Upromise Mastercard Review (from a Real Cardholder/User)

Upromise Mastercard Review Overview

The Upromise Mastercard is a cash back rewards credit card offered by Barclays Bank US in partnership with the UPromise rewards portal (Upromise’s sister companies include popular sites like Swagbucks, MyPoints, and MyGiftCardsPlus). I’ve personally had a Upromise Mastercard for a number of years and have held on to it because it has a strong combination of cash back rewards and premium perks, without a pesky annual fee. So this Upromise Mastercard review is from an actual user (cardholder).

As a general rule of thumb in the credit card world, the greater a credit cards perks, the higher the annual fee. It’s rare to find credit cards that offer noteworthy rewards perks and no annual fee, which is why the Upromise Mastercard is worth a look for smart credit card users. In this Upromise Mastercard review, I’ll break down the rewards perks, other benefits and perks, rates and fees, pros, cons, and more.

Disclosure: I have personally found value from the Upromise Mastercard, so I sought it out as an affiliate partner credit card, and may receive compensation if you were to click on the links in this review, apply for, and get approved for this card. This review is not provided, reviewed, or sponsored by Upromise or Barclays Bank – the opinions are mine alone.

Here’s what we’ll dig into in this Upromise Mastercard review:

Card Rewards Perks

As noted in the overview, the Upromise Mastercard has a nice set of cash back reward perks. The welcome bonus is easy to obtain, the cash back rewards are solid, and the up to $250 in bonus cash back rewards on MyGiftCardsPlus gift card purchases is a huge cash back rewards perk.

• Welcome Bonus: earn $100 bonus cash back rewards after spending $500 on purchases in the first 90 days.
• Cash Back Rewards: earn 1.529% cash back rewards on your purchases when your Upromise Program account is linked to an eligible College Savings Plan. Or, earn 1.25% bonus cash back rewards on your purchases if your Upromise Program account is not linked to a College Savings Plan. A current list of eligible College Savings Plans can be found at Upromise.com/CollegeSavingsPlans.
• Upromise Round Up Rewards: Upromise Round Up lets you round up your purchases to the nearest dollar, based on the limit you set (from $1 to $500). The total Round Up Amount is considered a purchase and converted to cash back rewards.
• Earn up to $250 in Cash Back Rewards per Year: get up to $250 in cash back rewards per calendar year on eligible gift card purchases at the MyGiftCardsPlus gift card shopping portal, powered by Upromise (details on this found here).

Other Card Benefits & Perks

The Upromise Mastercard has some other high-end perks that are rare for no annual fee cards, including free FICO scores and alerts and no foreign transaction fees.

• Free online access to your FICO® Credit Score: lets you keep an eye on your credit score and get email alerts when we learn that your score has changed.
• No foreign transaction fees on international purchases.
• $0 fraud liability protection: you’re not responsible for charges you did not authorize.

Card Rates & Fees

The $0 annual fee on the Upromise Mastercard is a nice rarity these days. The other rates and fees are pretty typical for a rewards credit card. As with all credit cards, I’m an advocate for paying your monthly balance on-time and in full every month to avoid fees.

• Annual Fee: $0
• Foreign Transaction Fees: $0
• Balance Transfer Fee: either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
• APR for Purchases: 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99%, based on your creditworthiness.
• APR for Balance Transfers: 0% introductory APR for 15 months for each balance transfer made within 45 days of account opening. After that (and for balance transfers that do not post within 45 days of account opening), 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99%, based on your creditworthiness.
• APR for Cash Advances: 29.99%

Pros for this Card

The pros in favor of the Upromise Mastercard are:

1. Solid cash back rewards (1.529% or 1.25%, Round Up, etc.).
2. Easy to obtain welcome bonus ($100 on $500 spend in 90 days).
3. A $0 annual fee is increasingly rare these days.
4. A great set of perks for a no annual fee card. My favorite is the up to $250 in cash back rewards per calendar year on eligible gift card purchases at MyGiftCardsPlus, which is easy for me to obtain with gift cards from popular retailers like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Instacart, EBay, and many others. I’ve highlighted purchasing discounted Instacart gift cards as one of the best ways to save money on Instacart – and using this card to purchase them results in discount equivalent cash back rewards.
5. Free FICO® score and alerts is a nice benefit.
6. No foreign transaction fees makes it a card you can travel internationally with and not get gouged with fees. This perk is typically on premium credit cards only.

Cons for this Card

The cons for the Upromise Mastercard are:

1. Solid, but not industry-leading cash back rewards. There are a few (less than a handful) of 2% cash back rewards cards out there (e.g. Citi Double Cash and the Fidelity Rewards Signature Visa). However, the perks from those cards are not as strong.
2. You need to link an eligible college savings plan to get 1.529% cash back on purchases, otherwise the cash back rewards rate is 1.25%.
3. Typical credit card rates and fees, aside from $0 annual fees and $0 foreign transaction fees. As with all credit cards, you should pay your monthly balance in full.

Upromise Mastercard Review Summary

The Upromise Mastercard is a solid cash back rewards card that maintains a spot in my wallet for its strong perks and benefits, without the negative hit of an annual fee. The MyGiftCards plus bonus cash back alone nets me a +$250 per year, making it worth holding on to the card for that perk alone. I also regularly get value from other cash back rewards benefits, no foreign transaction fees, and free access to my FICO® credit score. As always, remember to pay your credit card balance in full every month to avoid fees.