Should you go for it? If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you likely received a text, email or a mail piece letting you know of the availability of the Verizon Visa credit card and its attractive earn rates. Or, you may have seen the TV ads and wondering if the Verizon Visa card is worth applying for. Wonder no more. Below is our Verizon Visa card review.
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I received my text and mail piece recently and below is my Verizon Visa card review of the offer and the associated rewards program including both the earn rates as well as the redemption options:
Who is eligible for the Verizon Visa credit card?
In the mail piece, the rules state that you must be the account owner or account manager of an active Verizon Wireless plan that has 10 lines or fewer. Verizon wireless accounts with more than 10 phone lines and Prepaid accounts aren’t eligible to apply for the Verizon Visa credit card offer. Surprisingly, Verizon Fios only customers (i.e. not a Verizon Wireless account owner) are not eligible to apply either, which is a bit confusing.
Which Bank issues the Verizon Visa credit card?
Synchrony Bank is the issuer of the Verizon Visa card. Generally, one benefit of Synchrony Bank’s cards is that their credit underwriting may allow for customers with fair credit scores (in the 600s) to get approved. However, the drawback to this approach is that their cards usually have higher interest rates which appears to be the case here as well.
Verizon Visa Card Review
Lets dive right in. My Verizon Visa card review is conducted by stacking up the Verizon Visa Card against the other no annual fee cash back cards in the market based on several key credit card factors (such as the Interest Rate, Earn Rate etc). I gave each factors reviewed a letter grade based on what the Verizon Visa credit card is offering versus what is already available in the marketplace to help come to an overall conclusion on whether to apply for the Verizon Visa Card.
APR
The Annual Percentage Rate (i.e. interest rate) is 21.74% or 25.74% for Verizon Visa card and 18.74%, 21.74%, or 25.74% for the Signature version of the credit card. Signature cards usually have a credit limit of at least $5,000 along with some added benefits like Concierge and/or Travel Assistance services. The interest rates are all variable based on the current Prime rate (3.25%). These rates are on average higher than the industry average for cash back cards of around 16%.
Grade: C+
Fees
The card does not have an annual fee. Also, surprisingly there is no foreign transaction fee (which is a nuisance fee, so this is a big plus for the card).
Grade: A
Bonus Offer
New Verizon Visa cardholders can receive $100 in bill credits as a welcome bonus. It will be issued as a monthly credit of $4.17 over the first 24 months after card approval when the card is used to pay in full the Verizon Wireless or Fios payments.
If you are receiving the $10 per month off your Verizon wireless bill today for signing up for auto-pay, you will now be able to continue to receive this discount if you use this credit card for your Verizon wireless auto-pay. Previously only debit cards or bank draft (ACH) transactions were eligible for auto-pay. You will earn 2% in Verizon rewards when you use this credit card to pay your monthly Verizon bill.
On the other hand, average cash back bonus offer for a no annual fee cash back card from the major credit card issuers is about $150.
Grade: B
Earn
The Verizon Visa card provides meaningful earn rates on everyday purchases. There are no limits on how much you can earn, and no expiration dates.
- 4% Rewards:Groceries, Gas (this is quite good for a card with no annual fee, and no limit on the amount of Verizon Dollars that can be earned)
- 3% Rewards:Restaurants and Dining (including takeout purchases) (quite good for this spend category)
- 2% Rewards:Verizon purchases (would have been better if it were at least 3%, then the card would have been not only stronger but also one less category of earn rates for simplicity)
- 1% Rewards:All other purchases (this is pretty standard)
Grade: A
Burn/Redemption
While the Verizon Visa card provides decent earn rates in everyday spend categories, what you actually earn are Verizon Dollars. The disappointing aspect of the Verizon Dollars is that they have no cash value, and cannot be redeemed for Verizon gift cards.
The Verizon Dollars can be applied towards your monthly (Verizon Wireless or Fios) bill or a new cell phone, phone accessories through Verizon Stores, online, or over the phone with a Verizon representative.
Let’s take a look at how many Verizon Dollars can be earned using some average spend numbers. You can use the chart below to calculate your monthly spending:
| Category (Earn Rate) | Monthly Spend | Verizon Dollars Earned |
| Grocery (4%) | $325 | 13 |
| Gas (4%) | $165 | 6.6 |
| Dining (3%) | $250 | 7.5 |
| Verizon (2%) | $70 | 1.4 |
| All Other Spend (1%) | $390 | 3.9 |
| Total | $1200 | 32.4 |
Taking your cell phone plan expense into account – and depending on your monthly spending in the 2%-4% categories and whether you use another Rewards card for the “All Other Spend” category – you can calculate the potential savings with this credit card similar to the above chart.
Grade: B
Innovativeness
The card design in black looks quite sharp with the red “V” symbol. The card has a good earn rate but does not offer any features or benefits that can be considered innovative. It could have been attractive if Verizon considered offering free shipping annually on accessories, phones, or considered offering fixed-rate financing for the cardholder on smartphone or tablet purchases from Verizon. Also, Verizon is not offering cell phone protection with this card. Not offering the redemption of Verizon Dollars for Verizon gift cards is also puzzling.
Grade: C+
Other Considerations
Verizon mentions that qualified customers can be instantly approved and can use the new Verizon Visa Card right away for Verizon purchases.
Once approved, the new card will be automatically added to the Verizon wireless account as the preferred method of payment for future Verizon purchases.
2 free TravelPass days per calendar year (a $20 value) is also included with the Verizon Visa card to help with roaming charges.
Although there is no expiration on Verizon Dollars, forfeiture rules do apply. Please see the link below for the terms and conditions of the Verizon Visa Card’s Rewards program.
Verizon Visa Credit Card Rewards Program Terms and Conditions.
Grade: B-
Overall Assessment based on our Verizon Visa card review
For individuals looking to save on monthly Verizon Wireless bill, this card can be useful for that purpose. However, compared to the other no annual fee cashback cards available in the market place today which offer better redemption options and bonus offers, it is hard to make a case to use this card only for everyday spend categories and use another card for all other purchases. Although the card has an appealing earn structure, I find the business rules too restrictive around the use of Verizon Dollars.
Final Grade: B
(Boom! There it is based on the overall product construct, offer, and the competitive landscape)
Further details of the Verizon Visa card program can be found on Verizon.com/verizonvisacard/best.
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Rating Key:
A/A-: Industry Leading or Highly Recommend
B+: Recommend enthusiastically
B: Can be suitable to apply for some prospective customers
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone and have not been endorsed or approved by any of the card issuers.
