AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the Chase Freedom® are not available through this site. All information has been independently collected by AwardWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers.
US Bank bonus earning categories for the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card are live for January to March 2023. What makes the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa unique in comparison to similar cards? You get to choose the bonus categories!
Unlike other cards featuring rotating bonus categories assigned by the card issuer, the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa lets you choose 2 categories to earn 5% cash back and one category to earn 2% cash back. This flexibility can make the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa a valuable rewards card as part of a larger earning strategy.
- Earn a $200 bonus after spending $1,000 in eligible net purchases within the first 120 days of account opening.
- 5% cash back on your first $2,000 in eligible net purchases each quarter on the two categories you choose, 5% cash back on prepaid air, hotel and car reservations booked directly in the Rewards Travel Center, 2% cash back on one everyday category (like gas or groceries), 1% cash back on all other eligible net purchases
- No annual fee
- 5% cash back on your first $2,000 in eligible net purchases each quarter on the two categories you choose
- 5% cash back on prepaid air, hotel and car reservations booked directly in the Rewards Travel Center
- 2% cash back on one everyday category (like gas or groceries)
- 1% cash back on all other eligible net purchases
U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa 5% Bonus Categories
Each quarter, you must select your 5% bonuses from a list of 12 US Bank Cash Plus categories. You can choose 2 categories in which you will earn 5% back on the first $2,000 of combined spending across both selected categories.
- TV, internet & streaming services
- Fast food
- Cell phone providers
- Department stores
- Home utilities
- Select clothing stores
- Electronics stores
- Sporting goods stores
- Movie theaters
- Gyms/fitness centers
- Furniture stores
- Ground transportation
U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa 2% Bonus Categories
Choose one of the following categories to earn unlimited 2% cash back:
- Gas & EV charging stations
- Restaurants
- Grocery stores
How the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Bonus Categories Work
Rather than the card issuer assigning bonus categories, you choose your 5% and 2% bonuses each quarter from a list of options.
- Select 2 categories to earn 5% back cash back, capped on the first $2,000 of combined eligible purchases; after that, you will earn 1% back.
- Select one category to earn 2% cash back (no earning limit).
- Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Do I Need to Choose My Bonus Categories Each Quarter?
Yes, you need to choose your bonus categories before you can begin earning additional rewards. You can select your bonus categories beginning 45 days before the start of the upcoming quarter. If you forget to select your categories, you have until 5 days before the end of the current quarter to make your selection. However, you won't start earning bonus cash back until 3 business days after you choose your preferred categories.
How Do I Choose My Bonus Categories?
There are two ways to register the bonus categories on your U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa:
- Online: Register online at usbank.com/cashplus.
- Phone: Call the US Bank Cardmember Services phone number printed on the back of your credit card and make your selection over the phone.
Our Take
The key to maximizing the value of the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa is choosing the bonus categories based on the other credit cards you have in your wallet. Choosing the 5% and 2% categories means you can integrate them into a broader plan to maximize your earnings across the board. The best option would be selecting categories where 1) you will spend some money that quarter but 2) don't have another card offering good earning rates.
If you already hold other rewards cards featuring rotating bonus categories — such as the Citi® Dividend Card or Chase Freedom® — you can wait until the bonus categories are released for those cards, activate them, and choose different bonus categories for your U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa.
For Q1 in 2023, Citi's categories feature restaurants and select travel. Chase's categories include Walmart and purchases made through PayPal. Unless you will have significant spending (past the applicable limits) in those categories, it makes sense to choose different categories via US Bank. This way, you can earn 5% cash back in a broader range of categories — helping you maximize your points earning.
Figuring out the optimal strategy can take some work, especially if you have multiple 5% earners in your wallet!
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Need to confirm my categories for April to July 1st please.
You’ll need to reach out to US Bank to make your choices for next quarter. You can do so here: https://cashplus.usbank.com/
Would Con ED (Consolidated Edison Company ) be considered a utility for US bank Cash+. They use a third party payer.
