Credit Card Cash Rewards Explained

 
Credit card cash rewards can offer added benefits to credit card owners. But sometimes it can be confusing to claim them. In addition, not all cash rewards are the same.

Types and Distribution of Credit Card Cash Rewards

There are several types of credit card cash rewards as well as different ways they can be distributed. It is important to know when and how they can be made available to make the most of these rewards.

Credit-Card-Cash-Rewards
American Express® statement credit cash reward printed and stored either digitally or manually for proof of distribution.

Types of Cash Rewards

There are between three and four types of cash rewards. The most direct is the statement credit applied directly to your credit card statement, illustrated above. But which statement is the question. Is it your current statement or your next statement? I often find that a call into the credit card company is needed to clarify this question.

The other types of cash rewards are illustrated here. They are gift cards, merchandise and friend referral rewards.

Credit-Card-Cash-Rewards
Types of additional cash rewards available as illustrated by Amex®.

Distribution of Credit Card Cash Rewards

This is where things can get confusing. Distribution has several options:
• anytime by request online or by phone
• with a minimum of $25 in rewards by the same methods
• in increments of $25 in rewards by the same methods

credit-card-cash-rewards
Capital One® offers cash back in any amount at any time plus lots of other rewards.

Option One is the simplest and most direct. Capital One and now Bank of America credit cards both offer this service. See the illustration above,

Option Two is where things can get complicated and there are drawbacks. This is because you can’t withdraw cash rewards at any time. There has to be an accumulation of at least $25 to do so. American Express distributes cash rewards this way. Read the fine print inside the red outline.

credit card cash rewards
Cash rewards are available for a minimum of $25 dollars. See the fine print inside the red lines.

Then there is Option Three, the least desirable way to cash in cash rewards. They can only be made in increments of $25. As illustrated below, cash rewards can be distributed only in increments of $25.

credit card cash rewards
Wells Fargo Go Far® Cash Rewards program distributes rewards only in incremented of $25.

Reading the fine print is important to understand what types of credit card cash reward exist and how they can be distributed. You can also learn more about credit cards on this blog by going to the search bar and typing in credit cards.

SOURCES AND RESOURCES

Capital One Cash Back VISA Credit Cards
Bank of America Cash Back VISA Credit Cards
Wells Fargo Credit Cards
American Express Credit Cards

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