Update 4/20/22: Some people now seeing a $500 bonus via Credit Karma. See also this comment for how to get this to show.
Update 1/28/22: Some are now seeing a $400 bonus on Upgrade UNLIMITED Cash Rewards Visa (previous bonus was for the ELITE card). Unsure if you can do both. Showing up here for some. Hat tip to aran
Update 12/29/21: Readers are reporting being offered a $400 bonus via Credit Karma on this card. Earn a $400 bonus on your Upgrade Card after opening a Rewards Checking account and making 3 debit card transactions within 60 days. If anybody can provide the full terms and conditions in the comments that would be great.
Upgrade (alternative credit platform) has today launched the a rewards checking account.
- Card earns at the following rate:
- 2% cash back on common everyday expenses at convenience stores, drugstores, restaurants and bars – including deliveries – and gas stations, as well as recurring payments on utilities and monthly subscriptions including phone, cable, TV and other streaming services. Up to a cap of $500 in rewards ($25,000 spend) per year and then 1% per year
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
- No monthly fees
I don’t see how 1% cash back with no cap and very little to no fees is sustainable long term. Upgrade has raised $222 million in venture capital though, so nothing should be surprising when it comes to these new neo banks I guess.
This One Card and Checking combo has been working OK. I set up Pay Now and use the card to make a purchase, then make sure there’s enough in checking to cover the total. Gets me points and some special offers through Dosh.
But then I got a notice the card was locked due to an odd purchase in France.
New card on the way.
Delete.
What happened to the Everyday Savings account? No sign of it on their website, though my account is still open. Existing users grandfathered, but not available to new users?
DP: I opened the account on 10/16/23 and got the $500 SUB the next month. I never set up a direct deposit. Mid-January, they offered me an extra $150 for a DD of $5k (or $50 if I meet $1k DD but not $5k).
Check your email if you’ve been denied previously
I got an email with an offer for a $300 bonus for opening this account and making $3000 in DD in 45 days ($50 bonus for $1000-$2999 DD), I applied and was approved.
I applied when this account first appeared a few years ago and was denied.
I applied a second time after receiving a different email offer and was denied.
Somehow the stars aligned on this one.
Attn William Charles
@ William Charles
Looks like this is a public offer now: $300 for $3,000 DD
https://www.upgrade.com/landing/rewards-checking-plus/bonus300-a/65b6a672-9698-4084-924c-867254fbaca3?utm_source=rcxselldecl_card_n&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rcxselldecl_card_n_send01_300&utm_content=email_cta
Inside that link, it lists “email” twice, so it was sent to someone. It might count for anyone to use it, but it’s a risk.
Usually with a non-targeted link, you can strip the link up the last slash (/), and it will still work.
https://www.upgrade.com/landing/rewards-checking-plus/bonus300-a
(doesn’t work)
I don’t know.
Originally I did get an email and signed up for Upgrade and the bonus.
Yesterday I just googled “upgrade” because I got my debit card and also wanted my account info to set up for the DD requirements and it went straight to the page with the bonus offer.
I had to do a different search for “upgrade sign in” to actually get to my account.
As always, YMMV
had the account for about a year now, is it safe to close the LOC. I never activated the card or used it. Do you initiate the closure with Upgrade and then the Credit Union?
Yes, 100% sure, you will see the Upgrade LOC on your credit reports if you use it just once. It’s on all of my big 3.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/upgrade-launches-rewards-checking-account-1-2-cashback-purchases/#comment-1459345
I made the mistake of being an excited new customer and used it. Did it hurt my credit? Not really. It’s actually a good thing to have a variety of credit lines vs just all credit cards.
You don’t want it to appear before it’s 24 months old. It’s a revolving account and will add to your 5/24 count for Chase auto approvals.
You MAY be able to overcome this under manual recon.
Hey guys, in short, where can I usually submit a complain to a public department that I did not receive the bonus?
Maybe it’s a long shot, but, I applied for line of credit, got approved. I applied for Checking account, it took them 3 weeks to approve it. First debit card got lost/stolen in the mail. Second one arrived after 60 days.
P2 denied also.
“Your request was carefully considered, and we regret that we are unable to approve your application at this
time, for the following reason(s):
Insufficient use of available credit. Average credit limit of open bank-issued credit cards is too high. Low
level of payments in relation to obligations. Inconsistent trend in usage of revolving accounts”
“Your credit score: 821
Date: 2023-04-28
Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850.”
Looks like probably they are trying to find people who really need their Line of Credit rather than signing up for the bonus and not planning to use it at all. P2 doesn’t freeze LexisNexis/SageStream so likely not related to freezing those.
“Thank you for your recent application for a Personal Credit Line from Cross River Bank through Upgrade, Inc.
Your request was carefully considered, and we regret that we are unable to approve your application at this
time, for the following reason(s):
Insufficient use of available credit. Average credit limit of open bank-issued credit cards is too high.
Inconsistent trend in usage of revolving accounts. High number of recent inquiries”
“Your credit score: 850
Date: 2023-04-27
Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850.”
P.S. I wonder if SageStream/LexisNexis freeze affects the app?
3 hard inquiries on TU, 2 in February and one last week (all biz cards).
EDITED TO ADD: Do I need to do anything to delete my app to try again another time?
I think they might just becoming more selective and running out of VC.
