US Bank 4% Smartly Visa Credit Card

[EnjoyIt]

Does anyone know if there is a credit pull for opening the checking, savings or brokerage? I have Transunion, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and Chexsystems all frozen. I don't have Sagestream/Lexis Nexis frozen yet, but might be doing that soon.

I believe it was Transunion but I am not 100%. I feel like I remember I had to temporarily unfreeze it. You can apply and they (the web site) will tell you what to unfreeze during the application process. That is what happened to me.

[Leesbro63]

Does anyone know if there is a credit pull for opening the checking, savings or brokerage? I have Transunion, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and Chexsystems all frozen. I don't have Sagestream/Lexis Nexis frozen yet, but might be doing that soon.

I opened the savings account, with my credit locked, before I unfroze it a few days later to apply for the credit card. There was no problem opening the savings account with locked credit. They told me that they didn't know which credit bureau would be pulled for the credit card, but like the above post, it turned out to be Transunion. I unlocked all 3 credit unions for 3 days. On the day after I applied for the card, I called and they told me my the amount of credit they were granting. I suggested that I needed double that amount, and they said they'd send my request to "underwriting", but would have to do another credit pull. I told them that my credit would automatically "'relock" soon. Within a few hours they approved my request in full. I can now see on my Chase credit card account, in the area that gives your credit score and other credit info, that Transunion did a "Consolidated" credit pull on the date. It sounds to me like the term "Consolidated" means the two credit pulls only count as one "ding". I have no other "Consolidated" credit inquires shown.

For what it's worth, I thought that having the $100,000 at USBank before applying for the credit card would get me a higher line of credit. That did not initially happen...from what I read here and just a gut feeling, they would have given me that same, initial line of credit even without the hundred grand there. I do think that having that money already there helped my case when asking for double the credit amount.

[tj]

If you have your reports frozen, they can't do a hard pull.

I don't think they can do a soft pull either if your reports are frozen.

I'm pretty sure they can.

[tj]

Does anyone know if there is a credit pull for opening the checking, savings or brokerage? I have Transunion, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and Chexsystems all frozen. I don't have Sagestream/Lexis Nexis frozen yet, but might be doing that soon.

They usually pull Innovis and Sagestream/Lexis.

[LuckyInLife]

Another data point for you. I initially received a $20k credit limit, but I really needed more than that to pay things like property taxes. I called same day, and was not told of new limit, but it is now at $35,000. This is without moving any assets other than $500 to open Savings account. Now I am in process of moving over assets to get to $100k for 4%.

Nice to hear. Did you get another hard pull?

I did not get a second hard pull.

[anon_investor]

Does anyone know if there is a credit pull for opening the checking, savings or brokerage? I have Transunion, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and Chexsystems all frozen. I don't have Sagestream/Lexis Nexis frozen yet, but might be doing that soon.

They usually pull Innovis and Sagestream/Lexis.

Good to know, I guess I will have to unfreeze Innovis if I decide to move forward.

[anon_investor]

Does anyone know if there is a credit pull for opening the checking, savings or brokerage? I have Transunion, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and Chexsystems all frozen. I don't have Sagestream/Lexis Nexis frozen yet, but might be doing that soon.

I opened the savings account, with my credit locked, before I unfroze it a few days later to apply for the credit card. There was no problem opening the savings account with locked credit. They told me that they didn't know which credit bureau would be pulled for the credit card, but like the above post, it turned out to be Transunion. I unlocked all 3 credit unions for 3 days. On the day after I applied for the card, I called and they told me my the amount of credit they were granting. I suggested that I needed double that amount, and they said they'd send my request to "underwriting", but would have to do another credit pull. I told them that my credit would automatically "'relock" soon. Within a few hours they approved my request in full. I can now see on my Chase credit card account, in the area that gives your credit score and other credit info, that Transunion did a "Consolidated" credit pull on the date. It sounds to me like the term "Consolidated" means the two credit pulls only count as one "ding". I have no other "Consolidated" credit inquires shown.

