Our Take
3.9
NerdWallet rating
The bottom line:
The card's personalized rewards categories may seem appealing, but they'll limit your rewards-earning potential. Other business credit cards can offer more value.
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
Annual fee
$0 intro for the first year, then $95
Regular APR
19.24%-26.24% Variable APR
Intro APR
N/A
Apply now
on U.S. Bank's website
More details from U.S. Bank
- Earn 75,000 points when you spend $7,500 in eligible purchases on the account owner's card within the first 120 days of opening your account.
- Earn 2X points in the top two categories where you spend the most each month automatically.
- 1X points per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Rewards Center.
- No limits on the total rewards your business can earn.
- Terms and conditions apply.
View Rates & Fees
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Personalized rewards
Cons
- Has annual fee
- Needs excellent credit
Compare to Other Cards
at U.S. Bank | at Chase | at American Express |
Annual fee $95 | Annual fee $95 | Annual fee $0 |
Regular APR 19.24%-26.24% Variable APR | Regular APR 20.74%-26.74% Variable APR | Regular APR 17.74%-25.74% Variable APR |
Intro APR N/A | Intro APR N/A | Intro APR 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening |
Recommended credit score 690-850good - excellent | Recommended credit score 690-850good - excellent | Recommended credit score 690-850good - excellent |
Full Review
The
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
features personalized rewards categories that adjust automatically, offering convenience and novelty but little value compared with other cards — even compared to other U.S. Bank business credit cards. You would expect a card with a $0 intro for the first year, then $95
annual fee to eclipse rewards found on no-annual-fee business credit cards, but this one doesn't.Rewards don’t accumulate as quickly as they do on other business credit cards, even those with no annual fees. Overall, the slow-to-earn incentives and costs of this card are enough reason to look elsewhere.
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card: Basics
Card type: Small business and rewards.
Annual fee:
$0 intro for the first year, then $95
.Sign-up bonus:
Earn 75,000 points worth $750 cash back. Just spend $7,500 in eligible net purchases on the Account Owner's Card within the first four months of account opening.
APR:
The ongoing APR is 19.24%-26.24% Variable APR
.Foreign transaction fee: None.
Rewards:
- 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly through the Travel Rewards Center.
- 2 points per dollar spent on purchases made in the top two categories (from a list of 48) where your business spends the most.
- 1 point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Categories include things like advertising firms, airlines, gas stations, grocery stores, hotels and restaurants, and your top two spending categories are automatically updated each month.
If you prefer to keep all accounts at one institution, you can get more points when you apply for a payments solutions account with U.S. Bank and register for Encore Relationship Rewards. You could earn up to 240,000 points annually on your net processing volume. A payment solutions account allows you to accept payments from customers in many forms.
Redemptions:
You can redeem points for cash, gift cards, travel and merchandise. In most cases, points are worth a penny each, although redeeming for merchandise nets you a slightly lower rate of 0.9 cent per point.
For cash redemptions, you can redeem in $50 increments into a U.S. Bank checking or savings account. There's no minimum redemption requirement for statement credit, gift cards, travel or merchandise. Points expire five years from the end of the quarter in which they are earned.
Other perks:
- Free employee cards.
- Encore Relationship Rewards — up to 240,000 points annually — when you use a U.S. Bank payment solutions account to process card payments from your customers.
- Visa Signature benefits, including auto rental collision damage waiver, extended warranty protection, travel accident insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and more. See a full list of benefits here.
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card: Why you're better off passing
LACKLUSTER REWARDS AND AN ANNUAL FEE
The
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
offers 2 points per dollar spent on purchases made in the top two categories (from a list of 48) where your business spends the most each month and 1 point on all other purchases. The categories adjust automatically each month, which is nice. But that's still a poor rewards rate — especially when you consider the card's $0 intro for the first year, then $95
annual fee. And unlike rewards on other cards, points expire five years from the end of the quarter in which they are earned.If you have a lot of potentially top-earning expenses, other small-business credit cards can offer a better rate on all of your purchases instead of just two categories.
The
Capital One Spark Cash Plus
, for example, gets unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases — not just certain purchases — for an annual fee of $150
. It also comes with a big sign-up bonus: Earn a one-time cash bonus of $2,000 once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months and an additional $2,000 cash bonus for every $500K spent during the first year.
It doesn't charge foreign transaction fees and cash-back rewards don't expire. (See rates and fees.) NO 0% INTRO APR OFFER
Since the
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
comes with lackluster rewards, you would think it would at least offer some breathing room on interest with a good 0% APR promotion — but it doesn't.For rewards and an introductory offer, look to
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
. It offers an introductory 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months, and then the ongoing APR of 17.74%-25.74% Variable APR
. Terms apply (see rates and fees). You'll earn 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on all purchases on the first $50,000 in purchases per year, and 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms apply. Points don't expire. Unless you spend $50,000 or more in top bonus categories with the U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
, this card will come out ahead on rewards — and its annual fee is $0
. Terms apply.MEAGER TRAVEL REWARDS
The
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
has little in the way of travel rewards. Instead of offering a broad travel bonus category that includes all types of travel expenses, it comes with multiple narrowly defined categories. Airfare, hotel stays and car rentals, for example, would all fall under separate sections. That can make it harder to rack up rewards, since you can only earn double points on two categories each month. Frequent travelers are better off with a credit card that rewards a broad definition of travel that includes hotels, airfare, car rentals and more.The
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
charges no foreign transaction fees and offers richer travel rewards. Earn 3 points per dollar spent on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year; and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Chase's definition of travel is relatively broad, including airlines, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, taxis and more. Points are also worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel through Chase. This card has a $95
annual fee.Is the U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card right for you?
The
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card
may appear to have attractive incentives at first glance, but more rewarding options exist. Look to other small-business credit cards that can offer better ongoing rewards. A flat-rate rewards card, for example, can help you come out ahead with elevated rewards on all of your business expenses instead of only a few categories.To view rates and fees of
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
, see this page.Apply now
on U.S. Bank's website
New elevated offer
