AOD Visa Signature: [3% Cash Back on All Purchases]
REVIEW

At A Glance: 3% is highest flat rate

AODFCU is Federal Credit Union located in Alabama and you have to be a member to get this card (more info on that later). The AOD (Annistan Ordinance Depot) Visa Signature is a flat rate cash back credit card that allows you to earn 3% cash back on all purchases. This is the highest cash back earnings for a flat rate card as most offer 2% flat rate. Aside from having the highest cash back earning, the AOD Visa also has no foreign transaction fee (which is rare for a cash back credit card) or balance transfer fee (though they do not have any 0% APR deal). The cash back you earn are automatically redeemed as a statement credit every month. Those who are looking to maximize their cash back earnings would want to take a closer look and consider this card.

Card Details

Annual Fee	$0
Regular APR	7.49% - 17.49% *Variable
Balance Transfer Fee	No balance transfer fee
Foreign Transaction Fee	0%
Cash Back	3% on all purchases%

Cash Back Rewards - The key feature of this card is it's 3% cash back you can earn on all purchases. This is the highest flat rate earnings in the market today.

Cash Back Redemption - Cash Back is redeemed automatically every month via statement credit.

No Foreign Transaction Fee - This card has no foreign transaction fee, which is really rare for a flat rate cash back card.

No Balance Transfer Fee - This card has no balance transfer fee though there is no 0% APR balance transfer deal. The balance transfer rate is your regular APR you have been assigned.

Low APR - The APR ranges from 7.49% to 17.49% and you could get a chance of getting a really low APR.

May on may not get Signature Visa Version - The AOD Visa Signature version allows you to earb 3% cash back. If you do not get the Signature Version but get the platinum version instead, you will only earn 1% cash back.

Starting Credit Limit of $5,000 - If you do get approved, your starting credit limit will be at least $5,000. We have had feedback from cardholders who have gotten $25,000 to $30,000 starting credit lines.

Competition

Card	Annual Fee	Cash Back	Redemption
AOD Visa Signature	$0	3%	Statement Credits
Alliant Cash Back Visa	$0	2.5%	Alliant Checking Account
BOA Unlimited Cash	$0	1.5% - 2.65%	BOA Checking Account
Fidelity Rewards Via	$0	2%	Eligible Fidelity Accounts
Citi DoubleCash	$0	2%	Any Checking Account
SoFi Credit Card	$0	SoFi Loans or Investment Accounts
Wells Fargo Active Cash	$0	Wells Fargo Accounts or Mortgage
TD Double Up	$59	$0	TD Checking Account

I like to divide the flat rate cash back credit card into two groups. The first group consist of cards that allow you to redeem your cash back into any banking account (not just the ones with the card issuer). In fact, this group of cards is extremely small and the most popular one is the Citi Double Cash, which allows you to earn 2% cash back on all purchases and you can redeem the cash back to a non-Citi checking account.

Most other flat rate cash back credit cards require you to have a checking account with investment account with the issuer and AOD is no different. Most also offer 2% cash back on all purchases while lower tier flat rate credit cards offer only 1.5% cash back. So from a cash back earning perspective, the AOD Credit Union Visa Signature beats all these 2% flat rate credit cards with a 3% earning rate. There are however, two flat rate credit cards that earn more than 2% cash back so I will focus my comparision of the AOD Visa Signature with these two cards.

The first card that I want to mention is the Alliant Cash Back Visa, which allows you to earn 2.5% cash back for up to $10,000 in monthly spending. LIke AOD, you have to join the Alliant CU. But in addition to that and having to open a checking account with them, you have to go through a couple of hoops like having an average daily balance of $1,000 in your checking account and also having to have at least one electronic transfer into your checking account a month to qualify in order to earn 2.5% cash back. So unlike AOD, Alliant requires you to jump through so much more hoops to earn 2.5%. In constrast, you simply have to join AOCCU, open a checking account and have a great credit score to get the card and earn 3% cash back on all purchases with no limits.

The other flat rate card that earns more than 2% is the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Visa. Actually, you only earn 1.5% flat rate with this card. But if you have a BOA checking account with more than $151,000 balance, you qualify as a platinum honors account and will earn 2.65% cash back instead. Still, the AODCU beats this card because you earn 3% cash back and you certainly do not need $151,000 in your checking account to be able to earn the 3%.

Pros: What We Like

• Highest Flat Rate Cash Back - 3% cash back for all purchases is the highest flat rate cash back available today.


• No Foreign Transaction Fee - The AOD Visa Signature card is one of the rare flat rate cash back credit cards that have no foreign transaction fee.


• Minimum $5,000 Starting Credit Line - You need a good to excellent credit score to get approved for this card. Having said that, your minimum starting credit limit will be at least $5,000.


• Potential to get low APR - The APR ranges from 7.49% to 17.99% so you do have the potential to get a very low rate for this card.


