Fidelity Cash Rewards Visa Signature
REVIEW

The Original 2% Cash Back Credit Card

Fidelity issued the first 2% flat rate cash back credit card in 2004 before anybody even had a flat rate 1.5% cash back card. Back then, it was the Fidelity Amex until 2016 where Fidelity dropped American Express and partnered with Visa. With the Fidelity Rewards Visa, you can earn 2% cash back and have them automatically deposited into eligible Fidelity accounts every month. These include simple cash management accounts, retirement accounts and even 529 accounts. It is a great way to force yourself to put aside a little money into a savings account. You can also redeem your points/cash back for other things like statement credits, gift cards, travel and merchandise, you do not get 2% return if you redeem them this way. Even though there are way more 2% flat rate credit cards these days, the Fidelity Rewards Visa is still one of the top cards in this category and is a great card for those who have an account with Fidelity.

How Does Fidelity Cash Rewards Work?

The Fidelity Cash Rewards allows you to earn reward points and redeem them in a variety of ways. However, only redemption to an eligible Fidelity account gets you 2% in cash back.

Earning Points

You will earn 2 reward points for every dollar that you spend on the card. There are no limits to how much reward points you can earn and they do not expire.

Redeeming Points

There are a variety of ways to redeem your reward points. You can redeem them for statement credits, travel, merchandise and gift cards. However, if you redeem them for the above may not get you 2% in returns. To get 2% cash back, you have to redeem them for cash deposits of up to 5 eligible Fidelity accounts. The following are eligible Fidelity accounts:

• Brokerage account
• Fidelity® Cash Management Account
• Fidelity®-managed 529 College Savings plan
• Retirement account
• Fidelity Go® account
• Fidelity Charitable® Giving Account®
• Fidelity HSA®

You can set up your account so that reward points will be automatically redeemed and transferred to designed accounts once you have earned at least 2,500 points (which incidentally is worth $50 - ie 2%).

Managing Points

The Fidelity Rewards Visa is issued and managed by Elan Financial and you need to manage your credit card from Elan's website. However, you can toggle and switch from your Fidelity account straight to the Elan Financial website without having to sign in or log in again. Furthermore, you can see your number of points and balances from Fidelity's website. The Fidelity app does not allow you to see your reward points balance though the website does.

Competition

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

I generally classify 2% flat rate cash back credit cards into two groups. The first group are cards that allow you to redeem cash back to any checking or savings account including those that are not part of the issuer. An example is the Citi DoubleCash. You can redeem the cash back you earned with Citi to a non-citi checking account.

The second group of 2% cash back credit cards require that you to redeem your cash back with accounts with that issuer. The Fidelity Rewards Visa belongs to this second group of cards. You need to redeem your reward points with an eligible Fidelity account. However, the Fidelity card is different from other bank credit cards because it is a brokerage and you can redeem your cash back into a variety of accounts. In contrast, other bank issuers only have checking or savings account for you to deposit your cash back.

The closest comparable to Fidelity is the Charles Schwab Amex as Schwab is also a brokerage firm. The Schwab Amex pays 1.5% cash back into eligible accounts. Hence purely from a cash back perspective, the Fidelity Visa is superior to the Schwab Amex.

Another close comparable to the Fidelity Rewards Visa is the Sofi Credit Card. While SoFi is not a brokerage, they offer loans and investment accounts to their customers and you can redeem the cash back you earned to their accounts. Like the Fidelity Rewards Visa, you also earn 2% cash back and you can (and have to) redeem them to either your SoFi investments accounts or towards paying your SoFi loans. The one big difference between SoFi and Fidelity is that SoFi has a cryptocurrency account where you can invest in cryptos whereas Fidelity does not have a crypto account and neither is it a crypto exchange.

