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U.S. Bank issues several different cards for the U.S. credit card market, with benefits that are often overlooked and underappreciated. In 2024, it launched the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card, a premium metal product that earns up to 4% cash back on every purchase.
On April 14, 2025, U.S Bank made major changes to the card's benefits. While these changes don't currently affect existing cardholders, new applicants should take note before applying. The previous rules allowed for cash back rates on purchases as high as 4% with sufficient investment balances in U.S. Bank accounts. But now, the requirements are much stricter.
So, what's changed exactly? Let's take a look.
What's Changing With the Bank Smartly Card?
The U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card has no annual fee or welcome bonus; it's purely a cash-back card. The base earning rate is 2% cash back on every purchase. However, the rewards multiply if you open a U.S. Bank Smartly savings account.
New applicants will have to adhere to stricter criteria for achieving heightened cash back levels compared to those who applied before April 14, 2025. You'll need to open a U.S. Bank Smartly savings account and maintain a qualifying balance in a U.S. Smartly checking or Safe Debit account. Note that only funds in your checking or Safe Debit accounts count as qualifying balances, which is confusing to say the least.
Here are the different rewards thresholds:
- 2.5% cash back on all purchases: $10,000-$49,999 (The previous threshold was $5,000)
- 3% cash back on all purchases: $50,000-$99,999
- 4% cash back on all purchases: $100,000+
That means those who want to earn 4% cash back will now need to hold over $100,000 in deposits in a U.S. Bank Smartly bank account to achieve the highest tier. In addition, the old system measured qualifying balances on a 90-day rolling average. Now, that timeframe has been cut down to 30 days, which makes these tiers harder to achieve if you're accessing your capital regularly.
Furthermore, new caps on earnings have been implemented. Previously, there was no cap on earnings at the heightened tiers. Now, you'll only be able to earn 2.5%, 3%, or 4% on purchases up to $10,000 in total purchases each billing cycle. Afterward, spending will revert to an uncapped 2% cash back. That's a pretty big haircut.
Finally, in a clear effort to cut down on “maximizers,” certain purchases will only earn 2% cash back. These include education or tuition payments, gift cards, insurance, taxes, business-to-business transactions, and third-party bill payment services. Many of these purchases are high-dollar value transactions, or are potentially purchases that would otherwise be made without a credit card.
The previous version of this card offered too lucrative an offer that attracted customers U.S. Bank wished not to do business with.
Cardholders Who Applied Before April 14, 2025
For existing cardholders who applied before April 14, 2025, nothing is currently changing with your card offerings. That means the existing earning structure is still in place if you have both the savings account, the Bank SmartlyCard, and average daily combined qualifying balances in U.S. Bank deposit, trust, or investment accounts:
- 2.5% cash back when you have a qualifying balance between $5,000 and $49,999
- 3% cash back when you have a qualifying balance between $50,000 and $99,999
- 4% cash back when you have a qualifying balance greater than $100,000
In addition, cardholders will continue to enjoy uncapped earnings on higher-tiered categories, as well as now-excluded purchase categories. These benefits can change at any time, but for the time being, U.S. Bank is allowing older cardholders to continue to earn under the old structure.
How the Bank Smartly Card Compares to Other Cash Back Cards
The cash-back credit card space is undoubtedly competitive. The base level of 2% cash back you'll get with the Bank SmartlyCard is on par with some of our best cards for everyday spending, like the Citi Double Cash® Card or TD Double Up℠ Credit Card.
- $150 Cash Back: Receive a $150 statement credit when you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days of opening your account.
- Enjoy unlimited 2% Cash Back on every eligible purchase.
- Enjoy Visa benefits like cell phone protection when you use your card to pay your monthly mobile bill.
- Zero annual fee.
- Only available to residents of CT, DC, DE, FL, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, VA, or VT.
- Unlimited 2% Cash Back on every eligible purchase
Other cards, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, offer bonus categories without the requirement of a hefty savings account balance.
- Intro Offer: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening
- Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
- Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 18.99% - 28.49%.
- No annual fee - You won't have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Unlimited® card
- Keep tabs on your credit health, Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 5% on purchases through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants
- Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1.5% on all purchases
Bank of America offers a similar relationship-based earning offer for its card members. For example, if you have the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card, you'll earn 6% cash back for the first year in the category of your choice (then 3%), automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases. If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, you can earn 25%–75% more cash back on every purchase.
To get that 75% bonus, you'll need to save your way to Platinum status with Bank of America Preferred Rewards. This tier requires $100,000 in invested funds or savings. But it's well worth your while if that's attainable, because you can then use the Bank of America Customized Cash Card to earn up to 10.5% cash back in the category of your choice.
- 6% cash back for the first year in the category of your choice: gas and EV charging stations, online shopping/cable/internet/phone plan/streaming, dining, travel, drug store/pharmacy purchase, or home improvement/furnishing purchases, then 3% after the first year of card membership*
- 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs*
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
- * You'll earn 6% and 2% cash back on the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club purchases each quarter, then earn 1%. After the 3% first-year bonus offer ends, you will earn 3% and 2% cash back on these purchases up to the quarterly maximum.
Final Thoughts
While we'll never know how much U.S. Bank lost in the first few months when the Bank Smartly Card was released to the market, it's rare to see a credit card's benefits change so soon after launch.
These changes make sense, and for those that carry a large amount of cash in their checking or savings account, 4% cash back is hard to beat on up to $120,000 in purchases a year; that's $4,800 in maximized rewards each calendar year! For most, the new tier structure will likely be prohibitive to maximizing this card's potential. We'll see how existing cardholders are treated in the coming months and years.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Rates & Fees)
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