Update 6/11/22: Card will be discontinued on July 31st, 2022.
We’re bringing back an old weekly series we used to run called ‘Weird Card Wednesday‘. The concept is simple, every Wednesday we will look at a new weird credit card and do a full review of that card. If you’d like to suggest a card for a future post, please do so in the comments. Obviously not all of these cards will be particularly useful, but the idea is to cover cards other blogs aren’t covering that might be interesting for whatever reason. This week we will be looking at the Farmers Rewards Visa.
Card Basics
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3X points for $1 spent on Farmers products
- 3X points for $1 spent on Fuel / Gas
- 3X points for $1 spent on Home Improvement
- 1X points for $1 spent everywhere else Visa is accepted
- No sign up bonus. There is mention of a 3,000 point bonus after $500 in spend here, but I don’t think that is offered any longer.
- No annual fee
- 0% introductory purchase APR for the first 12 months
- Card is issued by Comenity Bank, shopping cart trick is not possible
How Much Are Points Worth?
Whenever a card offers points instead of cash back the most important thing to know is how much are the points worth and what can they be redeemed for. The second question is easy to answer as they list the redemption options as follows:
- statement credit, travel, gift cards, merchandise and more
Basically points can be redeemed for statement credit travel and gift cards for a rate of 2,500 points = $25. That means points are worth 1¢ each and this is basically a 3%/1% cash back card.
Our Verdict
Whenever a card does not offer a sign up bonus, it’s very difficult to make a case for signing up for it. Even if you spend a lot of money in the 3% categories there is a few things to remember:
- Other cards offer up to 5% cash back on gas
- Other cards offer up to 5% on home improvement
- Lots of cards earn 2%+ cash back on all purchases
Even if you spent $10,000 in 3% categories you’d only be earning an additional $100 over a 2% card and there are many credit cards that offer a cash bonus of more than $100. As mentioned if you have any suggestions for other cards to cover for Weird Wednesday, let me know in the comments below.
