An r/churning user took part in a survey about the Freedom card as part of the Chase Insight Community. The survey indicated Chase is looking at adding a 5% category for recurring payments (phone bill, Netflix, etc.) or for digital wallet payments (Android Pay, Samsung Pay, etc).
And @vinhtantran got another category consideration in the survey: digital payments; apparently, any online or app purchase (similar to Citi ATT).
Most likely, these categories would also be capped, perhaps at $1,500 per quarter, but clearly it would be an additional benefit beyond the current rotating 5% categories.
The idea here makes sense since rotating categories are too confusing to track for most ‘normal’ people, and 1x UR everywhere is subpar in the current world where there are 1.5x or 2%+ cards everywhere. With the additional of a consistent 5x category on recurring payments or mobile wallet payments, the card is more likely to be the go-to card for a lot of people. And hobbyists will, of course, rotate out the cards to get the best deal on these categories.
This is just a survey, but that’s always the first step. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an intentional leak to see people’s responses.
Also interesting is that the 5% mobile wallet category comes on the heels of the impending US Bank Altitude card which offers 3x on mobile wallet payments. Chase might be feeling the heat on that front. Or it could be that some mobile wallets are offering favorable rates to increase usage.