For what it's worth, I thought that having the $100,000 at USBank before applying for the credit card would get me a higher line of credit. That did not initially happen...from what I read here and just a gut feeling, they would have given me that same, initial line of credit even without the hundred grand there. I do think that having that money already there helped my case when asking for double the credit amount.

How much was the initial CL and how much did they end up finally giving you?

I have a bunch of things where 4% CB means I can pay via CC, vs. right now I cap out at 2.625%, so I am strongly considering getting the Smartly Visa (and jumping through all the hoops). But it would be a big waste of time for me and a waste of a credit pull if the CL was really low. Realistically I probably would need $20k+ to even make this worth my time.

[lstone19]

Sorry this is slightly off topic, but for anyone who is participating in the $450 promo when opening a Checking account, how quickly did the different items get marked as completed on the "Track progress towards your cash rewards" link? I applied for the account in December but it was not funded until Jan 3, so I'm wondering if it just takes a while to show up. Specificaly, the part where it says I have not enrolled in Mobile or Online banking (I have been enrolled since early December) and also the part about all account owners must qualify. I'm the only account owner for the checking account (although my wife is an authorized user on the credit card). As another poster said, my Smart Rewards (applies to the Checking) is also lagging in their calculation, it still says I'm at the base level, even though the credit card is reporting 4% due to brokerage assets.

I called Customer Service, but they were no help. They told me that after 90 days, the computer would know I was enrolled, etc. I suspect something is off, since I had a lot of trouble finalizing the Checking account (did not have with Savings, brokerage and credit card) and the website is constantly buggy. I'm pretty sure I won't be automatically credited the inventive. The screenshot below has been that say since the very beginning even before I funded the Checking account.

For me, I think it took about a week before the various items (except for the direct deposit items since that hadn't happened yet) all showed completed. But how did you open a checking account without some sort of initial funding. I thought a $25 opening deposit was required.

[plmd]

I don't think they can do a soft pull either if your reports are frozen.

I'm pretty sure they can.

I don't think so. Banks do soft pulls when you open accounts, and if you have your reports frozen, you can't open a bank account.

[plmd]

Nice to hear. Did you get another hard pull?

I did not get a second hard pull.

Interesting. I called the day I applied to ask for a higher limit, and I was told that I had to wait until the next day to request an increase and that would result in a TransUnion pull.

[tj]

I'm pretty sure they can.

I don't think so. Banks do soft pulls when you open accounts, and if you have your reports frozen, you can't open a bank account.

I don't recall ever having an issue opening a bank account with EX,EQ and TU frozen.

Pull your credit report and see what soft inquiries you have. I can almost guarantee that you will have a bunch during the dates you have had the reports frozen.

[tj]

I opened the savings account, with my credit locked, before I unfroze it a few days later to apply for the credit card. There was no problem opening the savings account with locked credit. They told me that they didn't know which credit bureau would be pulled for the credit card, but like the above post, it turned out to be Transunion. I unlocked all 3 credit unions for 3 days. On the day after I applied for the card, I called and they told me my the amount of credit they were granting. I suggested that I needed double that amount, and they said they'd send my request to "underwriting", but would have to do another credit pull. I told them that my credit would automatically "'relock" soon. Within a few hours they approved my request in full. I can now see on my Chase credit card account, in the area that gives your credit score and other credit info, that Transunion did a "Consolidated" credit pull on the date. It sounds to me like the term "Consolidated" means the two credit pulls only count as one "ding". I have no other "Consolidated" credit inquires shown.

For what it's worth, I thought that having the $100,000 at USBank before applying for the credit card would get me a higher line of credit. That did not initially happen...from what I read here and just a gut feeling, they would have given me that same, initial line of credit even without the hundred grand there. I do think that having that money already there helped my case when asking for double the credit amount.

How much was the initial CL and how much did they end up finally giving you?

I have a bunch of things where 4% CB means I can pay via CC, vs. right now I cap out at 2.625%, so I am strongly considering getting the Smartly Visa (and jumping through all the hoops). But it would be a big waste of time for me and a waste of a credit pull if the CL was really low. Realistically I probably would need $20k+ to even make this worth my time.

