Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa Credit Card Full Review – 1.5% Cash Back & Free Cell Protection Insurance

Currently comes with a sign up bonus of $150, making it much more attractive than normal.

As expected, Wells Fargo have launched their new Cash Wise visa credit card. The card comes with the following benefits:

• Card earns at the following rates:
  • 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no limit
  • 1.8% cash back on all Apple Pay & Android Pay purchases for the first twelve months
• No annual fee
• 0% Introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers for first 15 months
• Cash back can be redeemed in increments of $25 ($20 for ATM withdrawals)
• Cell Phone Protection insurance, up to $600 with a $25 deductible

1.5% Cash Back

This isn’t a great option with other cash back cards on the market offering 2% (e.g Citi Double Cash or the Fidelity Visa).

Cell Phone Protection

All Wells Fargo cards come with Cell Phone Protection insurance. To be eligible you need to put your monthly cellular bill on this card (or any other Wells Fargo cards). You’re covered for up to $600 and on up to four phones (as long as they are listed on the monthly bill). It covers you in the event of:

• Damage
• Theft

You’re required to pay a $25 deductible, you’re also limited to two claims per twelve month period. The $600 limit is per claim, so you can claim a maximum of $1,200 per twelve months.

Sign Up Bonus

The public sign up bonus has always been $100, but they have offered a targeted promotion for $200 once.

Our Verdict

Given that this card has no sign up bonus and the earnings rate is lackluster, I can’t see many people signing up for it directly (keep in mind you have to be an existing Wells Fargo customer to do this online, easily way to do this is by becoming a checking customer. Keep your eyes out for Wells Fargo checking bonuses). One interesting option is to downgrade to this card from one of their other cards (e.g Wells Fargo Propel 365 or Wells Fargo Propel 365).

This would allow you to have the cell phone insurance without an annual fee, plus you’d earn 1.5% cash back on your cellular bill. You’d be giving up 3.5% by not putting it on a card that earns higher in this category (e.g Chase Ink Plus, Chase Ink Cash or AmEx Simply Cash or AmEx Simply Cash Plus), but I can see that being worth it for the insurance for some people.

Overall, this is a disappointing card with one very limited use. What are your thoughts about this new card? Let me know in the comments below.