Review: Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard — Excellent Credit

This post comes from Jason Bushey, who writes about personal finance and credit cards daily on Creditnet.

For consumers with excellent credit, this cash-back Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard compares favorably with some of the best available on the market today. Here’s why:

Advantages

• $50 cash back after your first purchase or balance transfer. While some credit cards put a pretty significant spending hurdle between you and the promoted bonus cash back, Barclaycard makes acquiring that bonus cash simple, and the $50 bonus (or 5,000 bonus points) is a nice welcome gift for new customers.
• Double points for gas, grocery and utility purchases. Three of the most common expenses for consumers each month are gas, groceries and utilities. This rewards card conveniently awards double points for purchases you’re very likely to make anyway. There’s also no cap and no expiration on these bonus points.
• 0 percent interest for 12 months. It’s not the longest interest-free offer on the market, but 12 months at 0 percent interest is a significant amount of time to pay down existing debt transferred over.
• No annual fee. There’s no annual fee to pay with this card, making it a nice long-term card for consumers to consider.

Disadvantages

• Four-percent balance transfer fee. This is a percentage point higher than the industry average of 3 percent. That’s not a lot, but for consumers planning on transferring a significant balance that slightly higher fee is something to consider.
• APR can climb as high as 24.99 percent. This card may be reserved for consumers with excellent credit, but depending on your creditworthiness the APR can go as high as 24.99 percent. This is anywhere from 1 to 3 percentage points higher than comparable cards for excellent credit.

Bottom line

Get it if: Your credit is excellent, you’re interested in a quick cash-back bonus, and you spend a significant amount on gas, groceries and utilities every month.

Forget it if: You’re looking for the lowest possible balance transfer fee, or your credit is subpar. That said, there is a similar version of this credit card for consumers with average credit.

Note: While we attempt to be completely objective when reporting on credit cards, this site may be compensated by issuers when a reader applies for a credit card through the links within credit card stories or on our credit card search page. Also note that any terms, rates or other features described in this article can change without notice. Always double-check everything with the issuer before applying for any credit card.