I think DOC wrote about this card a month ago or so and I applied for the card and got a $15K CL on the card. So let’s talk about my experience with the card so far.
First off, I believe it’s an IOS app only.
Second, there is a $60 annual fee when you apply for the card.
Third, they give you a free Apple Watch, but it’s in weekly statement credits over 12 months (RIP if they axe you before then I assume)
Lastly and the most important thing – you earn 2.5% at groceries and if you work out a few times a week, it goes up to 5%.
Here’s what the app looks like to track your workout. I think they max you out at 50 minutes a day and you need to hit 150 minutes to get the double cash back. They do this because they want you to work out for the week and not just in one day.
Naturally, when I first got the card, I immediately took it to a grocery store and tried to charge $1060. It got declined and I got this in email, so it seems like they have put a $500 limit per transaction at that MCC. Awesome! A bank smart enough to put in some guard rails against MS’ers.
The next day, I went back and charged $49x and the charge went through just fine. The good thing about the card is it gives you DAILY cashback versus waiting until end of statement close. Here’s what transaction history looks like:
As you can see, I made a charge of $8.90 on 3/29. I think that was my first week and I hadn’t done the weekly workouts yet. Then on 3/30, it kicked in. You can see the charge for $477.35 and then the next day, you see the 2.5% cashback x 2 = 5%. And so on.
Another side benefit is that I think Paceline will give you certain freebies for hitting the activity goal (not a credit card perk) each week. I got a $5 Starbucks gift card last week and a $1 Amazon gift card the week before that. There is also a $10 Bulletproof gift card, so nice little weekly freebies which I’m sure will be nerfed down the road.
Conclusion
If you’re an Apple user and you work out (or want to work out), then I’d get the card. I mean the Apple Watch ($430 in credits) is more than enough to cover the $60 annual fee. And if you’re a grocery store MS-er and want some motivation to work out, then this card is for you too. You can learn all about the card here. If you sign up through my referral link, you’ll get $5 on signup. If it asks for code use Y0PXWM
Edit – Before getting this card, you may want to read the comments on DOC’s post. Seems at least a handful of people have been shut down. Seems the common denominator was making a small transaction and buying the Watch right away. I didn’t buy my Watch for a few weeks (maybe I had “trained” it by then, not sure.) Just saying buyer beware on this card; just because it’s been working fine for me, it may not for you.
How is it working out? Can you cycle the CL?
Are you getting comp’d for this post by the card/bank? (more than just the pittance $5 referral?) Sorry to ask, but your review is exceedingly rosy and doesn’t mention the many reports of problems. Since you note DoC’s review at the outset, it’s more than a little curious you didn’t link directly to Doc’s post. Rather disingenuous then of you not to mention all the many severe gripes and complaints about this card over on DoCs forum. Anybody serious in this space routinely buys gift cards with grocery earning credit cards, as you know of course. That common practice apparently gets you a near automatic flagging for fraud, or worse, an account shut down.
Seems Evolve bank is run by clueless combative types — who apparently had utterly no idea that grocery stores sell gift cards… (as per their csr’s reporting card holders to police (gasp) — simply for buying gift cards with it)
No, I don’t get comped by any card/banks and I didn’t even read all of the comments on DOC’s page when I wrote this post but now that you brought it up, I linked to it and read all the problems. I know a handful of people who got the card and only 1 person got the fraud/DL thing but they cleared it up. Didn’t realize they were shutting down that many people. I’ll edit the post to have ppl read the comments on DOC before they make a decision on whether to get the card or not.
The only way they can give benefits like they are at such a reasonable annual fee is to eliminate those who overly game the system. Can’t have ur came and eat it too.
Let me guess, $470 gebit + $1.4 Topo Chico