Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card
Bass Pro is an amazing retailer not just for fishing enthusiasts, but for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. In each store, customers find an amazing display of mounted animals as well as tanks filled with live fish. Bank of America and Bass Pro offers the Outdoor Rewards Visa Signature rewards credit card to fans of the catalog and superstore who want to earn extra savings on their purchases.
How This Card Works
Cardholders will earn 1% back on most purchases, with 5% earned on qualified spending at Bass Pro Shops. Rewards are redeemed in the form of store credit (as opposed to typical cash back credit cards that offer, well, cash), which can be used for purchases in the store, online, or from their catalog. This card comes with a 0% introductory APR on purchases that is valid for the first year. Subsequently, the Standard APR will apply to both purchases and balance transfers, which is equal to the Prime Rate plus 9.74% – 17.74%, depending on the applicant’s credit worthiness. There is a 4% balance transfer fee, and a foreign transaction fee of 3%, but there is no annual fee.
Advantages
The equivalent of 5% cash back on Bass Pro purchases is a great rate of return. In addition, Bass Pro Shops and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will make donations to their conservation efforts with each purchase made with the card. They guarantee a yearly contribution as high as $1 million, at no additional cost to cardholders. Finally, this card has no annual fee, so there is little cost to holding it.
Disadvantages
The fine print of the Terms and Conditions of this offer reveal that any cardholder approved with a credit limit of less than $5,000 will receive the “Platinum Plus” version of this card rather than the Visa Signature version. With Platinum Plus card, rewards only equal 3% of spending on Bass Pro purchases. Furthermore, the fine terms also disclose that there are many purchases that are excluded from this offer, including many of their more expensive items such as boats, ATVs, and campers. Furthermore, the standard cash back rate of 1% on non-Bass Pro purchases is marginal at best. Finally, their 3% foreign transaction fee and 4% balance transfer fees can be considered high at a time when there are other cards offered without these fees.
Who This Card Is For
Clearly, frequent Bass Pro shoppers will do well to charge their purchases there to this card. With no annual fees, those who spend more than a few hundred dollars a year on qualifying purchases have the opportunity to earn a significant amount of store credit towards future purchases. Bass Pro stores are amazing places to visit, even if the terms of their co-branded credit card are not quite as astounding.
