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Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card

Fidelity® Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card

Insider’s Rating

A five pointed star

A five pointed star

A five pointed star

A five pointed star

A five pointed star

3.1/5


Regular APR

13.99% variable

Pros

  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Earn up to 2% cash back on every purchase, with no bonus categories to keep track of
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Automatic deposit available to your Fidelity account
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Rewards can potentially grow when you invest them through Fidelity
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No annual fee
Cons

  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an ‘X’. No welcome bonus
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an ‘X’. Must have or open a Fidelity account to apply
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an ‘X’. Redemptions other than deposits to eligible Fidelity accounts usually offer lower value

Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Overview

If you’re new to investing and want a hands-off way to earn (and invest) rewards from your everyday spending, the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is an easy starting point. Fidelity does a good job of putting investing front and center, and it’s easy to set up and move money between accounts. But if you don’t want a Fidelity account, or like to redeem your rewards in other ways, this isn’t the best card for you. 

Fidelity allows you to have separate accounts for your traditional IRA, Roth IRA, taxable brokerage, cash management account, and the Fidelity Visa. You can easily transfer card rewards to investment accounts. 

One downside of the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is that it doesn’t offer an intro bonus — but as an everyday 2% cash-back card, it’s hard to beat.

Fidelity Rewards Visa Credit Card Rewards

With the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar you spend on every purchase. Here’s how you can use your rewards:

Transfer Rewards to an Eligible Fidelity Account

To get 2% cash back, which means each point is worth 1 cent, you’ll need to transfer your rewards to one of these Fidelity accounts: 

Terms apply for all eligible accounts, subject to IRS rules. 

You can choose to set up automatic deposits from your Fidelity Visa or redeem your points on demand. In either case, you need to have at least 2,500 points in your account (worth $25). It’s possible to split your points between up to five accounts, and you can even add someone else’s Fidelity account. This would be helpful for a situation like a grandparent who wants to contribute to a child’s 529 college fund, for instance 

At first glance, you’re getting 2% cash back when you do this. But the best thing about redeeming your points this way is the potential growth you can realize. 

For example, if you deposit your Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card rewards into one of the best Roth IRA accounts, you would have earned the points completely free because the card has no annual fee — and then when you invest the cash, it grows inside the Roth IRA tax-free until you reach retirement age. At that point, you can withdraw the cash tax-free.

Depending on how long you let your investments grow, your “2% cash back” can become much more, plus you get to avoid any tax responsibility on the capital gains as long as you follow Roth IRA withdrawal rules. Considering the rewards are essentially free, they can end up being worth much more down the road. 

Or if you redeem the rewards in a tax-advantaged account like a traditional IRA or HSA account, the rewards count toward your annual contributions and can help to lower your overall taxable income each tax year. Again, the “2% cash back” can actually be worth much more, depending on your tax situation. 

In that way, it’s hard to put an actual value on the rewards you earn. But there’s potential to realize gains many times over, depending on how you use them. And really, this is the best way to redeem your points. You get the best value and a seamless transfer experience. We named Fidelity one of the best online brokerages because of its easy-to-use accounts.

And if you just want 2% cash back without having to invest, you can transfer your rewards to a Fidelity Cash Management account, which is basically a hybrid checking/savings account — then spend the cash however you want. This requires a second account, but it’s free to open and keep long-term, with no fees or minimums. That said, this close link to Fidelity accounts makes it best for existing Fidelity customers, or those who like the setup and simplicity of earning and redeeming points this way.  

I’ve invested with Fidelity and had the Fidelity Visa since 2013, and actually prefer having my investment accounts separate from my main checking account. The Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is issued by Elan Bank, but Fidelity does a good job of incorporating the rewards portion of the site through a series of pop-up boxes. It’s not the most elegant user interface, but it works as intended. I have only ever redeemed my points for deposits into other Fidelity accounts. 

You’ll notice that the major banks have investing services, but they often take a backseat to services to deposit accounts, credit cards, and loan products that are front and center. There were other investing platforms intended to “democratize” investing (Robinhood) but now the big firms like Fidelity and Schwab have all caught up and offer free trades, no-load funds, and super low fees on index funds. 