You have no expenses under $20k in a billing period where the 4% would be attractive?

[anon_investor]

How much was the initial CL and how much did they end up finally giving you?

I have a bunch of things where 4% CB means I can pay via CC, vs. right now I cap out at 2.625%, so I am strongly considering getting the Smartly Visa (and jumping through all the hoops). But it would be a big waste of time for me and a waste of a credit pull if the CL was really low. Realistically I probably would need $20k+ to even make this worth my time.

You have no expenses under $20k in a billing period where the 4% would be attractive?

It would be marginal improvement since I get 3.5% or 5%+ cash back on a lot of catagories already. But I have a few times a year where I would put 4 figure amounts on the card in a month only currently getting 2.625% on that spend.

[jeffyscott]

For there brokerage, if you open there checking for the 100 free trades a year, that's means there won't be any buy or sell fees for VUSXX, treasury bills/bonds, or broker CD's (not sure if they offer all 3)?

If the equities go down in value, which dips below the $100,000 min. to avoid $50 annual fee, do they charge you the fee by the end of the month or something?

Fee will be based on you balance as of a particular date, I posted the disclosure for IRA accounts here:
viewtopic.php?p=8195701#p8195701

The free trades are only for stocks and ETFs. But there's apparently no transaction fee for VUSXX or the similar GABXX. There's a "search this topic" box near the top of the page. If you type VUSXX or GABXX in there you'll find the posts about each of those treasury money market funds.

[millennialmillions]

UPDATE: It's the day after and overnight USBank applied my "smaller" payment, from an external bank, as "good money", without a hold.

Thanks, this is really great info! I've seen much of the same on my end. I got my limit increased to $35k, which will help. I will now only need to pay the balance once to pay my quarterly tax estimate over 2 payments. Other info I have found:

• I can make up to $5k outbound ACH transfers from my Chase account. I can do multiple of these back-to-back to fund my Smartly savings account, which makes the funds available instantly. So no need for wire transfers.
• When charges are pending on the card, they get subtracted from the remaining credit but do not get added to the balance. This means you can't pay off the card to increase available balance immediately. For example, I made a $25k tax payment last night. My card with $35k limit is now down $5k of remaining credit, but my balance is only $4.2k. And the maximum payment I can make is $4.2k. So I will need to wait for the tax payment transaction to settle before being able to pay it off, increase my remaining balance, and do another one.

[greybus]

For me, I think it took about a week before the various items (except for the direct deposit items since that hadn't happened yet) all showed completed. But how did you open a checking account without some sort of initial funding. I thought a $25 opening deposit was required.

I was not instantly approved so they had to verify me. But even after that happened, it took a while to get the signature card since they couldn't send it electronically. Once the account was open, it showed up in the Online and Mobile app, asking me to fund with $25, so I ACH'd some money. I was not able to do the initial funding with credit card like some...

[Leesbro63]

I opened the savings account, with my credit locked, before I unfroze it a few days later to apply for the credit card. There was no problem opening the savings account with locked credit. They told me that they didn't know which credit bureau would be pulled for the credit card, but like the above post, it turned out to be Transunion. I unlocked all 3 credit unions for 3 days. On the day after I applied for the card, I called and they told me my the amount of credit they were granting. I suggested that I needed double that amount, and they said they'd send my request to "underwriting", but would have to do another credit pull. I told them that my credit would automatically "'relock" soon. Within a few hours they approved my request in full. I can now see on my Chase credit card account, in the area that gives your credit score and other credit info, that Transunion did a "Consolidated" credit pull on the date. It sounds to me like the term "Consolidated" means the two credit pulls only count as one "ding". I have no other "Consolidated" credit inquires shown.

For what it's worth, I thought that having the $100,000 at USBank before applying for the credit card would get me a higher line of credit. That did not initially happen...from what I read here and just a gut feeling, they would have given me that same, initial line of credit even without the hundred grand there. I do think that having that money already there helped my case when asking for double the credit amount.

How much was the initial CL and how much did they end up finally giving you?

