Rocket Credit Card Review: High Rates, Less Than Stellar Value

Solid sign-up offer

If you’re a Rocket mortgage customer, the card's introductory offer is in line with the value you’ll get from other rewards credit cards that waive the annual fee. But note that you can’t earn that sign-up bonus by using the card to directly cover your down payment, closing costs or monthly mortgage payment with Rocket (nor can you use the bonus toward those expenses either).

Only points earned through other regular spending can be used toward mortgage costs.

Good reward values for new Rocket mortgage customers

The Rocket Visa Signature® Card is most valuable for newly minted Rocket mortgage customers, who can redeem their points toward that new loan at a value of 1 cent per point, or 5% back. That's an impressive rate, as most cash-back cards that offer 5% back do so only in select spending categories. When used this way, points can be applied to the down payment, closing costs or fees on a new Rocket mortgage, up to a cap of 800,000 points (or $8,000 in value). Refinances are excluded.

Existing Rocket mortgage holders can also redeem rewards toward the principal on their loan, albeit at a lower value per point. Instead of an effective 5% cash-back rate on your purchases, you'll be getting a 2% rate — still good, but available elsewhere on other cards.

Access to helpful features

As a cardholder, you’ll get access to Rocket Money, a personal finance app that can help you get a clear view of your finances. The Rocket Money functionality is integrated into the Rocket Visa Signature® Card experience, according to the card's website. It keeps you updated on your credit utilization; your monthly spending; subscriptions that can be canceled in the app; and bills that can be reduced to save money.

Poor value for non-Rocket mortgage customers

If you're not a Rocket mortgage customer and have no plans to be, there's little reason to get the Rocket Visa Signature® Card. You'll be earning a flat rewards rate equal to about 1.25%, which simply isn't competitive. You’ll be better served by any number of no-annual-fee credit cards that offer 1.5% cash back or higher on all purchases.

Frankly, even if you're an existing Rocket mortgage customer and earning an effective 2% rate, you can find cards that are just as valuable, and more flexible. The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, for instance, has a $0 annual fee and earns 2% cash back on all eligible purchases. It also offers a sign-up bonus: Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months. You can put that cash back toward whatever expenses you like, mortgages included. Moreover, unlike the Rocket Visa Signature® Card, it has a promotional APR offer: Get a 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months and 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers 12 months from account opening on qualifying balance transfers, and then the ongoing APR of 19.24%, 24.24%, or 29.24% Variable APR.

Strings and limitations

The card’s highest effective earnings rate — 5% back when you apply rewards toward new Rocket mortgage costs — can sound tempting. Even so, you’ll need a lot of credit card spending to make progress on the cost of your new home. Consider this:

You can apply up to 800,000 points toward the cost of your new Rocket mortgage transaction, equivalent to $8,000 in value. That's nothing to sneeze at, but to hit that points cap, you would need to spend an eye-popping $160,000 on the card.

If you want a card that offers a high cash-back rate and the flexibility to redeem rewards however you need to, consider the $0-annual-fee Chase Freedom Flex®. It earns 5% cash back in bonus categories that rotate every three months (on up to $1,500 per quarter in spending, then 1%). Beyond that, you also get the following ongoing rewards categories that don't change: 5% back on travel booked through Chase; 3% back at restaurants and drugstores; and 1% back on other purchases.

You may feel 'locked in' to Rocket

Other than purchase price, the interest rate on your mortgage is the single biggest factor determining how much you’ll pay for your home. That means shopping around for the best rate is critical to reducing your total cost of homeownership.

Rewards from the Rocket Visa Signature® Card may save you a few dollars on the down payment, fees or closing costs for your new home. But if a different lender offers a better rate — even by just a few decimal points — choosing that lender will save you far more over the life of your loan than any credit card points could.

And interest rates on mortgages fluctuate constantly. So even if Rocket offers the best rate when you start shopping for a lender, that may not be the case by the time you’re ready to take out the loan. The company does offer an option to lock in your interest rate for up to 90 days while you’re shopping for a home. But even if you snag that rate, how much will you realistically spend on your credit card over a 90-day period?

No intro APR promotion

As a new homebuyer, you might welcome some breathing room on credit card interest as you buy items to furnish your abode. But the Rocket Visa Signature® Card doesn't feature a 0% intro APR offer, and like most rewards credit cards, its ongoing interest rate is high. If you can't pay off the balance in full every month, then you'll find yourself owing interest on two new loans instead of just one.

A card like the $0-annual-fee Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express may be a better pick. It can offer a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, and then the ongoing APR of 20.24%-29.24% Variable APR. It also earns 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets; 3% back on U.S. online retail purchases; and 3% back at U.S. gas stations, on up to $6,000 spent in each category per year. Eligible purchases outside of that earn 1% back. Terms apply.

» MORE: NerdWallet's best low-interest credit cards