Oooh. That’s a good question. Ideally, the third-party payer would be coded as utilities as well. If you know the third-party payer name, you can use the AwardWallet merchant lookup tool to see how it codes: https://awardwallet.com/en/merchants
Hi! Is a SDG&E (San Diego Gas and Electric) gas and electric payment using the credit card processing through the SDG&E website confirmed a eligible 5% Utilities category bonus with the US Bank Cash+ credit card?
Jeremy – it looks like payments are processed by Billmatrix, which usually reports as utilities (we have confirmation of that for utility companies in Ohio and Louisiana) – https://awardwallet.com/merchants
Do i get 5% on medical/dental expense?
No, those are not in the list of 5% / 5x categories. Only items in the list of categories will earn 5%.
Do you have to have a bank account at US Bank or can they deposit the cash back in my checking account at my credit union? This looks like a great card for cable, internet and home utilities like electric, water and garbage. Do home utilities include garbage and auto insurance?
Thanks
Sherry
Sherry – without a US Bank checking/savings account, your 2 options will be statement credit or a US Bank-issued prepaid debit card.
With a US Bank credit card like this one, the monthly fee on a checking account is waived. I keep a low balance in my checking account and redeem my rewards as cash.
With one of the categories being selected clothing stores. What are those clothing stores?
You can find the merchants here: https://cashplus.usbank.com/merchants
Aeropostale®
American Eagle Outfitters
Ann Taylor®
Banana Republic
Eddie Bauer®
Express®
Forever 21®
GAP
J.Crew®
Jos A Bank™
Old Navy
Talbots®
The Limited®
I make many purchases on the Internet. Is there a category for that on my US Bank CASH+ card?
Unfortuantely none of the categories cover all online purchases. The only card that I’m aware of that has this category is the AT&T Access Credit Card which earns “2 ThankYou Points for every $1 you spend at eligible online retail and travel websites.”
Look into bofa cash rewards 3% online cash back
Please keep my information confidential.
I see there’s a 5% cash back for “fast food” and 2% cash back for “restaurants”…. is there really a difference between the 2 categories?
Hey Chris, I’m not sure how these are defined. I would think all fast food would be a restaurant, but not all restaurants are fast food.
This helps break it down a bit –> https://cashplus.usbank.com/merchants
YES! – US Bank is one of the few that splits this category – my thought is that “fast food” generally is a lower spend than “restaurants”. Generally Fast food includes fast casual like Panera, Rubios, etc. and excludes “sit down” dining like an Applebees or Cheesecake Factory.
Does anyone know what is considered by “Departmental Stores”? I googled and found out that Target, Kohl’s, Costco, Walmart are some examples?
Is that correct? Do you have any addition to this list?
Thanks
Does anyone know whether Yoga Studios would be considered Gyms/Fitness centers? My Yoga Studio shows up on my Fidelity Visa Card (which is outsourced to US Bank) under the category “Dance Halls, Schools, and Studios”. Does this roll up under the Gym bonus category?
BTW…my gym shows up on my Cash+ card under the category “COUNTRY CLUBS, MEMBERSHIP (ATHL,REC), PRIVATE GOLF COURSES” and this does get me a 5% rebate. The gym is City Sports Club (part of LA Fitness) and definitely has nothing to do with golf.
Just like my Yoga Studio has nothing to do with Dance.
I know I could try it, but I’ve changed credit cards a lot at the Yoga Studio and it is manual process done by the owner personally and I’d hate to bother her again and then reverse it if there were no bonus.
Do the 12 quarterly categories change, or is it always the same dozen, from which I select two to earn 5%?
These ones don’t change every quarter, but there have been some changes historically.
posting a comment to see follow-up posts.
Does the ground transportation category include car insurance or ride-sharing?
Does the utilities category include rent or mortgage?
Does the fast food category includes hello fresh or GrubHub / doordash?
I would like to use this card to pay a combination of car insurance, cable, rent, electric & water.
I can easily max out the utilities & ground transport if it includes car insurance, rent & electric/water.
It can be tricky to tell for sure. The best option is trial and error with small purchases.
I use this only for my monthly utility bill ($212) and mobile phone bill ($350). Both are billed directly to my card. So I just leave it in my drawer, as I have better cards for everyday expenses. That’s $84 in rewards a quarter.