I have a bunch of things where 4% CB means I can pay via CC, vs. right now I cap out at 2.625%, so I am strongly considering getting the Smartly Visa (and jumping through all the hoops). But it would be a big waste of time for me and a waste of a credit pull if the CL was really low. Realistically I probably would need $20k+ to even make this worth my time.

My credit limit is similar to what I have from the Bank of America 2.625% card. It’s a healthy amount.

[NewRain]

Sorry this is slightly off topic, but for anyone who is participating in the $450 promo when opening a Checking account, how quickly did the different items get marked as completed on the "Track progress towards your cash rewards" link? I applied for the account in December but it was not funded until Jan 3, so I'm wondering if it just takes a while to show up. Specificaly, the part where it says I have not enrolled in Mobile or Online banking (I have been enrolled since early December) and also the part about all account owners must qualify. I'm the only account owner for the checking account (although my wife is an authorized user on the credit card). As another poster said, my Smart Rewards (applies to the Checking) is also lagging in their calculation, it still says I'm at the base level, even though the credit card is reporting 4% due to brokerage assets.

I called Customer Service, but they were no help. They told me that after 90 days, the computer would know I was enrolled, etc. I suspect something is off, since I had a lot of trouble finalizing the Checking account (did not have with Savings, brokerage and credit card) and the website is constantly buggy. I'm pretty sure I won't be automatically credited the inventive. The screenshot below has been that say since the very beginning even before I funded the Checking account.

I opened my checking account on 12/16; pushed $4k in from Fidelity on 12/18; pushed $6k in from Robin Hood on 1/3; the progress tracker indicated everything was completed on 1/4; recieved the $450 bonus on 1/7.

[jeffyscott]

Great deals are now available on the Cash Back section. 15% cash back on Dining. 15% cash back on Groceries. 10% cash back on Best Buy. Just log on to activate.

I doubly misunderstood how these work. I used the card to buy about $10 worth of groceries thinking it was a $20 purchase limit and good for multiple purchases.

Afterwards when I looked, it showed the offer as "used" or something like that and saw that it's for one-time use and the $20 was a rebate limit not a purchase limit.

[ShadowRegent]

Great deals are now available on the Cash Back section. 15% cash back on Dining. 15% cash back on Groceries. 10% cash back on Best Buy. Just log on to activate.

I doubly misunderstood how these work. I used the card to buy about $10 worth of groceries thinking it was a $20 purchase limit and good for multiple purchases.

Afterwards when I looked, it showed the offer as "used" or something like that and saw that it's for one-time use and the $20 was a rebate limit not a purchase limit.

The dining one is good for multiple purchases, but the grocery one is just a single purchase.

[tj]

I doubly misunderstood how these work. I used the card to buy about $10 worth of groceries thinking it was a $20 purchase limit and good for multiple purchases.

Afterwards when I looked, it showed the offer as "used" or something like that and saw that it's for one-time use and the $20 was a rebate limit not a purchase limit.

The dining one is good for multiple purchases, but the grocery one is just a single purchase.

Did it state that on the website, or did you figure that out on your own?

[plmd]

I don't think so. Banks do soft pulls when you open accounts, and if you have your reports frozen, you can't open a bank account.

I don't recall ever having an issue opening a bank account with EX,EQ and TU frozen.

Pull your credit report and see what soft inquiries you have. I can almost guarantee that you will have a bunch during the dates you have had the reports frozen.

I think banks and insurance companies can do a soft pull when your reports are frozen if they have pulled your credit before. But if US Bank has never done a pull on the credit report that they are trying to soft pull, I don’t think they will be able to. In my case, the pulled Experian when I applied for the card. If they try to soft pull Experian while frozen, they will be able to, but if they try to soft pull my frozen TransUnion, they won’t be able to.

[Lanerious]

Wife is an authorized user on the Smartly Card that is in my name and she is a joint owner on the USBank checking and savings accounts. If she transfers her IRA to USBank, does anyone know whether they will treat her IRA as part of the "qualifying balance" they use to calculate the credit card cashback tier?

