What Is Commerce Bank, and Are Its Cards Right for You?
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Missouri-based Commerce Bank offers multiple personal credit cards, including a travel card, secured card and several cash-back cards as of June 2024. All of them are decent enough, but each one is outperformed by a comparable card. And if you want a wider range of options, you’ll need to look at one of the major issuers such as Capital One or American Express, which offer everything from premium travel cards to business credit cards.
There’s also the matter of access: Some Commerce Bank cards can be applied for in person only, but most Commerce Bank branches are located in the Midwest. So if you can’t get to a branch, your Commerce Bank card options are even more limited.
The Commerce Bank credit cards listed here all offer cell phone insurance of up to $200 per claim as long as you pay your cell phone bill with your Commerce Bank card. A $50 deductible applies.
For travel: Commerce Miles credit card
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: 0% intro APR offer for 12 months from account opening on all purchases (as of this writing).
Rewards:
Unlimited 2.5x miles on all travel purchases including airfare, car rentals, hotels, motels, resorts, timeshares, cruises, travel agencies, ridesharing and taxis.
Unlimited 1x miles on everything else.
Redemption options:
Airline ticket credit.
Statement credit.
Gift card.
Merchandise.
Extra perks:
No foreign transaction fee.
Our verdict: Compared with other no-annual-fee travel cards, the Commerce Miles credit card falls short of its competitors on almost every count. For starters, unlike other travel cards, there's no upfront welcome offer, at least not in the traditional form of a pile of points or miles for meeting a spending threshold. Instead, you get a 0% intro APR offer — but you could get both a promo APR and a generous sign-up bonus elsewhere. For example, the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card, another travel card with a $0 annual fee, features both of those perks. Moreover, it has a higher ongoing rewards rate on travel and better cell phone insurance than the Commerce Miles card. Travel cards like the Autograph and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card - Miles Boost also have a network of transfer partners that allow cardholders to get even more value from their rewards. As of this writing, the Commerce Miles credit card doesn’t have that capability.
For building credit: Commerce Bank Secured Visa credit card
Annual fee: $49.
Security deposit: A minimum $400 refundable security deposit is required to open the credit card account. The maximum security deposit is $5,000.
Sign-up bonus: None.
Rewards: None.
Extra perks:
Reports to all three credit bureaus.
Our verdict: Building or rebuilding one’s credit profile can be a long, arduous process. Unfortunately, Commerce Bank’s Secured Visa credit card imposes too many roadblocks on an already difficult task. The card charges a $49 annual fee and requires a minimum security deposit of $400. There are a host of other secured cards with lower barriers to entry. On our list of best credit cards to build credit, you’ll find cards with no annual fee, no required security deposit and even some that earn modest rewards.
The Commerce Bank Secured card (above) and the Special Connections Premium card (below) may be applied for in person only at a Commerce Bank branch.
For cash back: Special Connections Premium credit card
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: Earn $200 when you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months after account opening.
Rewards: Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase.
Redemption options:
Airline ticket credit.
Statement credit.
Gift card.
Merchandise.
Extra perks:
1% foreign transaction fee.
Our verdict: The Special Connections Premium card features a solid combination of a flat rewards rate and a $200 sign-up bonus. It’s a good credit card — but others are better. Like the Special Connections Premium card, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything, and it has a 0% intro APR period on purchases and balance transfers in addition to a sign-up bonus. Then, there’s the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, which has a sign-up bonus, an interest-free period on purchases and balance transfers, and a flat 2% cash-back rate on every purchase.
For cash back: Special Connections credit card
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on all purchases and balance transfers (as of this writing).
Rewards:
Unlimited 3% cash back on streaming and cable. Amazon Streaming, Google Fiber, Pandora and YouTube Music/TV do not qualify.
Unlimited 3% cash back on ridesharing.
Unlimited 2% cash back at gas stations. Purchases made inside the station are included.
Unlimited 2% cash back at restaurants and fast food.
Unlimited 1% on everything else.
Redemption options:
Airline ticket credit.
Statement credit.
Gift card.
Merchandise.
Our verdict: The (non-Premium) Special Connections credit card might be the best card issued by Commerce Bank by virtue of its solid rewards rates in popular spending areas including streaming, gas and dining. However, if you’re looking for a cash-back card with elevated rewards in those spending categories, the Special Connections card isn’t the best option. Its closest counterpart is probably the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, which earns unlimited 3% back on eligible streaming, dining and grocery stores. Cardholders also get 5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal. The SavorOne comes with an excellent sign-up bonus and has a solid 0% promotion: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.74%-29.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies.
Commerce Bank also issues several co-branded credit cards including the KC Royals™ Mastercard® and the Precious Moments Visa credit card.
For cash back: toggle credit card
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: Earn $150 when you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months after account opening.
Rewards: Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase.
Redemption options:
Airline ticket credit.
Statement credit.
Gift card.
Merchandise.
Extra perks:
Free Shipt membership. Offer expires Dec. 31, 2024.
Our verdict: The toggle credit card is nearly identical to the Special Connections Premium card, and that means it’s simply not the best option for those who want a cash-back card. Also note that the sign-up bonus is less valuable than the welcome offer for the Special Connections Premium, although the spending requirement to get it is much lower.
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