In this review we will look at the Cash Back Mastercard from Bank of The West. You may be familiar with them due to the fact they frequently offer checking account sign up bonuses (some examples can be found here).
Contents
Card Basics
- No sign up bonus (might be a $100 bonus after $1,000 in spend in branch)
- No annual fee
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3% cash back on groceries & dining with no limit
- 3% cash back on gas purchases up to $1,500 per quarter, then it reverts to 1% cash back
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
- Cash back is automatically applied to your account as statement credit each quarter.
- Limited to the following states: AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, WY
Our Verdict
Groceries, dining & gas are all popular categories that many people spend a lot of money in, that being said for most people there will be better options available:
Using it for every day purchases doesn’t make sense as 1% is easily beat (full list of better cards here). It’s also important to remember that this card doesn’t come with a sign up bonus. If you already have a 2% cash back card, then this basically just gives you an extra 1% in specific categories. You’d need to spend $10,000 in those categories to earn $100 (and that’s a pretty small cash sign up bonus).
For the majority of people this card just doesn’t make sense, I’d guess it only really makes sense for people that are manufactured spending large amounts at grocery stores and already maxing out other cards. In that case it’s really going to depend on what sort of limits & cycling Bank of The West are comfortable with.
One of the things I do like about this card is the fact that you get your cash back (actually statement credit) on a quarterly basis without having to meet a minimum threshold level.
What are your thoughts of this card? Let me know in the comments below.
