5 Things to Know About the Fasten Credit Card
Earn rewards on car payments and other costs of owning and maintaining your vehicle.
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The Fasten Rewards Visa Card takes a bite out of a big line-item in your budget: your car. It earns rewards on driving-related expenses including car loan or lease payments, insurance premiums, maintenance and repairs, gas and more.
Issued by Celtic Bank, the $0-annual-fee Fasten Rewards Visa Card joins the growing list of cards with rewards programs for major monthly expenses, which include the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card for rent, the Mesa Homeowners Card for mortgage payments and day care, and the Nibbles credit card for pet insurance.
Here are five things to know about the Fasten Rewards Visa Card.
1. Earn rewards on car-related spending
The Fasten Rewards Visa Card earns:
3X points on purchases at Fasten Partners, which are participating automotive dealers, brands and retailers.
2X points on car loans, lease payments, and car-related spending including gas and electric vehicle charging, repairs, car washes, towing services, purchases at auto dealers and tire stores, car insurance, parking, DMV fees and car registration, and more.
1X points on all other purchases.
The list of Fasten Partners can change at any time. As of this writing, the list is quite short and includes only a few merchants in Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
2. Choose from several redemption options
You can redeem points in a few ways:
A statement credit for a Fasten Partner purchase made within the past 12 months, at a value of 1 cent per point.
A statement credit for any other purchase made within the past 12 months, at a value of 0.5 cent per point.
The purchase of virtual gift cards through the Fasten app, at a value of 1 cent per point.
For flights and hotels booked through the travel portal in the Fasten app, at a value of 1 cent per point.
Fasten Partner purchases, gift cards and travel bookings yield the highest value per point, but a statement credit for other purchases is worth half as much. If you want the flexibility of cash back with higher redemption values, other cash-back cards offer that.
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, for example, earns an unlimited 2% cash back on all eligible purchases, and rewards can be redeemed for cash back (as a statement credit, paper check or deposit to a Wells Fargo account), gift cards, merchandise, charitable donations, or purchases at select merchants.
3. There’s some notable fine print
In order to earn 2X points on car loan or lease payments, you must also make $500 in purchases on the card each month. If there’s a month where you don’t reach that spending minimum, you won’t earn points on those payments.
Also, you can earn a maximum of 2,000 points per month for car loans or leases, which is equal to $1,000 in car payments per month.
4. You don’t have to pay your loan with your card
Many lenders don’t accept credit cards for car loan payments, or if they do, you’ll have to pay extra fees for the privilege. But you don’t have to make car payments with the Fasten Rewards Visa Card to earn points. Instead, you create an account on the Fasten app and link your checking account. Then, whenever you make car payments out of that account, you’ll earn rewards.
5. Look both ways before getting into debt
As of this writing, the Fasten Rewards Visa Card charges 28.99% APR. Keep that in mind if you use your card for pricey repairs or replacement parts. If you’re unable to pay your bill in full and get into debt, the interest you’ll pay will quickly exceed the value of any points you earn.
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