Fidelity Rewards American Express Card

[David1961]

Came across this.

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards

Does anyone have this card? American Express is probably not as widely accepted as Visa, but it's hard to pass up on the 2% back.

 

[pb4uski]

We have Escape by Discover. 2% on every charge can be used to offset travel charges (airfare, hotels, car rentals, restaurant charges, etc) but I don't think Discover offers it any longer.

I think there are other 2% back cards out there though.

American Express is not widely accepted enough to be used as a primary card IMO.

 

[MRG]

Came across this.

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards

Does anyone have this card? American Express is probably not as widely accepted as Visa, but it's hard to pass up on the 2% back.

Yes, works great. 2% back on all purchases. There are a few places that don't take AE. It's the only rewards card I've actually received rewards on.
MRG

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, we started using this a couple of years ago. It's great and our main card. Most of our day-to-day and online merchants and utilities accept it. Super easy to transfer the cash reward to a Fidelity account on a monthly basis if you have enough points accrued. We've really been racking up the cash rewards each year on this one.

BTW they only charge 1% foreign transaction fee (passing through the charge from FIA card services) and not adding their own so overseas it becomes a 1% rewards card.

This card is not administered by American Express. It's administered by FIA card services.

In our experience, most restaurants, grocery stores, other retail stores, online sites, gas stations, and some utilities accept AMEX so we are able to use it 90% of the time. Costco only accepts AMEX but not VISA or MasterCard. We use it there for the 2% reward, although we use the Costco AMEX card at the pump for 3% rewards on gas. Our Paypal account is linked to it, so we even use it for smaller or unknown online merchants.

Places that don't accept AMEX are usually medical providers, state parks and other govt agencies, a few smaller stores here and there.

 

[David1961]

Super easy to transfer the cash reward to a Fidelity account on a monthly basis if you have enough points accrued.
.

Do the rewards automatically transfer to your Fidelity account that you specify after you accrue the points or do you have to go on-line and do this manually?

 

[MRG]

Mine is set up automatically.
MRG

 

[audreyh1]

Do the rewards automatically transfer to your Fidelity account that you specify after you accrue the points or do you have to go on-line and do this manually?

I do it manually once I get my online statement, but apparently I don't have to according to MRG.

 

[MRG]

It's some option you set up when you link the FIA account to your Fidelity account.
MRG

 

[audreyh1]

It's some option you set up when you link the FIA account to your Fidelity account.
MRG

Ah - you must be using bill pay from your Fidelity account to pay it. I don't have bill pay set up at Fidelity. I pay the card from my BofA checking account.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We have it and it is spectacular. Easy, untaxed money.

 

[Cat-tirement]

I have had one of these for a couple of years now. I charge pretty much anything I can to it, including some regular monthly bills, but of course never carry a balance. Even though a large majority of places I use take it, you still need a Visa or MC for backup. I just recently got a new Visa backup card that gives 1.5% back, so that's almost as good. I typically get around $1200 per year back and could probably do better if I tried a little harder.

 

[Ready]

I use it exclusively. It's by far the best rewards credit card available. There might be some other cards that offer more than 2% on specific categories, but they tend to be categories that you don't typically spend that much money on. But getting 2% back on all purchases is as good as you are going to find out there.

I believe you have to earn $50 before you can transfer the rewards to your Fidelity brokerage account. I just transfer mine to my money market, and then I have complete access to spend it as I choose.

 

[audreyh1]

MRG told me how to "manage my distributions" from the FIA site so that I can have them automatically credited to my account.

"Learn How To Redeem Points" Demo video here: https://scs.fidelity.com/misc/oltx/demo/rewards_center/1802_Fidelity_RewardsCenter.html

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

...It's the only rewards card I've actually received rewards on.
MRG

Why is that? Have you used any other rewards cards and not actually received the stated 'reward'?

I ask because I keep getting these Upgrade Reminders from B of A. No annual fee, 1% cash back on purchases everywhere, every time; 2% at grocery stores; 3% on gas; plus a 10% customer bonus every time cash is redeemed back into a BoA checking or savings account.

What could go wrong with that, I keep asking myself? I still haven't upgraded, however, wondering: what's the catch?

 

[David1961]

When the site mentions "Cash management account", can that include a mutual fund (like Puritan) not through an IRA? Or would it only apply to a money market account, like Fidelity cash Reserves? I don't have a brokerage account with Fidelity.

