include travel, merchandise or select charitable donations.

Cardholders can share Wells Fargo Rewards^® rewards with other Wells Fargo Rewards^® customers, get gift cards for family and friends, redeem their rewards as a credit for an eligible Wells Fargo credit product or apply them as a deposit to an eligible Wells Fargo checking or savings account. There’s no annual cap on the amount of cash rewards cardholders can earn, and rewards won’t expire as long as the account remains open. You can also redeem for purchases that you’ve already made.

This is as competitive as the Citi® Double Cash Card, from our partner Citi, which has a system of offering 1% back at the time of purchase and another 1% when you pay for your purchases.

Bottom Line

Finding the best cash rewards credit card is a lot easier than trying to figure out travel rewards. With travel rewards, each point or mile is worth something different to different people, but cash rewards always hold value.

Some people play the cash rewards game at a high level, carrying several cards that they use for specific purchases that they can earn a bonus on. But the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card is designed to offer a high level of cash rewards for purchases, with no category limitations to worry about. So you can use this as your only card, and end up with a very respectable amount of cash rewards.

Inevitably, some people will pair the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card with another rewards card, such as a travel card, that can offer them bonus rewards or specific benefits. But even if you do that, it’s great to know that you’ll never earn less than 2% cash rewards, and you’ll never have any activations or annual fees to worry about with this credit card.

There are now several cards that offer 2% cash rewards on purchases, in some form or another. But when you consider this credit card’s benefits and its valuable promotional financing offer, you might find that the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card is the best one for your spending habits.

Unlimited 2% Back

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