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U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

April 05, 2024

Why trust us? Investor.com has no financial relationship with any of the credit card providers whose products we analyze and review. Our opinions are based solely on data and our own extensive independent research — that means unbiased guidance for consumers. Rewards cards in our cashback credit card calculator are listed in descending order according to how much money they pay out annually based on the inputs.

The 5% cash back rate on multiple spending categories makes a great headline. The U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa rewards program rules, however — oof.

The U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Card pays a heady 5% cash back on an impressive list of 12 bonus spending categories. Unfortunately, cardholders are allowed to activate just two each quarter. And the 5% rate applies only to the first $2,000 in combined quarterly purchases, with all other spending relegated to U.S. Bank’s 1%-2% cash back zone. Also, be mindful of the quarterly bonus category enrollment requirements, and — this a weird one I don't see often — that rewards expire 36 months after the billing cycle in which they were earned.

That's a lot of caveats, but a determined rewards card maximalist could really cash in with some advance planning, earning up to $400 a year in rewards by maxing out the 5% spending categories alone.

The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Card offers an even more impressive 6% cash back on purchases from a long list of major retailers. But like the Cash+ Signature Visa, the potential payoff is muted by a low-ish quarterly rewards spending cap.

More: See investor.com's picks for the Best 5% Cash Back Credit Cards.

The basics: Earn 5% cash back on your first $2,000 in combined eligible purchases each quarter on two categories you choose; 2% cash back on one everyday category (gas/EV charging stations, grocery stores or restaurants) and 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases. New cardholder offer: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 billing cycles. Earn a $200 rewards bonus after you apply online and spend $1,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening.

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card pros and cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

Earn 5% cash back on two categories (your choice each quarter!)
2% unlimited cash back on one everyday category (also, your choice)
Offers welcome bonus and 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers
Additional 5% cashback on Rewards Travel Center reservations
Real-time rewards redemption available

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

Quarterly rewards enrollment required
Fail to choose your bonus categories and you'll earn just 1% cash back
$2,000 quarterly spending cap on 5% rewards category = bummer for big spenders
Charges a 3% foreign transaction fee
Rewards cash expires

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card cashback rewards spending categories

Credit Card Calculator

Monthly Spend

Spend Categories expand_more

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dining Dining

theater_comedy Entertainment

local_gas_station Gas

shopping_cart Groceries

monetization_on Other

local_pharmacy Pharmacy

card_travel Travel

local_shipping Amazon

storefront Costco

construction Home Improvement

shopping_bag Online Shopping

smart_display Streaming

local_taxi Transit

power Utilities

kitchen Whole Foods

receipt_long Wholesale Clubs

Calculate Cash Back

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card

Cashback Per Year

$...

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

$200

Apply Now

Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (aka the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g., $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Category	Default Rate	Bonus Rate	Bonus Spend Cap	Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Gas	1.00%	-	-	-
Travel	1.00%	-	-	-
Dining	1.00%	-	-	-
Entertainment	1.00%	-	-	-
Pharmacy	1.00%	-	-	-
Groceries	2.00%	-	-	-
Other Purchases	1.00%	-	-	-

Note: Each quarter U.S. Bank Cash+ Signature Visa cardholders can pick two 5% Cash+ bonus categories (which applies to the first $2,000 you spend in both categories combined each quarter) and one unlimited 2% everyday spending category. All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

The credit card rewards calculator applies the 5% rate to Streaming and Cell Phone and 2% to groceries. (See the full list of 5% and 2% bonus categories below.)

What we like

A bounty of 5% cash back options. U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa cardholders can choose two 5% cash back bonus categories each quarter. The choices are:

Fast food
Streaming, TV and internet
Cell phone
Home utilities
Department stores
Electronic stores
Sporting goods stores
Movie theaters
Gyms/fitness centers
Furniture stores
Ground transportation
Select clothing stores

Also left to your discretion is which one of three 2% bonus spending categories you prefer:

Grocery stores and grocery delivery
Restaurants, or
Gas stations and EV charging stations

No spending cap on 2% bonus category. Your earnings potential is unlimited in the 2% and 1% spending categories. (Hey 5% cashback spending cap, did that passive-aggressive dig hit its mark?)

No need to wait around for U.S. Bank to announce that quarter’s rewards categories. You call the shots, Tiger. And you better remember to or else you'll have to settle for a 1% cashback rate.

Quick access to earnings with Real-Time Rewards. U.S. Bank's Real-Time Rewards lets cardholders redeem available cash back to cover the cost of a purchase. Enrollment is required, and your rewards balance must be able to cover the entire purchase.

Valuable new cardholder offers: U.S. Bank piles on the charm up-front with a welcome bonus and 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers.

Travel fans take note: You'll earn 5% cash back on prepaid air, hotel and car reservations booked through the card's Rewards Travel Center.

The 0% intro APR is universally appealing because it applies to both new purchases as well as balances you transfer onto the card. Just be sure to move over your balance within 60 days of account activation. And note the 3% balance transfer fee, which is pretty standard these days.

What we don't like

A few high-dollar purchases and you’ll careen into the $2,000 quarterly spending cap on purchases eligible for the 5% rewards rate in your two chosen categories.

The U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Card isn't the best card for hands-off types since you're required to pick your Cash+ (U.S. Bank's word for "bonus") rewards categories each quarter.

🚨 Do not miss the quarterly enrollment deadline for your bonus rewards categories! 🚨 Otherwise you’ll be stuck earning just 1% cashback. Speaking of which …

Again, yet another card with an underwhelming 1% default cashback rate that applies to the “everything else” purchase category. Like after you hit your 5% spending ceiling or anything that doesn’t qualify for 2% cashback.

Keep an eye on those bonus categories because, FYI, we noticed in the fine print that the options "may change on a quarterly basis." In other words, don't assume that "Fast Food" will always be on the high-rewards list.

Rewards expire 36 months after the billing cycle during which they were earned. How rude!

Foreign transaction fees? Yup. The U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card charges a 3% foreign transaction fee, which means it's not a good choice for cardholders to use when traveling outside of the United States.

You’re required to build up your redemption dollars to at least $25 if you want the actual cash back (a reward card or deposit to a U.S. Bank savings, checking or money market account) and not a statement credit.

The bottom line

Is the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card fine print

Don your reading specs with blue-light blockers to take in the teeny type on the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card.

Does the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card.

tips_and_updates Trivia time!

How common are annual fees? Roughly 17% of the consumer cash back cards we review charge an annual fee. They range from $39 to $99, with an average annual fee of $67.

Does the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card offer a welcome bonus?

Yes, the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card has a welcome bonus of $200.

tips_and_updates Fun fact

More than half (55%) of the consumer cash back credit cards we track in the investor.com database offer a welcome bonus, ranging from $30 up to $300. The average sign-up bonus for new cardholders is $197, with the median being $200.

How much cashback can I earn with the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $143.88 in cash back per year using the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.