• No Balance Transfer Fee - Though it does not have a 09% APR balance transfer deal, you can transfer a balance at your existing APR and pay no balance transfer fee.


• Cash Back Automatically Posted - The cash back you earn are automatically posted as statement credit.


• Purchase and Cash Advance APR are identical - Most cards have a higher cash advance APR than the regular purchase APR. However, this card has them both at the same APR so you will be penalized if you take a cash advance with the card (though we never recommend that).

Cons: What We Don't Like

• Cash Back can only be redeemed for statement credits - Though the cash back you earn will be automatically redeemed as a statement credit, that is the only way you can redeem it. This will disappoint those who would rather redeem it into their checking account rather than just cash back.


• No Tap to Pay - The AOD card has no contactless pay though they are available on mobile wallets.


• Application Process requires lots of documents - When you apply for this card, you will be asked to upload documents like pay stubs etc (which many mainstream issuers do not require).


• Does not have Visa Signature Benefits - Though this card is officially called "Visa Signature", it does not have the typical Visa Signature benefits like purchase protection and warranty extension. If you are making a big purchase (like for example an electronics) and want to have this benefit, then this is not the best card to use.

Our Take: Highest Flat Rate Earning Credit Card

I'll cut to the chase here. At 3% flat rate cash back earnings all purchases, the AOD Visa Signature has the highest flat rate cash back earnings among all flat rate cards. In fact, 3% is the cash back rate for many Bonus Cateory Cash Back credit cards and it really raises the bar for these other bonus category cards. AOD is a credit union in Alabama so you need to be eligible to join. However, as some have pointed out, there is an easy way round this by joining the Northeast Alabama Bycycle Association before you apply for membership. Aside from having the highest flat rate earnings, it also has no foreign transaction fee (very rare for a cash back credit card though much more common in travel credit cards). You could also get potentially a very low APR and there is no balance transfer fee (though there is no 0% APR offer).

There are a few things that you should be aware of. Firstly, the cash back can only be redeemed via statement credits (which happen automatically). Some of you might be picky about this because you would rather have you cash back deposited into your checking account rather than getting it via a statement credit. Secondly, though the card is named "Visa Signature", you do not get typical Visa Signature benefits like travel and purchases insurances. If you are planning on getting this card and need these features, then it is best to have other cards that have these features so you can use them rather than the AOD when you need to. Though there is no foreign transaction fee, the AOD Visa Signature does not have Contactless Pay or Tap to Pay, which are really common abroad (especially in Europe).

Another thing to be aware of is that their app is and website is pretty basic (which is typical of many federal credit union website and app). So you should not expect slick apps like you will find with the Amex's and Chase.

To sum up, based on evaluations and review, we give the AOD Visa Signature a 4.6 star rating based on it's 3% flat rate earning, absence of foreign transaction and balance transfer fee, low APR. It's lack of contactless pay, actual Visa Signature benefits and lack of redemption options (aside from statement credits) prevents us from giving this card a 5 out of 5 star rating and we realize that some of these drawbacks will deter some from getting this card as there are many 2% flat rate credit cards around. But if all you care about is the 3% earnings, then the AODFCU Visa Signature gets our highest recommendation.

Customer Reviews

I have had this card for over a year now. The 3% cash back is sweet. But paying your bills is a pain. Their website is pretty old fashion and app also sucks big time. There are also no Visa Signature benefits and I miss the benefits like warranty extension.

The application process requires you to uploads lots of documents including SSN, drivers license, proof of income etc. The 3% cash is is nice and is automatically redeemed as a statement credit. The website and app is really bad and I guess typical of FCUs. But no one can beat 3% and I gladly live with the inconvenience.

I have both the AOD Visa Signature and the BOA unlimited Cash. I am a Platinum Honors member and so earn 2.625% with my BOA unlimited cash. While I earn less with BOA, I have stopped using the AOD Visa because the website is really clunky. Every month, I have to log in to the website and go to an external website to pay because the bill amount is often incorrect.

How to apply?

Applying for the AOD Visa Signature is a tedious process compared to applying for other credit cards (though it is not uncommon when you apply for a credit card from a Federal Credit Union).

Before you can join, you have to make sure that you are employed by any of the companies listed here. If not, you can join neeba.net. You should select the monthly optiom, pay the $25 membership fee and cancel your auto-renew once you have received the membership card. After you are approved, you can then proceed to apply for a AOD membership, credit card and checking account all at once.

Wheb you apply, you will be asked how much credit limit you would like. You will then get an email with a docusign link requesting the following information:

• Drivers License - front and back
• Social Security Card
• Proof of Residence
• Proof of Income
• "Selfie" of yourself
• Proof of eligibility of membership

It is important to note that AOD does not consider income from commissions or bonus. Instead, they are more interested in your monthly "net income" (not gross income). They also pull from EQ5. You will be informed once you are approved in a few day and get the card in the mail a few days after approval.