Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards Visa® Review

(All information about this card has been collected independently by CardRatings).

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grown popular over the past decade, leading many people to become interested in the new technology but unsure of how they can jump on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.

The CardName is a unique rewards card that offers you the opportunity to earn Bitcoin when you make everyday purchases; therefore, it's a low-risk (albeit, not terribly high reward) way to test the Bitcoin waters.

HOW DOES THE CardName WORK?

The CardName is a standard Visa credit card. You can use your card to make purchases from any store that accepts Visa, just like you would with any other credit card.

Here's where the Bitcoin part comes in: Use your card to make purchases and earn 1.5% back in Bitcoin after you make payments on your purchases. Additionally, you can earn a $200 Bitcoin welcome bonus on your card after opening a Rewards Checking Plus account and making three debit transaction in the first 60 days from when you opened your card. (Note: To qualify for the welcome bonus, you must open and fund a new Rewards Checking Plus account through Upgrade and make 3 qualifying debit card transactions from your Rewards Checking Plus account within 60 days of the date the Rewards Checking Plus account is opened. If you have previously opened a checking account through Upgrade or do not open a Rewards Checking Plus account as part of this application process, you are not eligible for this welcome bonus offer. Your Upgrade Card and Rewards Checking Plus account must be open and in good standing to receive a bonus. To qualify, debit card transactions must have settled and exclude ATM transactions. Please refer to the applicable Upgrade VISA® Debit Card Agreement and Disclosures for more information. Welcome bonus offers cannot be combined, substituted, or applied retroactively. The bonus will be applied to your Rewards Checking Plus account as a one-time payout credit within 60 days after meeting the conditions.)

Upgrade works with a company, NYDIG, which purchases and holds the Bitcoin on your behalf. For example, if you make a $100 purchase using the card, you'll earn $1.50 worth of Bitcoin when you pay for that purchase. As Bitcoin's value changes, the value of your accumulated rewards will change. If Bitcoin increases in price, your rewards balance will also increase.

When you want to redeem your rewards, you can ask NYDIG to sell the Bitcoin on your behalf (there is a 1.5% transaction fee for this service) and your proceeds are redeemable only for statement credit.

FEATURED CARD

 

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• Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It® to split up large purchases into monthly installments. Pay $0 intro plan fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each eligible purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.
• Low Intro APR: 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 19.24% - 29.99%. Variable APRs will not exceed 29.99%.
• 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
• 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
• 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
• 3% Cash Back on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).
• 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
• Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
• Get up to $120 in statement credits annually when you pay for an auto-renewing subscription to Equinox+ at equinoxplus.com with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. That's $10 in statement credits each month. Enrollment required.
• Thinking about getting the Disney Bundle which can include Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+? Your decision made easy with $7/month back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $9.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription (subject to auto renewal) with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. Enrollment required.
• Terms Apply.

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Terms and Limitations Apply

Credit Needed:

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LINE OF CREDIT VS. TRADITIONAL CREDIT CARD

One thing that sets the CardName apart from other credit cards is that Upgrade offers the option to transition your card's balance to a fixed-rate payment plan.

Like a typical credit card, the CardName has a variable interest rate for your card balance. You get a bill at the end of the billing cycle to pay for the purchases you made. If you don't pay the balance in full, interest will begin to accrue.

What makes it different is that if you don't pay the balance off, Upgrade will automatically convert your card's balance into a fixed-rate payment plan. The interest rate for the balance of these payment plans won't change once the plan starts, which can help you save on interest if rates begin to rise. Your APR and credit line depend upon credit score, purchase and payment history and other factors.

Each month of the payment plan, you'll make the same payment, which should help with budget predictability. With a traditional credit card, the payment can change based on the purchases you make and changes to the interest rate.

CardName FEES

The CardName card doesn't charge an annual fee. Because cash advances aren't available with this card, you also don't have to worry about those fees.

The card does charge foreign transaction fees of foreign_fee.

The primary fee that cardholders need to understand is the 1.5% fee for any reward redemptions. If you have $100 worth of Bitcoin in your rewards account and want to redeem it, you'll only receive a statement credit for $98.50.

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES OF THE CardName

As already mentioned, this card allows you to dabble in volatile cryptocurrency without substantial risk, but there are a number of drawbacks to the CardName card.