Other Ways to Use Fidelity Visa Rewards 

You can also redeem your points in other ways, but you won’t get the same value. Other options are: 

  • Flights (up to 1 cent per point)
  • Hotel stays (up to 0.75 cents per point)
  • Car rentals (up to 0.625 cents per point)
  • Cruises and tours (0.5 cents per point)
  • Merchandise (points value varies – usually around 0.5 cents per point)
  • Gift cards (0.5 cents per point)
  • Statement credits (0.5 cents per point)
  • Magazine subscriptions (points value varies)

Again, for all of these options, you need to redeem a minimum of 2,500 points. Note that for statement credits, you can only redeem in 2,500-point increments.  

Lastly, you can transfer your points to another person’s Fidelity card account at a 1:1 ratio. This redemption option has no minimum. 

Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Card Benefits and Features

Nearly all of the Fidelity Visa card’s benefits come as a function of being a Visa Signature card, which includes travel benefits, extended warranty, and lost luggage reimbursement. Here are the major perks: 

Visa Signature Travel and Shopping Offers

When you book a Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection stay and pay with your Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card, you can get special perks at 900+ hotels, like free breakfast for two, late checkout, room upgrades when available, and more. Some hotels also offer free nights (usually the third or fourth night) when you book through the program and pay with your card. 

You can also access shopping offers like wine tastings in Sonoma County, discounts on golf fees at certain courses, and extra perks with preferred reservations at a selection of restaurants. 

Visa Signature Concierge 

With the Visa Signature Concierge service, you can request assistance with things like travel planning, restaurant reservations, entertainment tickets, and more. The service is included as part of your card membership. 

Lost Luggage Reimbursement 

If you lose your checked luggage or carry-on bag, you’re covered for up to $3,000 per trip ($2,000 per bag for New York residents), if you used your card to pay for the trip. This coverage is supplemental to any other insurance you might have like homeowner’s, renter’s, or umbrella insurance. 

Travel Accident Insurance

When you pay for your travel transportation with your card, you’re automatically covered for up to $250,000 with travel accident insurance in case of accidental loss of life, limb, sight, speech, or hearing. This benefit also applies to your spouse and unmarried dependent children.   

Zero Fraud Liability 

You won’t be held liable if your card is ever lost, stolen, or has unauthorized transactions.  

Fidelity Rewards Visa Credit Card Annual Fee and Other Costs

The Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card has a $0 annual fee, so you won’t pay anything to keep it long-term.

There is no foreign transaction fee if you use your card for international purchases. And like with most cards, there are fees for late and returned payments. 

Compare the Fidelity Rewards Visa Card

We compared the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card to a few similar credit cards to give you a sense of how it stacks up. But unlike Fidelity’s card, it also offers a welcome bonus ($200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first three months from account opening).

Fidelity Rewards Visa vs. the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card

Like the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card earns 2% back on purchases, with no cap and no bonus categories to keep track of. But keep in mind to get maximum value with the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card, you have to transfer your rewards to a Fidelity investment account. With the Wells Fargo card, there’s no such limitation.

The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card has an intro APR offer too: 0% intro APR on purchases and qualifying balance transfers for 15 months from account opening, followed by 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% variable

Wells Fargo Active Cash Review

Fidelity Rewards Visa vs. the Citi Double Cash Card 

If you like the idea of earning 2% cash back on everything but don’t want to commit to depositing rewards into a Fidelity account, the Citi® Double Cash Card
is a better choice. It earns 1% cash back when you make a purchase, and another 1% when you pay it off — and doesn’t require you to have any other accounts with Citi. It also offers a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months, then 19.24% – 29.24% Variable.

Citi Double Cash Card Review

 

Fidelity Rewards Visa Frequently Asked Questions

The biggest benefit of the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card is the ability to earn cash back on your spending that can be deposited into a Fidelity account. And your rewards have the potential to grow when you invest them through Fidelity, so you could effectively earn more than 2% back.

You have the best chance of getting approved for the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card if you have an excellent credit score, which is anything above 800 using the FICO credit score model.

The Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card doesn’t offer a welcome bonus to new cardholders, but you’ll earn 2 points per dollar on every purchase. That equals up to 2% cash back when you transfer your rewards to an eligible Fidelity account.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Card

To review the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card, we followed our credit card rating methodology. Our methodology gives equal weight to a card’s welcome bonus, ongoing rewards, annual fee, benefits, and ease of use. Our scores in each category represent how well the card stacks up to similar credit card, and we combine those scores to come up with one rating, with a maximum score of 5.





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