Alliant Cashback Card
No annual fee
None
Signup Bonus Chart2.5% All Purchases
No Foreign Transaction Fee
As long as you don't mind jumping through some extra account setup steps, the Alliant earns an extra half percent more cashback than a standard 2% no-annual-fee cashback card. It can be the best cashback option for people who don't qualify for BOA Platinum Honors, don't want to apply for a new Discover Card every year, and can't get one of the regional options..
Jump to:
Setting up the 2.5% option
To get the card, you'll need to become a member of the Alliant Credit Union. If you don’t work for an associated business, you can join by making a $10 donation to Foster Care to Success. However, even if you are eligible, if you've been signing up for lots of credit cards, it can be hard to get approved by Alliant.
To get the 2.5% rewards, you'll need to qualify as a checking customer. This entails opening a high-rate checking account, opting into eStatments, maintaining an average daily balance of $1,000, and making at least 1 deposit per month to the account. If you don't want to use the account on a routine basis, just set up an automatic transfer into and out of the account each month.
Notable Benefits
- Access to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. As with all Visa Signature cards, you'll get access to Visa's luxury hotel program. Whenever you book one of the 900+ participating hotels, you'll receive a set of valuable benefits, including free breakfast, late check-out, and a $25 food and beverage credit. The Visa program has slightly weaker benefits than the other luxury hotel programs, but includes a larger number of more affordable hotel options and a best price guarantee. Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
- Access to Visa Signature Offers. Your card entitles you to a set of special offers available from Visa.
Using the Card for your Everyday Spending
- The Alliant Card offers the highest universal cashback rate of any card. A few cards offer higher cashback rates under particular circumstances, but the Alliant Cards rate works for everyone. Rewards are capped at $10,000 worth of spending each month ($250 worth of rewards).
- If you are willing to use your points for award travel, you can earn more valuable rewards from other cards. For example, Using 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points for Hyatt award nights is generally more valuable than 2.5% cashback, as is using 1.5-2x Membership Rewards points for frequent flyer tickets. As a result, the Alliant card is primarily for people who put a premium on actual cashback or who otherwise can't get enough value out of these other points currencies. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.
- If you can move $100,000 in investment or retirement assets to Merrill Lynch, you can earn better rewards with the Bank of America Travel (or Premier Rewards) Card. With that level of assets, you'll qualify for a 75% reward bonus, which increases the cash-back rate to 2.625%. With the Travel version, you won't be an annual fee. With the Premier version, there is an annual fee, but you'll get some additional benefits, including a $100 airline incidental credit.
- The Discover Card earns 3% back in the first year and can be easier to get than the Alliant Card. It is often possible to cycle through Discover Cards every year to sustain this 3% rate.