[tj]

I don't recall ever having an issue opening a bank account with EX,EQ and TU frozen.

Pull your credit report and see what soft inquiries you have. I can almost guarantee that you will have a bunch during the dates you have had the reports frozen.

I think banks and insurance companies can do a soft pull when your reports are frozen if they have pulled your credit before. But if US Bank has never done a pull on the credit report that they are trying to soft pull, I don’t think they will be able to. In my case, the pulled Experian when I applied for the card. If they try to soft pull Experian while frozen, they will be able to, but if they try to soft pull my frozen TransUnion, they won’t be able to.

I also don't think that's accurate.

As far as I know the purpose of the freeze is blocking applications for credit / hard inquiries, not access to your information.

[tj]

Wife is an authorized user on the Smartly Card that is in my name and she is a joint owner on the USBank checking and savings accounts. If she transfers her IRA to USBank, does anyone know whether they will treat her IRA as part of the "qualifying balance" they use to calculate the credit card cashback tier?

I have to think that if you qualify for 4% based on your assets, any AU cards on the same account would also qualify. Don't know though.

[Lanerious]

Wife is an authorized user on the Smartly Card that is in my name and she is a joint owner on the USBank checking and savings accounts. If she transfers her IRA to USBank, does anyone know whether they will treat her IRA as part of the "qualifying balance" they use to calculate the credit card cashback tier?

I have to think that if you qualify for 4% based on your assets, any AU cards on the same account would also qualify. Don't know though.

I think you're right about that, but I'm asking something slightly different. I'm trying to determine whether an asset solely in her name (her IRA) would count towards the $100,000 in "qualifying balances" I need to have with USBank to get 4% cashback. As I type it out, I'm thinking the answer is probably no, but she is an authorized user on the card and a joint owner on our other USBank accounts, so I'm not sure.

[tj]

I have to think that if you qualify for 4% based on your assets, any AU cards on the same account would also qualify. Don't know though.

I think you're right about that, but I'm asking something slightly different. I'm trying to determine whether an asset solely in her name (her IRA) would count towards the $100,000 in "qualifying balances" I need to have with USBank to get 4% cashback. As I type it out, I'm thinking the answer is probably no, but she is an authorized user on the card and a joint owner on our other USBank accounts, so I'm not sure.

I'm assuming not.

[jeffyscott]

The dining one is good for multiple purchases, but the grocery one is just a single purchase.

Did it state that on the website, or did you figure that out on your own?

The details show up when you click on the offer:
Earn 15% cash back on all qualifying dining purchases when you spend $10 or more, with a $20.00 cash back maximum.

and:

Shop at any Grocery Store & earn 15% cash back from U.S. Bank! Offer valid one time only.


I initially had only read (and misinterpreted) the more prominent text for the grocery one:
Earn 15% cash back
Up to $20.00

[fast_and_curious]

I have to think that if you qualify for 4% based on your assets, any AU cards on the same account would also qualify. Don't know though.

I think you're right about that, but I'm asking something slightly different. I'm trying to determine whether an asset solely in her name (her IRA) would count towards the $100,000 in "qualifying balances" I need to have with USBank to get 4% cashback. As I type it out, I'm thinking the answer is probably no, but she is an authorized user on the card and a joint owner on our other USBank accounts, so I'm not sure.

Can you just make your wife a joint owner of the credit card as well? I had originally opened the card in my name only with my wife as an AU (since I didn't see how to do a joint application on the online application). But then realized that she was not able to view the credit card on her US Bank account since she was not a joint owner. So, I made her a joint owner on the card and now she can see the card on her account. I would ASSUME if she is a joint owner of the card her IRA balance would count (this was not our situation so please double check with someone first!)

Unfortunately they have to send a paper form to add a joint owner - or they can send the PDF but you still have to print it out, wet sign it, and then mail or fax (yes in 2025) it back. So it's a pain but it's also just a one time inconvenience.

[millennialmillions]

Where are you all seeing these cash back deals? I’m in the app under Rewards -> Cash Back Deals and all I see is offers for specific stores.