Speaking of Cryptocurrencies, BlockFi (a crypto exchange) also has a flat rate credit card (BlockFi Rewards Visa), which allows you to earn 1.5% in cryptocurrencies for up to $50,000 in annual spending. Spending above $50,000 and you can earn 2% back in cryptocurrencies. So Fidelity not only faces competition from other brokerages, but also from crypto exchanges.

There are a couple of flat rate cash back credit card that earns a higher cash back than Fidelity or any other 2% credit card. For example, the Alliant Cash Back Visa, which allows you to earn 2.5% cash back on all purchases for up to $10,000 in monthly spending. You do need to join the Alliant Credit Union and open a checking account and jump through a few hoops in order to earn 2.5% cash back. So this is one card that earns more cash back than all other 2% cards including Fidelity. Another card is the AOD Visa Signature, which allows you to earn 3% cash back on all purchases. The Bank of America Unlimited Cash, which allows you to earn 2.65% cash back if you have Platinum Status on your checking account (ie have at least $151,000 in your checking account). Like Fidelity, all these cards require that you have an account with the respective issuers.

Pros: What We Like

• Earn unlimited 2% cash back that does not expire - You can earn unlimited cash back and they do not expire.


• Cash Back can be redeemed in a variety of accounts - Most bank issued 2% cash back credit cards require you to deposit your cash back into their checking or savings account. Fidelity allows you to choose up to 5 eligible accounts to redeem and deposit your cash back.


• Redemption can be automated - You can choose to redeem your cash back automatically once you have earned 2,500 points (which is equivalent to 2% cash back) into any of the 5 linked Fidelity accounts you have chosen.

Cons: What We Don't Like

• Need a Fidelity Account to get this card - You do need to have a Fidelity account to get this card. If you don't or do not intend to open an account with them, then this card is not for you.


• No Crypto Investment Account - Fidelity (at this moment) does not have an account where you can invest in cryptos.


• Foreign Transaction Fee - Fidelity charges a 1% foreign transaction fee so this is probably not the best card for international travel.

Our Take: A Great Card for Fidelity Members

The Fidelity Rewards Visa is a great card for those who have Fidelity accounts. You can earn 2% cash back (which is the standard these days for flat rate credit cards) and these can be deposited in a variety of Fidelity accounts of your choosing. In fact, you can choose up to 5 Fidelity accounts whether it is a retirment account, 529 account or your cash management account. You can also set them up so that cash back will be redeemed the moment you earn 2,500 points (which is equivalent to $50 or 2% return).

Based on our evaluation and review, we give the Fidelity Rewards Visa a 4.3 rating for it's 2% flat rate earning the the ability to redeem your cash back in a variety of investment accounts. We would have given this a higher rating if not for the fact that you need to have a Fidelity account or intent to open a fidelity account to get this card.

Customer Reviews

Here are some customer reviews (sent to us via emails) that are worth highlighting.

I've had the card for 7+ years and don't have any complaints about it. This is a simple no fee and no nosense card that simply lets you earn 2% on everything and I use it pretty much daily for all my day to day stuff and pay the bill every month via autopay. I have heard that folk get frequent auto-block for perceived fraudulant charges but I have not experienced that at all through all these years.

One very important thing to take note of is that the Elan site is separate from the Fidelity site though you can toggle from the Fidelity site to Elan's site without having to enter your password again. You can also manage your card from the Fidelity app though you can only see your reward points balance on the desktop Fidelity site. I really like the fact that the cash back automatically flows to my brokerage account.

I’ve had a great experience with the card and I mainly use it to get 2% cash back on purchases that don’t fall under the 3-6% cash back categories from my other cards. They also usually offer bonus cash back a couple of times a year. For example they offered 5% cash back on all purchases made for 2 months from November till the end of the year.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What Bureau does Fidelity pull when you apply?

What Bureau does Fidelity pull when you apply?

Can I still apply for this card even if I do not have a Fidelity account?

Can I still apply for this card even if I do not have a Fidelity account?

What credit score do I need to get approved for this card/

What credit score do I need to get approved for this card/