They want people that can
exploithelp by actually loaning them money. Both P1 and P2 recently received an email that they dropped our LOC from 10K to just 2K due to a “recent change in your credit profile”, putting the blame on us.You could try the thaw I suppose and see if it makes a difference. Transunion is the only one they sample from that I know of.
Thanks, it did sound that way to me, also.
The adverse action letter lists sagestream and Lexis nexis as well as TransUnion, so I might thaw and try again next week as an experiment.
I pulled up a saved copy of my LexisNexis and yes, you are correct… Upgrade added info to my Sagestream report. “Upgrade, Inc.” and the date of application. I see nothing on the actual LexisNexis portion though. LexisNexis owns the Sagestream report as of a couple of years ago.
Thanks so much! The freeze/thaw process is the same for both reports, so will try with both unfrozen just in case. Thanks again!
Two years ago, no, they did not pull Chex or EWS, which is just like most fintechs…
Cross River Bank, nor the various credit unions that usually back the LOC, pulled anything, even if they normally would have if you applied with those entities directly.
Just to be clear, I should have said pulled nothing, vs pulled anything. For example, Andrews and Unify typically pull Chex, if you were to sign up, but since you are being referred to them via Upgrade, no Chex was pulled. Some people get asked to join a credit union… some do not.
007
Thanks so much, super helpful!!!
Targeted Email: $400 Bonus
“Use Upgrade OneCard wherever Visa® is accepted2 – you decide which purchases you want to Pay Now with no interest, and which to Pay Later over time at a fixed rate.3
And, get a $400 welcome bonus when you open a new Rewards Checking account and make 3 purchases.”
I recently closed my Rewards Checking but kept the Upgrade LOC.
What are the terms of the targeted email offer you received? Are past owners of Rewards checking eligible? My suspicion is that they just sent a blanket email to current customers without a Rewards checking.
Ostrich Rider
4 To qualify for the $400 welcome bonus, you must open a new Rewards Checking account through Upgrade and make 3 qualifying purchases on your Upgrade OneCard and/or Rewards Checking debit card within 60 days of your Upgrade OneCard account opening. Non-purchase transactions, such as sending funds electronically to your bank account, do not qualify. The bonus will be applied as a one-time credit to your account and will not otherwise reduce the amount of your regular monthly payments. Bonuses associated with the Upgrade OneCard, when applicable, are provided by Upgrade, Inc. Bonuses are a gratuity from Upgrade and are not your property until redeemed. The bonus credit will be posted to your Upgrade OneCard as a statement credit within 1–2 billing periods following the third card transaction. Your Upgrade OneCard must be in good standing to receive or redeem a bonus.
ShawntheShawn
Personal Credit Lines are issued by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. The Upgrade Card is issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Get more info
I noticed they continually do soft credit checks since I have had the account, so maybe they targeted it to a group without the checking account and with certain credit criteria?
Thanks,
Ostrich Rider. The referral program does specifically say only new customers who have not owned a Rewards checking are eligible. This one seems to be churnable based on the terms you shared, unless they have some restrictions hidden somewhere about what is considered new. It will be great if it is churnable.
“Hi P2,
Finally one card for everything! Get up to 3% cash back on everyday purchases and 2% on all other purchases.1
Get Started
Use Upgrade OneCard wherever Visa® is accepted2 – you decide which purchases you want to Pay Now with no interest, and which to Pay Later over time at a fixed rate.3
And, get a $400 welcome bonus when you open a new Rewards Checking account and make 3 purchases.4
Thanks,
The Upgrade Team”
and
“4 To qualify for the $400 welcome bonus, you must open a new Rewards Checking account through Upgrade and make 3 qualifying purchases on your Upgrade OneCard and/or Rewards Checking debit card within 60 days of your Upgrade OneCard account opening. Non-purchase transactions, such as sending funds electronically to your bank account, do not qualify. The bonus will be applied as a one-time credit to your account and will not otherwise reduce the amount of your regular monthly payments. Bonuses associated with the Upgrade OneCard, when applicable, are provided by Upgrade, Inc. Bonuses are a gratuity from Upgrade and are not your property until redeemed. The bonus credit will be posted to your Upgrade OneCard as a statement credit within 1–2 billing periods following the third card transaction. Your Upgrade OneCard must be in good standing to receive or redeem a bonus.”
EDITED TO ADD: link in email goes to https://www.upgrade.com/one-card/?utm_source=decl_rec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=card_oc_s01&utm_content=email_cta which redirects to https://www.upgrade.com/funnel/pcl/pi1?utm_content=rcwb200&rp_code=OC_01_01
EDITED AGAIN: Although can be tweaked to get $500 https://www.upgrade.com/funnel/pcl/pi1?utm_content=rcwb500&rp_code=OC_01_03
EDITED AGAIN: Still declined Your credit score: 807
Date: 2023-06-20
Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850.
Key factors that adversely affected your credit score:
Lack of recent installment loan information
Length of time revolving accounts have been established
Length of time accounts have been established
Time since most recent account opening is too short
In addition to the factors listed above, the number of inquiries on the consumer’s credit file has adversely
affected the credit score.
Thanks for reminding me about this, I had forgot and never applied. I just found the email and it states $400 but leads to a link for $200 as yours did. Thanks for the $500 link! I am going to apply and hope it works. Sorry yours was declined.
Interesting that your link also leads to $200 bonus. I think I got lucky with the link. Let us know how it goes!
I used the $500 link and my email link, declined both times! Win some, lose some, I guess!
Thanks for the update and sorry you didn’t get approved 🙁