Also, anyone have a data point on how long it took a tax payment to go from pending to actually included in your balance? I charged a tax payment on the evening of 1/8 and it’s still pending (meaning I can’t pay off the balance to make another payment).

[plmd]

Where are you all seeing these cash back deals? I’m in the app under Rewards -> Cash Back Deals and all I see is offers for specific stores.

Also, anyone have a data point on how long it took a tax payment to go from pending to actually included in your balance? I charged a tax payment on the evening of 1/8 and it’s still pending (meaning I can’t pay off the balance to make another payment).

When did you first officially have a Smartly tier? The exclusive offers seem to be added every 45 days, but if your Smartly tier goes into effect in the middle of the cycle, you have to wait for the next cycle to see the offers. The next offers should appear in mid-Feb.

What time did you make the payment, and what time zone are you? I usually see the tax payment post the evening on the following day even though the balance doesn’t reflect it, and then the balance updates the following morning.

[millennialmillions]

When did you first officially have a Smartly tier? The exclusive offers seem to be added every 45 days, but if your Smartly tier goes into effect in the middle of the cycle, you have to wait for the next cycle to see the offers. The next offers should appear in mid-Feb.

What time did you make the payment, and what time zone are you? I usually see the tax payment post the evening on the following day even though the balance doesn’t reflect it, and then the balance updates the following morning.

Ahh, that explains it, thank you. I just got a Smartly tier within the last couple weeks.

I'm in Central time. Charge made on 1/8 at 8:40pm. As of now (1/10 9:12am), the charge shows as pending and the balance is not yet updated. I still have 5 days to make the next payment so am not too worried but didn't realize there would be any lag.

[tj]

Where are you all seeing these cash back deals? I’m in the app under Rewards -> Cash Back Deals and all I see is offers for specific stores.

Also, anyone have a data point on how long it took a tax payment to go from pending to actually included in your balance? I charged a tax payment on the evening of 1/8 and it’s still pending (meaning I can’t pay off the balance to make another payment).

Go to your checking account, click account services and click smart rewards. If your smart rewards tier is not over 20k, you aren't going to see the better deals. There seems to be a lag for when your smart tier updates (vs smartly tier)

[learningtofly]

• My other brokerage is in a Living Trust. Is it possible to do an ACATS transfer from a Trust account to an Individual? Alternatively, can I open the brokerage account at US Bank in the Trust?

I don't believe you can ACATS from a trust to an individual. Surely this would be drawing from the trust, which may or may not be permissible under the trust rules. Either way, most likely a taxable event.

Personal trust accounts qualify for the relationship, so the alternative plan may work.

It might depend on the brokerage. I was able to with Wells Fargo, but wasn't able to with Robinhood.

Why would it be a taxable event if the ETF is transferred in-kind?

[andyandyandy]

Data point: the $0.24 in verification deposits from BofA counted toward the checking bonus. Only $7,999.76 to go!
1) USBank.com. Once logged into your online account for your credit card, there is a new account link.
2) That seems prudent.
3) Savings yes, checking no. Some, myself included, opened the checking for a sign up bonus at the same time. The checking bonus is unrelated to the card rewards.

The checking account's SMART rewards is how you get the targeted spend offers. No reason not to open one.

Are the rewards with the opening of a new account?

[daimyoaz]

Anyone purchased any tax free mmf such as vctxx at usbank? Is there a transaction fee for regular taxable account?

USBank trader confirmed that all money market funds doesn't have a trading fee. The 25$ displayed during transactions is a known issue, and it just prevents 25$ from your max to be used for purchasing MMs. Just got an order in, will see whether this is true or not for VCTXX.

[tj]

The checking account's SMART rewards is how you get the targeted spend offers. No reason not to open one.

Are the rewards with the opening of a new account?

I don't know what you are asking. You don't qualify for Smart Rewards without having a checking account and actively enrolling in Smart Rewards.

