Key takeaways
- The Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa® offers a unique blend of personal loan and traditional rewards credit card features.
- Cardholders can earn 2.2% cash back on all purchases and have the option to pay off their balance in equal monthly installments.
- The card also offers a welcome bonus, customizable payment options and lower fees, but has a wide APR range.
- It may be most beneficial for those with good credit scores and planning for large purchases that can be divided into installments.
Nowadays, more lenders are realizing that consumers want added flexibility with their borrowing options. Recently, we’ve seen various lending products incorporating installment payments, lower interest rates, flexible repayment options and other features that create hybrid loan products.
The Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa® combines features of both a personal loan and a traditional rewards credit card. Here’s an overview of the rewards and other benefits it offers.
Quick highlights
- Rewards rate: 2.2 percent cash back after each monthly payment
- Welcome offer: $200 after opening a Rewards Checking account and making three debit card transactions within 60 days
- Annual fee: $0
- Purchase intro APR: N/A
- Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
- Regular APR: 14.99% – 29.99%
Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Card’s rewards and welcome bonus
You’ll earn 2.2 percent cash back on all purchases with your Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa. When you make your monthly payment, your rewards are credited to your account the following month. However, if you miss a payment, the rewards may not be credited to your account.
Although there’s not much flexibility in how you can redeem rewards, the cash back rate is still one of the highest out there among flat-rate cash back credit cards.
You can further elevate your rewards in your first year, but earning the welcome bonus. Most personal lines of credit and installment loans don’t offer a welcome bonus, but this card does. To earn it, you must sign up for an Upgrade Rewards Checking account and make three debit transactions within 60 days of opening your account.
Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Card payment and fee benefits
The Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards card features characteristics of both a personal loan and a credit card. Similar to a personal loan, cardholders can pay balances off in equal monthly installments of 24, 36 or 60 months. This approach could help you pay off your balance faster due to lower interest fees. However, if your balance gets high, this means your installment payment could also get higher. Unlike a traditional credit card, you won’t have the option to make smaller minimum payments.
Another great feature of the card is the potential to get a much lower interest rate. If you have good-to-excellent credit and opt into autopay, your interest rate could be near the bottom of the 14.99% – 29.99% variable APR range.
Finally, we should note that you’ll end up paying less in fees with this card. The Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa charges no annual fee, late payment fee, ATM fee, foreign transaction fee or penalty APR.
Additional perks and benefits of the Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Card
One of its key benefits is that this card offers a preapproval opportunity. That means you can check whether you’re likely to be approved for the Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa without generating a hard credit pull on your account. Check for preapproval with just a soft pull on your credit. Keep in mind that a preapproval doesn’t guarantee approval.
Additionally, the card offers the following perks on top of its rewards rate, installment payment options and welcome bonus:
- $0 fraud liability
- Extended warranty protection
- Travel and emergency assistance
- Pay-per-use roadside assistance
- 24/7 concierge service
How to maximize the Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa
We like this card for its refreshing take on lending. It offers predictable payments like an installment loan with the flexibility, rewards and perks of a credit card.
However, it might be best if you have a good credit score and are planning a large purchase that can be divided into installments. And if you can meet the requirements for the welcome bonus, you can apply it directly to a large purchase and reduce its cost.
Of course, you could use this card for several smaller purchases. But your balance would grow right along with your minimum installment payment, which will most likely be much higher than a regular credit card’s minimum payment. If you’re not careful, small purchases can add up. And if your interest rate is on the higher end, you could end up with a much larger monthly payment than anticipated.
The bottom line
The Upgrade Elite Cash Rewards Visa can be a good option if you want to break up a big-ticket item into installments and earn rewards at the same time. Just be wary of the card’s wide APR range, and consider other options if you have a low credit score.
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