Power Cash Rewards Visa Signature® Card Review
This card is a welcome addition to the flat-rate cash-back rewards landscape, earning you 1.5% cash back on every purchase. With no caps or limits, you can earn on everything you buy.
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Key Features
descriptionEditor Analysis:
- You can earn up to 2% cash back on every purchase if you are a member of the Penfed Honors Advantage Program. If you aren't, you'll still earn a nice 1.5% back.
- With no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees to offset, all your rewards can go directly back to your pocket.
- Earn a $100 statement credit after spending $1,500 within the first 90 days.
- If you tend to spend disproportionately in particular categories such as groceries or gas, you could likely stand to earn more cash back with a card that features tiered or rotating rewards for those categories.
CardName Essentials
Flat-rate cash-back credit cards offer you a ton of convenience and simplicity, but not always the best possible cash-back rate. The CardName, however, takes a step in the right direction by upping the amount you can earn over that offered by several existing heavy hitters in the flat-rate rewards field.
CardName cardholders earn 1.5%cash back on all their purchases – a pretty standard rate across the flat-rate cash-back rewards board. But you can earn up to 2% cash back on all your purchases if you qualify for the Penfed Honors Advantage Program – and it’s fairly easy to do so. You qualify by either having a PenFed Access America Checking Account (yes, you can open a new account in order to qualify for the program) or if the primary or joint applicant is in active military service, the National Guard, the Reserves, has been honorably discharged or is a veteran. Plus, you can earn a $100 statement credit after spending $1,500 within the first 90 days of card membership.
Suddenly, the CardName stacks up nicely against some of the more well-established rewards cards like CardNamediscontinued.
Here are some key features of the CardName:
- Earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all your purchases; up the earn rate to 2% on all purchases as a member of the Penfed Honors Advantage Program.
- Earn a $100 statement credit after spending $1,500 within the first 90 days.
- No annual fee or foreign transaction fees.
The Pentagon Federal Credit Union is, as the name suggests, a credit union so you need to be a member to take advantage of the products and services (including the CardName). It’s fairly simply to qualify, however. Current or former members of the military, U.S. government employees, employees of certain organizations, membership in particular organizations or associations and more categories are eligible. In fact, anyone can join simply by becoming a dues paying member of Voices for America’s Troops or the National Military Family Association, both of which currently require modest one-time, non-refundable dues. Pay your dues and you’re eligible for Penfed membership.
What Our Editors Like Most About the CardName
In a word, it’s the simplicity that attracts us to flat-rate cash back cards. Sure, there are ways to earn greater amounts of cash back, but you have to be willing to keep up with rotating or at least tiered reward structures. If you just want to use your card and know you’re earning solid cash back whether you’re at the gas station or buying tickets to a summer concert, than a flat-rate card like the CardName is right for you.
In the case of the CardName, the possible earn rate is greater than with some other flat-rate cards. Two percent is a not-too-shabby amount of cash back to rake in every time you use your card. While the 1.5% basic rate is fine, there’s really no reason not to do what it takes to qualify for the Penfed Honors Advantage Program since you can do so with only a checking account.
"PenFed has certainly raised the bar with their new cash-back card," said Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings and a consumer credit card educator and advocate. "They have leaped overnight from a good cash back card to a best-of-breed category, particularly for members of the military and PenFed banking customers. The 2% earn rate, coupled with the reputation of PenFed, makes their new card a very compelling offer."
Lastly, there’s no annual fee or foreign transaction fees to contend with, so you can carry this card in your wallet for a rainy day or for that trip overseas.
Potential Downsides of the CardName
Even if you’re earning the 2% back on all your purchases, you could be missing out on even higher rewards if you are the kind of person who can keep up with rotating categories or tiered rewards. In particular, if you know you spend disproportionately on, say, groceries, there are cards out there that will reward you handsomely for that spending (to the tune of 5 or 6% cash back, actually).
CardName cardholder scores
CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:
| Current Scores | Past Scores | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 84.8 | 67.3 |
| Rewards Program Satisfaction | 8.6 | 6.8 |
| Customer Service | 8.7 | 6.8 |
| Website/App Usability | 8.6 | 6.8 |
| Likelihood of Continuing to Use | 8.3 | 6.8 |
| Recommend to a Friend/Colleague | 8.2 | 6.5 |
How the CardName Compares to Other Cash-Back Cards
CardName vs. Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card
The CardName is a no-annual-fee, tiered-rewards, cash-back card. That means that you stand to earn more cash back if you spend within the higher tier categories. CardName members can take advantage of a new offer to maximize cash back in the category of your choice: gas/EVC, online shopping (including streaming, cable, internet and phone services), dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings. Now earn 3% cash back in your choice category and 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. You can update your choice category for future purchases once each calendar month using the mobile banking app or online banking, or do nothing and it stays the same.
With that in mind, CardName members who take advantage of the Penfed Honors Advantage Program might be able to earn more cash back in the long run since they earn an unlimited 2% back on all their purchases.
That said, CardName also offers a $200 online cash-back bonus after you spend at least $1,000 in the first 90 days of account opening (a lower threshold for the bonus than with the Penfed card).
Who Should Get This Card?
The CardName is an excellent option for the person wanting to earn cash back, but who doesn’t have a particular interest in keeping up with rotating categories or caps on the earning. If you decide this is the card for you and you aren’t military, seriously consider opening a Penfed checking account in order to take advantage of the bonus cash-back earning rate.
Our Methodology
Survey methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents’ scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. Current Scores reflect scores from the most recent survey (2023); “Past Scores” reflect scores from the 2022 survey.
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
This content is not provided by any company mentioned in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any such company. CardRatings.com does not review every company or every offer available on the market.
