Uber’s new Visa credit card is not only just used for rides, it comes with many other perks. You can now pay for your Uber rides with the company credit card. Starting November 2, you can apply for Uber Visa, a no-annual-fee card that comes from online-banking service Barclays.
Is Uber Visa for you? Well, let’s take a look into some reasons as to why it can be an option for you and why it isn’t a good option.
The Good, But Obvious
You get cash back on Uber rides, plain and easy. The card will pay you back 2 percent for all online purchases made, and that includes Uber itself. So you can expect 2 percent back from every ride you take with the company.
You also get 3 percent back on hotel and airfare expenses and 4 percent back from restaurant and bars, which includes UberEats. Aside from this, anything else you buy will give a 1 percent cash-back rate.
Uber is offering some interesting and high competitive rates. It’s not usual to see 4 percent cash back for restaurants. There are only a few cards on the market that do better than the usual 3 percent that most cards tend to offer.
What else does Uber Visa offer?
Aside from what was previously said, Uber Visa has quite a number of other perks available. If you spend at least $500 within the first 90 days, you will earn an extra 10,000 points, which is equivalent of $100.
There are also two other interesting perks for Uber Visa:
- If you spend at least $5,000 over the course of one year, you can get up to a $50 credit for digital subscriptions, such as Netflix, Spotify, etc (under assumption), since Uber didn’t specify).
- Uber Visa also provides phone protection, if you pay your mobile phone bill with it. You can get up to $600 against phone damage or theft.
- Uber Visa also promises exclusive access to various “events and offers” and no-fee transactions when you use the card outside the United States.
How do the rewards work exactly?
Basically, everything is put into points. These points can then be redeemed for Uber credits, gift cards, statement credits, and so on. You can redeem these rewards from within the Barclay app or in your Barclay account dashboard. You may also redeem from the Uber app for Uber credits.
That’s nice and all, but what’s the fine print?
Uber is offering some very nice perks, but there are some things to keep in mind. Regarding the APR, which will be 15.99 percent, 21.74 percent or 24.74 percent, depending on your credit worthiness/history. Keep in mind that this after all is a credit card. Even though there are a lot of perks, credit cards are generally a losing proposition unless you tend to pay off your balance in full at the end of every month.
Here’s a full summary for you of all the goodies Uber Visa offers:
- Sign-up bonus: Earn $100 after spending $500 on purchases in the first 90 days
- 4% back on restaurants, takeout and bars, including UberEATS
- 3% back on airfare, hotels and vacation home rentals
- 2% back on online purchases including Uber, online shopping, and video and music streaming services
- 1% back on all other purchases
- Up to $50 credit for online subscription services after spending $5,000 on the card per year
- Receive invites to exclusive events and offers in select U.S. cities.
- Up to $600 mobile phone insurance for damage and theft when the card is used to pay the monthly mobile phone bill
- $0 fraud liability protection
- No foreign transaction fee
- No annual fee
After reading all of that, do you think Uber Visa is for you?
