I’ve written at length about the Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express card.

Two choice quotes (yes, I am quoting myself):

“The unsung hero of cashback cards.” 

“The best cashback card on the market.” 

This card is good for:

• Unbonused spending categories since it offers a flat 2% back on every single purchase
• Keeping forever to boost credit history since it has no annual fee
• Everyday spenders that don’t need/want to meet exorbitant spend requirements
• Those who want to invest in the long-term instead of short term travel ventures

I have this card and find myself using it quite a lot. I keep it in my wallet and use it when I’m somewhere that is not in a bonus spend category (hardware stores, big box stores, random services) which happens more than I thought it would. It’s a nice way to “give myself” a bonus since I like to earn 2 points on every dollar I spend.

I also LOVE their shopping portal. It regularly offers larger payouts than other portals, including the already generous Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. Except these points go right into your brokerage/IRA/college savings account for you to invest however you want, which is pretty cool. I always check this portal and am sometimes blown away by how large their payouts are. They also have more online stores than the other portals.

This card is quite the anomaly in the points and miles world: it’s an American Express card issued by a Bank of America subsidy that plugs directly into your account at Fidelity… what? How did those partnerships produce this card? 

But what about the Barclaycard Arrival?

I know what you’re thinking: doesn’t the Arrival card offer 2.27% cashback, and isn’t that more than a flat 2%? On the surface, yes. But the difference lies in timeline. The Arrival card offers immediate gratification, but the Fidelity Amex is all about the slow burn: investments can earn 6%, 7%, 8%, or even more over the years if you let it sit and don’t disturb it. That’s on top of the 2% cash back that you earned to essentially invest for free. Due to that, I place this card above the Arrival card. If you have travel expenses you want reimbursed, definitely put them on the Arrival card instead of this one. Otherwise, this one has better cashback.

Rare bonus

Whatever the case, this card usually doesn’t offer any type of signup bonus (I didn’t get one), so it’s notable that they’re offering 7,500 bonus points ($75) for signing up now. Not earth-shattering, but if you’ve been on the fence about getting it, now might be a good time to pull the trigger. Keep it forever since it’s free to hold and let it lower your debt ratio and age your credit history.

• FYI: I called to see if I could somehow meet a spend requirement to get the bonus and was brutally rejected.

This card is also eligible for all Amex sync offers, which could prove to be really lucrative when combined with the cashback offering, great shopping portal, and dividends earned through investments over time. I also find that Fidelity is super easy to work with, so if you don’t have a brokerage account, this card earns free money to invest into your future.

I get absolutely nothing if you apply for this card, but this is a good deal I thought I’d pass along. You can also use this card at Costco since they only accept Amex cards (I just joined up)!

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