[plmd]

I just confirmed how quickly you can make a payment on the Smartly Visa and increase your credit available. I logged into Fidelity at 7:45am to do an ACH push of $25k to my US Bank checking. Funds arrived just after 1:30pm. Transferred from checking to Smartly, and balance immediately decreased and available credit increased. Wiring from Fidelity would have shaved off a few hours, but I'm still only at the Smartly Plus tier, so US Bank would have charged me for the incoming wire. Premium tier would give you 1 free wire per month, and Pinnacle would give you unlimited free wires. I do have $100k in the brokerage account, which gets me the 4% cash back right now, but it takes a while before your average balance is re-calculated to get you to the Premium tier.

You should also be able to wire directly to the brokerage and not have a fee regardless of tier, but it's a bit more complicated, since you have to send the wire to US Bancorp's account with further instructions to credit your account. Then you could move the funds to the bank side and transfer to the credit card.

[andyandyandy]

Are the rewards with the opening of a new account?

I don't know what you are asking. You don't qualify for Smart Rewards without having a checking account and actively enrolling in Smart Rewards.

Sorry I was not clear- What I meant was if the rewards are worth it to open a checking account?
How does US Bank pays back 4% cash back?

[plmd]

Sorry I was not clear- What I meant was if the rewards are worth it to open a checking account?
How does US Bank pays back 4% cash back?

I think the exclusive cash back offers are worth opening a checking account, since you won’t pay any fees if you have a US Bank credit card. The offers are usually a combination of 15% dining, 15% grocery, and 15% department store and some other merchant, and they appear every 45 days or so. They even double the rewards during Thanksgiving in recent years, so I recently bought $175 Amazon gift cards at Kohls on Nov 29 and got $25 + $25 bonus in addition to the cash back whichever US Bank credit card you use.

To get the 4% cash back on the Smartly Visa, I believe you have to redeem the points to a US Bank checking or savings account. I don’t think you get 4% if you redeem using any other method, including a statement credit.

[5150]

Anyone purchased any tax free mmf such as vctxx at usbank? Is there a transaction fee for regular taxable account?

USBank trader confirmed that all money market funds doesn't have a trading fee. The 25$ displayed during transactions is a known issue, and it just prevents 25$ from your max to be used for purchasing MMs. Just got an order in, will see whether this is true or not for VCTXX.

You are correct. No fee on VUSXX. But does say $25. Ignore it. No Fee.

[EricGold]

I am thinking about this credit card for tax payments, since it works out to an arbitrage of around 1.5% between the cost of using a credit card to pay the tax and a 4% rebate, and it solves a problem for me in that the Gov will not accept PUSH payments via EFTPS ACH. It sill seems worthwhile, but a question came to mind:

Are the 4% rebates earned income ? I think I know that credit card points and miles are not earned income, but how about this credit card rebate ?

Addendum: the www says no tax. The idea is that the cash-back is treated as a rebate. Cash or points or whatever back does not matter. I think this is correct, but please correct if not.

[Leesbro63]

I am thinking about this credit card for tax payments, since it works out to an arbitrage of around 1.5% between the cost of using a credit card to pay the tax and a 4% rebate, and it solves a problem for me in that the Gov will not accept PUSH payments via EFTPS ACH. It sill seems worthwhile, but a question came to mind:

Are the 4% rebates earned income ? I think I know that credit card points and miles are not earned income, but how about this credit card rebate ?

Addendum: the www says no tax. The idea is that the cash-back is treated as a rebate. Cash or points or whatever back does not matter. I think this is correct, but please correct if not.

The “rewards” are a refund and not taxable, (I think. I’m am not a tax professional). And the arbitrage is even better than 1.5% for Federal income tax paid and might still be good enough to pay state income tax, depending on your state. Many of us here got this card primarily for, probably, the biggest refund available on paying tax. Truthfully, my guess is that USBank will somehow curtail this almost free lunch as it catches on and costs them money.

But for now, I'll play the good cards of this 4% hand. The net rewards retrieved on paying Federal income tax, using Pay1040.com, is as follows: 4% rewards on the tax paid plus 4% on the 1.75% fee for charging tax = 4.07% gross "rewards" on the tax paid minus 1.75% fee for charging tax = 2.32% net rewards on Federal income tax paid. For Pennsylvania state tax it's 4% on the tax paid plus 4% on the 2.75% fee equals 4.11% gross rewards. Subtract the 2.75% fee to pay Pennsylvania tax leave you with 1.36% net rewards.

