Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature®: 2% Back Towards Your Investments Every Day

Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card Review

The Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is a cash back card with a unique difference. The card earns valuable cash back on every purchase, with rewards applying to Fidelity investment and brokerage accounts. In this way, the card is similar to the Schwab Investor Card.

How to Earn Cash Back

The Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card has a very straightforward rewards-earning rate. Cardholders earn a flat rate of 2% cash back on every eligible net purchase. The 2% back makes the card an excellent everyday use card, as it doesn’t confine spending bonus to specific categories. This is 0.5% more than what is found with the previously mentioned Schwab Investor Card. It’s also 0.5% more than the BB&T Vantage Visa Signature – another brokerage credit card – though that card has a different rewards structure than both the Fidelity® and Schwab cards.

With the Fidelity® Card, there are no limits to the total number of rewards an account can earn, and rewards never expire. The fact that rewards don’t expire is particularly useful when the rewards redemption with this card is as unique as it is. So, how do you redeem these rewards?

How to Redeem Rewards

The Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is a cash back rewards card. Despite that, the way rewards are best redeemed differs greatly from almost any other card of this type.

Cash back is applicable for deposits into existing Fidelity® investment accounts. There are seven options for accounts to apply rewards to, including:

One of the nice perks of the rewards options with the Fidelity® Card is that it allows cardholders to apply their cash back toward the Fidelity® accounts of a loved one. On the other hand, the Schwab Investor Card only allows rewards to be used on the account holder’s brokerage accounts.

The flexibility of the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card makes it an excellent option for those who are helping their children save up for college. It also works well for the extended families of those individuals, as they can pool their rewards into a joint 529 College Savings Plan.

Other Ways to Redeem Provide Less Value

The 2% cash back with the Fidelity® Card equals 2X points. If cardholders don’t want to apply some of their rewards to their investment accounts, they can use them in the Elan Rewards Program. The Elan Rewards Program is associated with the Fidelity Card because Elan Financial Services is the card’s issuer. Elan also issues credit cards for many other banks, including Comerica.

Points in this program apply towards the usual redemption options members expect from a cash back rewards program. Award options include gift cards, merchandise from leading brands and merchants, and travel savings. The latter takes the form of bookings on airfare, hotels, and rental cars, plus other similar options.

While it’s nice to have the choice of how to redeem your rewards, there are better options out there than the Elan Program. The Fidelity® Card isn’t about redemptions like travel or merchandise, as there are plenty of other cash back cards in that space – mainly Chase options like the Chase Freedom Flex or the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

Investment Credit Card Comparison

	Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature®	Schwab Investor Card®	Quicken® World Mastercard®
Annual fee	$0	$0	$0
Rewards	Unlimited 2% cash back on all eligible net purchases	Unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases	Earn 2X points on recurring bills, including utilities, telephone, cable, club memberships, and Quicken software subscription,2X on groceries and dining, and 1X on all other purchases
Issuer	Synchrony	American Express	U.S. Bank

Who Can Benefit Most from the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card?

Beyond those who want to boost an existing college savings account, who else can benefit most from the Fidelity® Card?

The most obvious answer is those looking towards retirement. The ability to turn 2% of every purchase into retirement savings is a very enticing proposition. Sure, it may not be as enticing as an award trip to Europe, or a luxury B&B stay in Colorado, but having a cushy nest egg in the golden years of life provides peace of mind that these trips can’t afford.

The card also makes sense for those with an eye towards future medical costs. As we age, the price of medical care can quickly skyrocket. Fidelity® HSA accounts help plan for these future expenses, and the Fidelity® Card is an excellent way to protect against future medical bills.

Finally, Fidelity’s Charitable Giving accounts make the card an excellent choice for those who love to help the less fortunate. The most significant changes can come from the smallest of gifts, so funneling 2% back from all purchases towards charitable causes most dear to account holders every day.

No Introductory Interest-Free Periods

The major headlines of the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card focus on cash back and how to redeem those rewards. There is less to say about the rates and fees that come with the card. This is because rewards cards tend to lean less on these and more on perks.

The Fidelity® Card is much the same, lacking an introductory interest-free period on balance transfers and purchases. A 0% intro APR period on balance transfers is understandable, as rewards cards are not typically the best for paying down balances. Instead, relying on a robust balance transfer or low APR card is better.

The lack of an introductory interest-free period on purchases is less ideal, as such a 0% intro APR would drive cardholders to more purchases. This, in turn, would lead to more funds piling into Fidelity® accounts, which is what the brokerage wants. It’s even more frustrating given that the Charles Schwab Card offers 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first six months.

Other Card Features

Other features of the Fidelity® Rewards Card include a fixed-rate APR, which is very competitive (but not exceptional), a modest foreign transaction fee of 1% of the transaction cost in U.S. dollars, and the previously mentioned no annual fee.

The card also enjoys the typical Visa Signature benefits, which include:

The Fidelity® Card boasts contactless payment and mobile wallet technology. These capabilities allow holders to make payments using Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay.

Elan Financial Ratings

How does Elan stack up as a credit card issuer? Here is a selection of ratings for the bank:

Should You Apply for the Fidelity^® Rewards Visa Signature^® Card?

Overall, the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is an excellent option for those who are serious about their investments. The 2% back on every purchase is enough to quickly bolster any Fidelity® account, including those of loved ones.

The card lacks he flashiness of other cash back cards, such as the Freedom Unlimited from Chase or the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer – the latter of which earns the same 2% back on purchases. The rewards options might be similar, but the Elan Rewards Program found with the Fidelity Card just doesn’t compare with those of Citi or Chase.

Those rewards programs are aimed towards everyday use, however. Fidelity gears its rewards card towards those who want to reward themselves and their financial security. The ability to invest rewards directly into five different Fidelity brokerage accounts – or those of a family member – is a perk only by the Schwab Investor AMEX matches. That card, however, doesn’t offer the variety of options the Fidelity Card does.