State Department Federal Credit Union has released a new card called Premium Cash Back+. Let’s take a look in this quick review.
Card Basics
- Card earns 2% cash back on all purchases
- Sign up bonus of $200 after $3,000 in spend within the first 90 days
- No annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
- No balance transfer fees
- Cell phone protection (Up to $250 per incident, twice per year. Also comes with a $50 deductible)
- Credit lines from $5,000 to $100,000
- only Green Card holders and US citizens
Become A Member
You must be a member of SDFCU before you can apply though, if you’re not already a member you have a few different options:
- Free membership to employees of The Department of State (full list can be found here)
- You can also get membership to SDFCU by first becoming a member of the American Consumer Council (ACC). Usually this costs $8 per year or $15 for a lifetime membership, but you can get this waived and become a member for free. Read our guide on how to get your ACC membership for free.
Our Verdict
Most readers will already have a credit card that earns 2%+ cash back on all purchases. If you don’t then this one is definitely worth considering due to the $200 sign up bonus (Double Cash & Fidelity only come with a $100 bonus). The card also might be interesting for people that need more spending capacity on 2% cash back cards, especially considering the credit limits potentially being offered. Some people might also just want to grab it for the $200 cash sign up bonus, one of the better cash sign up bonuses on offer. Another advantage is the fact they don’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
Hat tip to readers Ori G & Jeremy B
Revised list of benefits dated 2021. Looks like cell phone protection was cut.
https://www.sdfcu.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/26289_Signature_GtoB_proof3.pdf
FYI for other – most banks will send you a warning that if you don’t use your card by X date, it will expire due to inactivity.
SDFCU will just close it due to inactivity, no warning.
Are you talking about SDFCU debit or credit card? Can you expand on your experience with this? Thanks.
Applying for credit card required you to sign up for either a checking or saving account too.
I wasted a hard inquiry. Even US resident for tax purposes will not be considered. Confirmed with a rep.
Done
Do you have to continue being a member of SDFCU to have this card for more than a year?
I mean to say member of the ACC
Also, this card is great due to no min redemption. I don’t think the citi or fidelity have that. Plus no FTF. Great card.
Maybe this used to be true but they now advertise a $5 minimum redemption. That means $250 in spend so small purchases plus an occasional big one ought to do it. But the initial bonus definitely ranks it ahead of PayPal. And Citi DoubleCash still requires a $25 redemption if you’re not converting to TY points.
application took 2 business days via docusign.
credit line of 10,000 for credit score of around 750, 2 years of average credit history, oldest account 4Y10M and with 4/24.
Bonus was paid on the first statement, received the card within a week, you can view the card number on the app before receiving the card. call them for the cvv number and their CS is excellent.
App does not have the feature to pay bill from another bank account, so website login needed for statement payment if you don’t have checking account there. but worth it for the cash back and no foreign transaction fee.
I was recently approved for the card, but am unable to find an option to pay the bill from another account even from the website. Is there really an option to pay balance of the credit card from another bank account.
Applied 3/19/20 after recently joining the credit union. Last year I tried to join the credit union, there was an issue in the identity verification process that they required me to visit a branch to complete and I had no travel that way last year. This time, joining the credit union online no issue. The card application, though, next day I got a notice via DocuSign, “Please provide all tax returns 2017 & 2018 all pages with a wet signature.” Nuts to that!
This looks like like the only card with:
0 AF
0 FTF
2% cashback
visa branded (if you don’t care, there’s a paypal 2% no FTF no AF mastercard out there)
which means this will work with costco or retailers that only take visa.
Not a bad deal at all for a keeper visa.
good news for you who travel oversea, this card can request to be chip pin priority
https://www.sdfcu.org/chip-cards
quoted from #14
14. Can I choose to have signature or PIN as my default when using the SDFCU cards?
For New Credit Cards: The application process for a new credit card asks the question if the cardholder will be frequently traveling or living overseas. If you select Yes, you will receive a credit card with the PIN as the default. If you answer No, you will receive a credit card with the signature as the default.
Ooh, good catch. Have you found another card specifically for foreign transactions? I thought about the Cap1 Venture but it has an AF and the earning rate is the same as this State Fed card (though the bonus is really nice).
They seem to have updated their links to an actual PDF with explanation of benefits. Cell phone protection appears to be $250/incident with 2x/year and $500/year max but also $50 deductible/incident.
Thanks, will update post.