What do they consider as utility bills?
Not Really a great deal. First, you only get to choose two of these highly specific categories. Even then, WHO SPENDS 2 THOUSAND DOLLARS AT THESE PLACES EVERY 3 MONTHS???? Seriously ask yourself that. Although (and worth noting) it’s capped at 2k for the combination of both categories, they make it really hard to reach that maximum. If you’re spending 2000 at department stores every 3 months, you have a bigger fish to fry. Why not include plane tickets??? This is only good for when you have a big utility or electronic purchase coming up.
I’d argue there are a lot of people who spend $333 per month on at least two of the 5% categories. For folks willing to do a little extra work to monitor their use, this can be a great deal.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at.. $2k is the CAP that you can spend to get the 5% back. There’s no problem in not reaching that maximum, it’s more so a good thing to have a maximum higher than what you can spend so you ensure you the cards worth..
I have the US Bank Flexperks card. It offers bonus points (up to 3 points per miles I think) for selected categories. A good feature is that they’ve changed their redemption policy. Instead of a complicated tiered system, you now get 1.5 cents per point toward award travel. For example if you have have 50,000 points you can get a ticket worth $750.
Hey, do we have this yet for Chase (for the year)? I think I’ve seen this first quarter’s categories, but I’m wondering about this entire year.
No, we do not.
This sounds a bit complicated but it would be good if you set this credit card for specific types of purchases only
Pretty unique feature being able to choose your categories.
great summary! will keep this card in mind when I’m looking for a new one.
I love category spending because it’s basically so black and white. You do this, you get that. Works for me.
how long do they take to approve you?
Sometimes instant, sometimes not. If you’re not instantly approved you’ll receive a notice indicating how long you should expect to wait for a result. This is the same as every credit card issuer.
how easy is it to qualify for a card from this bank?
How good is your credit score/report? I’d say easier than being approved for a Centurion card, but harder than a secured credit card.
This is intriguing… wish Chase did the Freedom this way. Although Apple Pay is a pretty nice catch-all category this quarter.
Thank you for the info. Personally, the 5% categories offered are not ones I use consistently enough to warrant joining. The 2% categories I already have with other cards.
Can you change the categories quarterly, or only select them when you sign up? If you can change them it would get a lot more value since you can select things that you aren’t getting 5% with on rotating-category cards like the Discover It.
You set them quarterly
I also would have a difficult time figuring out which categories I would use for the 5%. I don’t think I would get close to the maximum for any of them. This is probably not a card I need to add to my extensive collection!
Allowing the choice is helpful and interesting but the cap makes it not as much.
Credit card rotational after you fill up your per card bonuses – Nice! Thanks.
The ability to choose is great, but if I’m reading this right, the 5% spend is capped a $2k for the year, and that’s is rather paltry.
5% is capped at $2000 each QUARTER
No, it’s $2,000 per quarter. So, in theory you could spend $8,000 in a calendar year and get $400 back,.
I never got this card after my Freedom and Discover It, and now i’m trying to think of what 2 other categories I spend 2000 total on, and I’m having a hard time figuring it out… I feel like I’d just end up overspending on, say, electronics stores, just to feel like I’m maximizing the bonus. Restaurants and Gas stations are the only categories of all of those I’d want all year versus the quarterly bonuses the Freedom and It offer.
Thanks. I’ve never heard of US Bank. This looks like something worth a try.
This would be a good arrow in your credit card spend quiver but we must take into account “The 5% earning is capped at the first $2,000 of combined eligible spending; after that, you will earn 1% back.” So, if you are shooting for 5% overall this is only good for $2,000 of the 5% level.
I guess it works if you know which categories you will spend at least $2000 in 2018.
Thanks. I wasn’t aware of this, and it looks interesting, Purchasing gift cards from a category merchant during the 5% period can extend your 5% past the end of the period. I believe the 5% at warehouse stores isn’t limited to the Discover It card, but is available on all Discover cards, and is also listed as a 5% category in the 4th quarter.
Thanks for letting us know.