Firstly, is that volatility. It will take one to two statement periods from the time you make your payment to the time your Bitcoin rewards are purchased, and a lot can change with Bitcoin's value in that time. Furthermore, there is a 90-day holding period before you can redeem the Bitcoin you've earned so, again the value of your rewards could change dramatically between the time you earn them and the time you redeem them.

Sure, there's a chance that the Bitcoin will gain value before you redeem, but it's just as likely that it will lose value instead.

Another drawback is that you never really get full access to the Bitcoin you earn. You can't transfer it to another crypto wallet or sell it and pocket the proceeds; you can only redeem it for a statement credit toward your card balance.

The card also offers a worse rewards rate than other cash-back credit cards. For example, the CardName offers the equivalent of 2% back on every purchase, 1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay for your purchase (as long as minimum due is paid on time), and cards with category bonuses can offer as much as 5% or more in cash back. Given this, if your primary goal is earning credit cards rewards rather than sampling the Bitcoin world, you'd likely be better off with a more traditional cash-back rewards card. Citi is a CardRatings advertiser.

CardName CARDHOLDER SCORES

HOW DOES THE CardName COMPARE TO OTHER CARDS

CardName vs. CardName

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The CardName is a rewards card that has no annual fee and offers 3% cash back rewards for a year when you set up direct deposit with SoFi. After that, earn 2% unlimited cash back on purchases when redeemed toward investing, saving, or paying down an eligible loan with SoFi. At a rate of 2% back, you can redeem your rewards to a Sofi investment account or directly to another Sofi account, adding to the balance of your savings or brokerage account, or redeem to pay down a SoFi loan.

The Sofi Unlimited 2% Credit Card doesn't charge an annual fee or foreign transaction fees. Unlike the Upgrade card, any balance leftover on the Sofi card will be handled as a traditional credit card balance and accrue interest at a variable interest rate.

CardName vs. CardName

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The CardName is almost identical to the Bitcoin version, but without offering rewards in the form of crypto.

Neither card charges an annual fee and both offer monthly fixed-rate payment plans, making them good choices for people who want an inexpensive card with affordable monthly payments when you carry a balance.

The obvious difference is that the CardName gives you simple cash back that you can redeem for a statement credit on your card. The value of your rewards won't fluctuate with the value of Bitcoin, and there's no fee when you redeem your rewards.

Additionally, the cash rewards version is available to people with fair credit, whereas the Bitcoin version is geared toward people with good/excellent credit. Apart from the credit score audience, the biggest difference here is whether you want to try Bitcoin rewards or you're happy with straightforward 1.5% cash back.

CardName vs. CardName

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CardName is a basic category-based rewards card, offering unlimited 1.5% back on most purchases, with higher rewards rates for certain types of spending. Earn 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on Chase travel; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining; and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases

You can redeem your rewards – they're awarded in the form of points for cash back or for travel and other options through Chase Travel. Combine the card with a premium card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards, such as Chase Sapphire Preferred®, and you can unlock more redemption options like transferring points to airline and hotel loyalty programs.

Like the CardName, Freedom Unlimited® charges no annual fee, but does charge foreign transaction fees – for Freedom Unlimited® they're foreign_fee.

Additionally, Freedom Unlimited® is a traditional credit card when it comes to paying off balances: You'll pay a variable interest rate and different payments each month. Chase Freedom Unlimited®, however, does offer an intro 0% APR period of 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (then, RegAPR).

IS THE CardName A GOOD CARD?

Overall, the CardName is a fine card for people who are interested in exploring the cryptocurrency landscape, but it isn't the best choice out there.

With the low rewards rate, fees for redeeming your rewards and restrictions on what you can do with the proceeds, you'd likely be better off using a more traditional cash-back card and using the cash back earned to purchase cryptocurrency through a traditional exchange.

The monthly payment plan is a nice benefit, but you can get the same perk by going with the CardName while getting more predictable cash back that won't fluctuate in value.

Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September and October 2021 to conduct surveys among 1,524 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2021-Aug. 31, 2021 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. "Current Scores" reflect scores from the most recent survey; "Past Scores (avg.)" are the scores averaged over each prior year the card has been surveyed. "Past Scores" indicates a card has only been surveyed in one prior year.