【2025.4 Update】The changes to this card have officially taken effect! In addition to opening a savings account, you now also need to keep $100,000 in checking to earn the maximum 4% cash back, so the requirement is still very high. Let’s analyze how to think about this card after the revamp.
US Bank’s Checking $450 bonus is pretty good, so it’s a good time to open one while the sign-up bonus is still attractive.
Here are the specific changes:
- Each billing cycle, the first $10,000 in spending can earn an additional cash back bonus (you can still earn the base 2% on the earlier spend, while the 0.5%–2% bonus is capped at $10,000)
- The 2.5% cash back tier now requires $10,000 in deposits (previously $5,000)
- Additional cash back will exclude Educational/school, gift cards, insurance, taxes, business to business transactions, and 3rd party Bilt payments. (In other words, the kinds of purchases that are easy to scale up will be excluded; MS may also be excluded.)
- Only checking deposits count toward the asset calculation; other investment accounts and savings do not count at all (this is fatal! checking earns almost no interest, so it’s basically dead money)
- Users who applied before April 14 will keep all the original benefits and requirements (not sure how long that will last)
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US Bank Smartly Credit Card Overview
A powerhouse card!
- Welcome bonus: N/A
- Rewards: 2% cash back on all purchases (up to 4% with qualifying deposits)
- Redemption: Redeem directly for cash back
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
Benefit Analysis
The biggest feature of this card is that if you hold US Bank savings and checking accounts, you can get up to an additional 2% cash back. The exact boost is calculated based on your monthly average deposit balance in a US Bank Checking account (or a safe debit account; from what I can tell, this account is basically a stripped-down version and doesn’t even have a sign-up bonus, so I wouldn’t recommend using it). If you have enough money, you can reach the full 2% boost, which means 4% cash back on all spending. It really can be the best card for an all-in-one setup!
- $10,000–$49,999: extra 0.5% cash back, for 2.5% total cash back. (The old card started at $5,000.)
- $50,000–$99,999: extra 1% cash back, for 3% total cash back.
- $100,000 and above: extra 2% cash back, for 4% total cash back.
Please note that the additional cash back will exclude Educational/school, gift cards, insurance, taxes, business to business transactions, and 3rd party Bilt payments. (In other words, the kinds of purchases that are easy to scale up will be excluded; MS may also be excluded.)
Since the money can only be parked in checking, checking earns very little interest, basically none. With savings accounts now generally offering around 3% interest, the case for applying for this card has dropped a lot. Here’s a quick summary of what makes sense:
- If your card spend is very high, over $150,000 a year, you can keep $100,000 in checking and earn the spending bonus. If you spend less than that, it’s better to keep the money in savings and earn interest.
- If you happen to apply for US Bank checking to get the sign-up bonus, and your credit card spending is over $60,000, then putting $10,000 in checking to get the lowest 2.5% cash back tier is still slightly better than Double Cash.
- In other cases, just keep earning the original 2% cash back.
That said, this card is still useful for product changes. If you have another US Bank card you don’t use, you can call in and convert it to this one. At a minimum you’ll get 2% cash back, so if you don’t have another 2% cash back card, you can use this one for everyday spending.
Asset Allocation (Old Users Only)
[Note] If you applied before April 14, 2025, you are considered an old cardholder and the original rules still apply (checking, savings, and invest all count). So the older allocation strategies below are still valid. If you applied after that date, only checking counts.
Because you need a relatively large deposit to get the full 4% cash back, here are a few allocation options. Eligible accounts are listed below:
- US Bank Checking account: There is now a $400 sign-up bonus, so it’s worth applying for one while you’re at it. Just the bonus alone is already worth about a year of interest on $100,000. If you plan to use this checking account as your main one, you can keep some money in it and pair it with savings for a pretty good setup.
- 【Required】 US Bank Savings: This savings account is required for this card and currently offers a 3.5% APY. If you don’t want to overcomplicate things, it’s a good place to park the bulk of the $100,000 (you can also keep just $25 there as a token amount and put the rest in investing). Also, this savings account originally had a $5 monthly fee, but it can be waived if you have a Checking account or the US Bank Smartly Card.
- Brokerage Account: If you want more than the 3.5% APY and like investing in stocks or other financial products, you can put money into their Brokerage Account. You get 100 free trades per year (this requires a checking account, so it’s still worth opening one; trades after that cost $4.95 each). If you want lower risk, you can buy Treasury-related products, which should work out to a better return than savings alone. Note that the investment account has a $50 annual fee, but it can be waived if the assets in your investment account exceed $100,000 (some online guides say you need more than $250 across multiple accounts combined, but in practice a single investment account over $100,000 is enough). Given that you need to keep $100,000 in the account and that later trades also cost money, this is not a good account to use as your main trading brokerage. It’s better suited for long-term, low-risk holdings. You can also transfer assets directly into this investment account; customer service can help you do it online.
In summary, there are several ways to get 4% cash back (none of them require extra fees):
US Bank
- Savings is required. If you don’t want to deal with anything complicated, just open a savings account and keep $100,000 in it.
- If you want to keep things simple and don’t want to invest, go with Checking + Savings, and make sure the combined balance reaches $100,000. Then you don’t have to worry about it anymore. Having a checking account also makes it easier to move money out of savings to pay bills and write checks.
- If you want to invest for the long term, choose Brokerage Account + Savings + Checking (to get the 100 free trades). Try to keep a bit more than $100,000 so you don’t fall below $100,000 after market losses.
Of course, if you don’t plan to park that much money, getting to the $50,000 tier for 3% cash back is already better than most credit cards on the market. If that’s still too much, putting in $5,000 to get 2.5% cash back on everything is also currently one of the lowest-barrier high-cash-back cards out there.
Important Note
Some cardholders have received warning notices from US Bank telling them not to put business spending on this card. It’s clear that US Bank does not want the 4% on a personal card to be abused. After all, US Bank only earns about 1%–2% in card processing fees, so the more you spend, the more the bank loses. Keep in mind that if the bank thinks your spending behavior does not comply with its terms, it may close your card or even blacklist you and put you in a do-not-approve bucket! For personal spending, that’s usually less of an issue because the amounts aren’t that large, and there are always some people who carry balances and pay fees. But business spending can be huge, and if the business is run well, those balances may get paid in full, which means the bank takes a real loss. Card terms usually state that purchases must be for personal or household use, not business use. US Bank also hints that if the card is used for business purposes, consumer protections under federal and state law may not apply, which could result in your card being closed or even your being locked out from applying for US Bank cards for a period of time. So if you plan to use it for business, it’s best not to make it too obvious, or to start with small amounts and gradually increase them while mixing in some personal spending.
How to Apply
- US Bank application status check link. Or call: 800-947-1444
- When you apply, US Bank may check the two smaller credit bureaus SageStream & ARS credit reports, so you may consider freezing them before applying
- You can only earn the welcome bonus on the same US Bank credit card once
- You can call the reconsideration line (800-947-1444) to speed up the credit card approval process or to have a denied application reviewed again.
- US Bank is relatively sensitive to HPs and new accounts. Having a US Bank Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
- More about applying for US Bank credit cards