If your business purchases more construction materials than it does internet advertising or spends more on insurance than office supplies, you might want to check out the new credit card U.S. Bank just launched.
Called the U.S. Bank Business Leverage Visa Signature card, it’s designed to give you top rewards on the spending categories you use most. It includes 48 broad categories — from dental providers to professional services (see the full list below) — from which you will earn 2 points per dollar spent on the top two spending categories each month.
Here’s how it works: If one month your business spends a bunch on restaurants and utilities, those will automatically be the bonus categories. When, during the next month, your top categories switch to pet supply stores and florists, those will be the bonus categories.
Besides the 2 points per dollar on bonus spending, this card also offers:
- 1 point per dollar on all other spending
- Additional rewards worth up to $2,880 per year when you use U.S. Bank to process your customers’ credit card payments.
- Free employee cards
- In lieu of a welcome bonus, receive an extra point for every dollar spent in the first year, up to 100,000 points.
That extra point means this card delivers an effective 3% return on bonus spending and 2% on everything else during the first year. That return isn’t top-of-line for the big business categories — like the 5% cash back the Ink Business Cash Credit Card offers on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year or the 5 points per dollar on airfare and on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com that The Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN provides — but this card could be an intriguing pick for businesses (at least for the first year) that spend heavily in areas not normally covered by business card bonus categories.
US Bank charges a $95 annual fee on this card, which is waived the first year.
Here’s one more intriguing thing: Those first-year bonus points are worth up to $1,000 on the main card, but employee cards also can accumulate bonus points — and each card has its own 100,000-point cap. There is no limit on employee cards, so if, for example, you received 10 employee cards you could earn up to 1.1 million bonus points during the first year (you’d, of course, have to spend $1.1 million in a year to earn those points).
Points can be redeemed as cash back or for travel, merchandise or gift cards. Cash back can be redeemed as either a statement credit or deposit to a U.S. Bank checking or savings account. The minimum redemption amount is 5,000 points or $50. Use your points to book travel through the bank’s booking site with no black-out dates and options for most major airlines, hotels and car rental brands. This card isn’t part of the FlexPerks Rewards program, which means points are worth 1 cent each for travel redemptions, not 1.5 cents.
Here’s a list of the 48 possible bonus categories (most of these have multiple sub-categories, as well — you can see the details here):
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- Advertising firms
- Airlines
- Apparel and accessory stores
- Auto rental and transport providers
- Automotive dealers
- Automative parts stores
- Automotive repair shops
- Cable, satellite, TV, and radio providers
- Charitable, civic, and religious organizations
- Commercial and home furniture stores
- Commercial equipment, parts and supply
- Computer service providers
- Computer stores
- Construction material suppliers
- Dental, lab, and medical equipment providers
- Department, book and novelty stores
- Direct marketers
- Discount stores and wholesale clubs
- Drug stores and pharmacies
- Durable goods providers
- Entertainment places
- Florist, nursery, and garden stores
- Freight and transport services
- Funeral homes and crematories
- Gas stations and fuel dealers
- Grocery stores and supermarkets
- Healthcare providers
- Home improvement service and supply
- Hotels
- Industrial suppliers
- Insurance providers
- Membership organizations
- Non-durable goods providers
- Non-medical testing labs
- Personal service providers
- Publishers and printers
- Restaurants
- Schools and government
- Stationary and office supply stores
- Telecom equipment suppliers
- Telecom service providers
- Utility companies
- Veterinarians
- Wholesale goods providers