U.S. Bank offers the Cash+ card, this lets you choose two categories every quarter to earn 5% cash back in (limited to $2,000 in spend per quarter). Reader Jay found the following announcement in their latest statement:
Effective February 15, 2017, a new 5% Cash+ Category will be available: Ground Transportation featuring merchants such as Uber and Amtrak(R). Also effective February 15, 2017, the 5% Charity Category will no longer be available. Remember to register for your 5% and 2% categories to get MORE CASH BACK!
Considering that Amazon sell Uber gift cards and it’s pretty easy to get 5% cash back on Amazon purchases (plus portal points), ground transportation isn’t that interesting for me. Charity was really the category I used most on the Cash+ card. Other categories:
- Select Clothing Stores
- Cell Phones
- Electronics Stores
- Car Rentals
- Gyms/Fitness Centers
- Bookstores
- Fast Food
- Charity
- Sporting Goods Stores
- Department Stores
- Furniture Stores
- Movie Theaters
Restaurants used to be a 5% category as well, but that was downgraded to 2%. They also limited you to one cash back bonus of $25 when redeeming $100+ rather than once per year. There is a $100 sign up bonus on this card and it’s not the worst downgrade option either. You can view other credit cards that earn a category bonus on charity purchases here. You can read more about U.S. Bank credit cards here.
Do you think this is a positive or negative change? Let me know in the comments below.
Hi Will,
I used to use my US Bank Cash+ card to get 5% on charitable donations, namely my daughter’s nursery school tuition at our local church. I have been doing this for a couple years with no problem. When US Bank dropped this 5% category, I switched to the USBank FlexPerks card as suggested above figuring 3% is better than the alternative.
However, for the past 2 months I have not gotten the 3% back on her nursery school tuition when using my FlexPerks card to pay. Do you find this weird that they would re-code this payment all of a sudden? It wouldn’t be because this US Bank card (Flexperks) would consider different institutions “charities” than the Cash+ card?
Have you heard of any readers have this experience? Is there any possible recourse you would suggest?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Is the actual transaction coding differently? Check your statements
Thanks for getting back to me, Will. If by coding you mean the “transaction description”, then no, they are literally exactly the same between the two different card statements. But on the Cash+ card it is being counted as charity but on the FlexPerks card it is not.
If you mean something different by coding, please explain what I should look for. The actual “reference numbers” are different, but I would expect those to be because they are different transactions/purchases.
Is it possible that Cash+ definition of “charity” is different than FlexPerks’ definition of “charitable donations”? (Similar to how the different travel cards like CSR have more expansive travel categories or give credit for different items). It just seems weird to me that the same issuer would code the exact same item differently between different cards.
Any suggestions on next steps I can take?
It’s possible the definitions are different, you could always try contacting U.S. bank and see what they say.
Will, looks like you were right. I responded in more detail to your post today (4/2/17) regarding 5% categories but, in short, even though the transactions are coding the same, they have a different definition. Thanks again for your help!
Maybe it’s even better to add the link about things you need to know about CC issued by U.S. bank? I remember they pull something besides the 3 major credit bureaus but couldn’t remember the name of it.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/things-everybody-should-know-about-us-bank-credit-cards/
Seriously, ever since the Discover promo ended I haven’t bothered to use Apple Pay.
*oops commented on the wrong post.
I get that US Bank wants to have a ‘5%’ card. But to neuter it to the point of no practical advantage over other issuers for the casual credit card holder is just silly. I wonder how soon before this card is closed to new signups. Good riddance~!
It’s odd because they nerfed the benefits and then added a $100 bonus. I think they really just want to focus on profitable customers and I guess most people pumping through big donations simply aren’t profitable for them.
I dont know why US Bank hates me so much
I have over 100 credit cards
But had only one from US Bank (Club Carlson)
Closed it when annual fee came around.
They havent approved me since
Credit score is always between 750-780
Nooooooo!!!!
I’ll have to change all of my automatic charitable contributions to my FlexPerks card. Cash+ is headed for the sock drawer.
I wish they would have added back restaurants or something useful ;\
So many categories are sporadic for me other than cell phones and charity. Us Bank customer service has been spotty for me, so this card is slipping to a backup spot for me.
Can I product change to this card?
Yes, this is mentioned in the post: “….it’s not the worst downgrade option either”
I was thinking of gettting the US Bank Cash Plus solely for the charity bonus. I’m glad this happened now, saving me from getting an otherwise useless card.
Does USB allow PC from Cash Plus to Flex Perks Visa? I’m not concerned about missing out on the sign up bonus, but want to avoid a manual review as I know they are quick to close accounts.
Might be outdated info but a year or 2 ago, I was offered to convert Cash+ to one of the Flex Perk. I don’t remember why or how the conversation went there, but I remember telling them that I’ll miss out on sign up bonus, so no thank you.
Should be possible as long as it’s not a co-branded card.