 

[audreyh1]

Why is that? Have you used any other rewards cards and not actually received the stated 'reward'?

I ask because I keep getting these Upgrade Reminders from B of A. No annual fee, 1% cash back on purchases everywhere, every time; 2% at grocery stores; 3% on gas; plus a 10% customer bonus every time cash is redeemed back into a BoA checking or savings account.

What could go wrong with that, I keep asking myself? I still haven't upgraded, however, wondering: what's the catch?

This should work just fine. I have an older card with 1% rewards, 1.25% if you got over a certain number of points that we used to use, and we had not trouble retrieving rewards for statement credit.

A newer BofA card with a 1.5% Travel Rewards works as advertised. The rewards system is a little more cumbersome, but it works.

I just haven't signed up for their newer 1%, 2%, 3% card because my other cards already match or exceed those reward levels in various categories.

So - don't worry about getting the rewards. If it's like my older BofA VISA, which I suspect it is, it will be very straightforward and you'll get your rewards as advertised, easily redeeming them online. I just notice certain limits on quarterly amounts spent in certain categories, but they don't seem onerous.

 

[audreyh1]

When the site mentions "Cash management account", can that include a mutual fund (like Puritan) not through an IRA? Or would it only apply to a money market account, like Fidelity cash Reserves? I don't have a brokerage account with Fidelity.

Deposit 2% of your purchases into the eligible Fidelity account1 of your choice, including your:
Cash Management Account
Brokerage account
Fidelity-managed 529 account
Retirement account
Direct all your rewards toward one account, or divide them among up to five accounts. Family members can also link their Fidelity Rewards cards to your eligible Fidelity account.

from https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards

When I linked mine, I chose Fidelity Cash Reserves in a specific mutual fund account (not a brokerage account), and I had to give the fund number as well as the account number. I didn't see any limitation to exactly which fund number you could select. But yes, it works with their non-brokerage accounts as well.

 

[JPatrick]

Is the 2% cash you earn considered income/interest or something else?
Does FIDO make any note of this come tax time?

 

[audreyh1]

Is the 2% cash you earn considered income/interest or something else?
Does FIDO make any note of this come tax time?

Nope - cash rewards, travel miles, rebates, discounts, etc., are not considered income.

I guess it's because you spent more to get the rebate.

 

[MRG]

Why is that? Have you used any other rewards cards and not actually received the stated 'reward'?

I ask because I keep getting these Upgrade Reminders from B of A. No annual fee, 1% cash back on purchases everywhere, every time; 2% at grocery stores; 3% on gas; plus a 10% customer bonus every time cash is redeemed back into a BoA checking or savings account.

What could go wrong with that, I keep asking myself? I still haven't upgraded, however, wondering: what's the catch?

Yes we did, I had a card that promised rebates off of new cars(back when we bought new), when we went to use it the points had expired, despite being on my statement. Next time we tried, couldn't find any dealership to honor it.

We have the BofA card, I just haven't spent the effort to figure out how to collect.

The Fidelity/FIA card when set up automatically, is a no brainer to collect with.
MRG

 

[audreyh1]

Yes we did, I had a card that promised rebates off of new cars(back when we bought new), when we went to use it the points had expired, despite being on my statement. Next time we tried, couldn't find any dealership to honor it.

We have the BofA card, I just haven't spent the effort to figure out how to collect.

The Fidelity/FIA card when set up automatically, is a no brainer to collect with.
MRG

Go online at BofA, go to the rewards tab for your credit card, and there you should see what to do to redeem the points.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

One of my top 3 annual category expenses is groceries. That BofA card would be nice for that. Anyone use their credit card a lot for groceries? I always use my debit card, but could try that proposed rewards CC instead--which I have never done before.

 

[MRG]

Go online at BofA, go to the rewards tab for your credit card, and there you should see what to do to redeem the points.

Thank you.
MRG

 

[ERD50]

This is our main card. While it's true that AMEX is not accepted everywhere, we put every purchase we can on credit (for the rewards/convenience), and our AMEX gets charged an average of ~ 10x what we charge to our other card (Amazon Visa, which pays 3% on some Amazon purchases).

-ERD50

 

[samclem]

Question: If a person has another AMEX card (an affinity card with an airline, "Blue Cash" rewards card, etc), and they want to get this FIDO AMEX card to replace it, how would that impact their credit score? It would be great if the new AMEX card carried over the "record" from the old AMEX card (years in service, etc) instead of just showing up as a new line of credit.