[EricGold]

But for now, the net rewards retrieved on paying Federal income tax, using Pay1040.com, is as follows: 4% rewards on the tax paid plus 4% on the 1.75% fee for charging tax = 4.07% gross "rewards" on the tax paid minus 1.75% fee

I wandered over to pay1040.com and read this (my BOLD) in regards to personal credit card usage

The convenience fee for this service is $2.15 for consumer/personal debit cards, or 2.89% of the tax payment amount for credit cards and PayPal (minimum of $2.50). Corporate credit cards and debit cards have a convenience fee of 2.89% ($2.50 minimum) and cash payments have a convenience fee of $1.50.

Change in terms, or am I missing something ?

[Leesbro63]

But for now, the net rewards retrieved on paying Federal income tax, using Pay1040.com, is as follows: 4% rewards on the tax paid plus 4% on the 1.75% fee for charging tax = 4.07% gross "rewards" on the tax paid minus 1.75% fee

I wandered over to pay1040.com and read this (my BOLD) in regards to personal credit card usage

The convenience fee for this service is $2.15 for consumer/personal debit cards, or 2.89% of the tax payment amount for credit cards and PayPal (minimum of $2.50). Corporate credit cards and debit cards have a convenience fee of 2.89% ($2.50 minimum) and cash payments have a convenience fee of $1.50.

Change in terms, or am I missing something ?

Good catch. This has been discussed on the thread about paying tax by credit card. It appears to be an error that Pay1040 has not yet fixed. I actually paid, 3 days ago, and while it said 2.89%, the actual fee charged was 1.75%. It appears they listed the corporate credit card fee incorrectly for what should be the 1.75% personal card fee.

The IRS site says the Pay1040 fee is 1.75% and the ACI Payments Inc fee is 1.85%.

A Reddit threat I found is guessing this has something to do with AMEX cards vs Visa/Mastercard. Something does need to be clarified. My solution was to use Pay1040 and verify that the fee to be charged was 1.75%, before pulling the trigger. Or just pay the extra .1% more at ACI until Pay1040 gets solved. An extra $10 on a $10,000 payment.

[EricGold]

Thanks !

I put in enough information at the ACI website to confirm the 1.85% fee. I was too lazy to do the same for pay1040.com. So long as I can confirm the 1.75% fee before clicking 'charge me!' I'm good.

[johnohh]

I'm all set with the card, $100+k in USB brokerage and $25 in savings. Do I have the option of now withdrawing $24 from savings without incurring any fees down the road? To keep things clean I just prefer to keep $1 in unused accounts like this one. Saw comments about dormant accounts and account minimums so thought I'd ask. thanks.

[Leesbro63]

Thanks !

I put in enough information at the ACI website to confirm the 1.85% fee. I was too lazy to do the same for pay1040.com. So long as I can confirm the 1.75% fee before clicking 'charge me!' I'm good.

Hopefully that will work for you as it did for me. Common sense would suggest that the fee can't be 2.89% if the other option is 1.85%...no one would use the vastly costlier option. You'd think that Pay1040 would have fixed this by now, as it's been a number of days. Surely they're hearing about it.

[indexfundfan]

I'm all set with the card, $100+k in USB brokerage and $25 in savings. Do I have the option of now withdrawing $24 from savings without incurring any fees down the road? To keep things clean I just prefer to keep $1 in unused accounts like this one. Saw comments about dormant accounts and account minimums so thought I'd ask. thanks.

Your savings account is not going to be dormant since you should be cashing out your credit card rewards into the account once a month.

[Leesbro63]

For what it's worth, I just discovered that although I have over $100,000 at USBank, they charged my savings account a $20 fee to receive my first and only bank wire. Perhaps it will get rebated when the next account statement posts. I'll call the bank on Monday to protest, etc. and find out what the actual deal is.