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Upromise Mastercard Updated Categories & Increased Bonus
Back in February I covered the Upromise Mastercard in detail. Back then Barclay’s had temporarily increased the bonus to $100 for the card, but that didn’t last long. Thankfully there is a new update as the card’s bonus categories recently changed and Barclay’s has brought back an even better $100 bonus offer.
Why the Upromise Mastercard?
First off, I know what you are thinking. You are wondering why I am talking about a card with a $100 sign-up bonus. You are right in thinking $100 is terrible for a bonus, but this card actually has some really unique and interesting benefits.
Here is how it earns cashback:
5%
- Online Shopping – on eligible purchases through Upromise online shopping
- Restaurants – on your total eligible restaurant bill from participating Upromise restaurants
- Online Travel – on eligible purchases from participating travel partners through Upromise.com
2%
- Department Stores – on eligible in-store purchases from participating department stores
- Movie Theaters – on eligible movie theater purchases
1%
- All Other Purchases
More Card Info
- No Annual Fee
- No limit to the total cash back you can earn on eligible purchases
- No rotating reward categories
As you can tell, this card is really only good if you use the Upromise portal. That is because using the portal triggers the lucrative 5% bonus categories. Those 5% categories pay in addition to the portal cashback, meaning you can get 10% back at many stores through the portal. This is the real killer feature of this card.
One other often overlooked feature is the 10% bonus when transferring Upromise funds into a qualifying accounts such as a Sallie Mae savings account. If you have such an account, the value of this card is enhanced even further.
Drawbacks of the Card
The biggest drawback of this card is that it is issued by Barclay’s. They have tightened lately on how many cards they will give one person. Many of you may prioritize other Barclay’s products such as the Arrival Plus (my review) over this card.
Secondly, this card kind of locks you into using the Upromise portal. I find that Upromise often has the best cashback rates, but that isn’t always the case. When considering this card I would look at how much spending you have done through Upromise and then figure out the value of this card compared to a card such as the Arrival Plus that earns 2.2% back.
The New Bonus Offer
The $100 bonus offer is good through 5/31/15. This offer is also better than the previous one since you earn the bonus after your first purchase. The previous $100 bonus offer required $1,000 in spending during the first three months. Not a huge change, but some people prefer bonuses with no spending threshold.
Conclusion
I still think the Upromise Mastercard is a very underrated product. I don’t currently have one only because my online shopping habits are complicated. For many people who shop online, getting a Upromise Mastercard could be a very effective way to earn 5% back on a lot of their everyday purchases.
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I agree with Grad, for some reason, the 4% portion of the 5% bonus can be very difficult to get. It only works about 50 – 60% of the time. The rest of the time you have to go through a very labor intensive process to get paid and it can take as much as 6 months until the bonus is finally paid. If you shop online a lot, that can make getting the bonus a large project. If you have the time to keep track and follow up, then it may be worth it. If you are busy, then you are better off using a card that pays automatically and faster!
From the T&C:
A total of five percent (5%) Cash Back (consisting of 1% Base Cash Back and 4% Bonus Cash Back) is earned on every $1 of qualifying Net Purchases made via the Upromise Online Mall when you use a Upromise MasterCard that is a registered in a Upromise membership account.
and:
The 4% Bonus Cash Back earned from Upromise Online Shopping and Upromise Dining purchases will be directly deposited into your Upromise membership account and will not be reflected on your Upromise MasterCard monthly billing statement.
Sounds to me like you get 1% from the card & 4% from the portal. This is similar to the misleading way Barclay’s advertises most of their cobrand cards (15 Choice pts: 10 from booking, 5 from card).
any good site to use upromise at for MS? or gift card churning? I saw ebay there
I’ve the card but haven’t had much luck getting the extra 5% credited to my Upromise account. The way it works is that they credit only 1% on the credit card side and tell you to go to Upromise to get the rest 4% (for using the card)