Sallie Mae Bank Evolve℠ Credit Card Review

Evolve℠ Credit Card Review

Evolve℠ Credit Card is a cash back credit card that offers 2% cash back on the 2 highest spending categories each month and 1.5% cash back on every other purchase. With a 15 months intro 0% APR period and a $0 annual fee Evolve℠ Credit Card may become a nice option for you. Among the very few shortcomings, we can highlight foreign transaction fees and good to excellent (670 - 799) credit score requirements. Learn more about Evolve℠ Credit Card and decide whether it’s a good choice for you.

Evolve℠: pros and cons

Evolve℠: rewards system in a nutshell

Evolve℠ cash back system is quite straightforward. You earn a 2% cash back on the 2 highest spending categories and “Base Rewards” of 1.5% cash back on every other purchase you make. Why this rewards system is better than the one with fixed increased cash back categories? Let’s have a simple example.

In the first month of using your credit card, your main spending categories were groceries and dining. You have spent $750 on food and dining, and just $300 on everything else. It means you will get $15 cash back on groceries and dining and $4.50 on everything else. The next month you needed to visit your doctor and service your car for the amount of $900. And you have just spent $500 on dining, groceries, and everything else. It means you will get $18 cash back on the 2 highest-spending categories and $7.50 on everything else.

The point is that you shouldn’t adjust to the fixed categories like you would have had to with some other cash back credit cards. 2 top categories are calculated automatically by the end of each billing cycle. And the Evolve℠ Credit Card can be the only cash back card in your pocket if your spending is evenly spread.

There are 13 eligible categories that can earn you 2% cash back. Among them are: Automotive, Dining, Groceries and drug stores, Entertainment, Gas, Healthcare, etc. You can learn more about each cash back category by clicking this link.

As soon as you reach $25 in rewards, you can request a statement credit or electronic deposit into a checking or savings account for the total accumulated rewards balance. How to redeem rewards? Simply use the Sallie Mae mobile app. You can also view your current accumulated rewards there at any time.

Who can benefit from getting the Evolve℠ Credit Card?

If you were looking for a cash back credit card that you would like to use mainly in the U.S. - Evolve℠ Card is a very nice option to consider.

This card is not the best option for travelers as it has a foreign transaction fee. This is an ideal card for people who don’t want to care about adjusting bonus categories themselves each month and still earn 2% rewards on the highest-spending bonus categories automatically.

But if you always spend more money on gas than on everything else, there might be better options for you like the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express with 3% cash back on gas. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t use and benefit from the Evolve℠ Card as well. With such perks as a $0 annual fee, intro purchase and balance transfer 0% APR - Evolve℠ Credit Card still remains a great competitor in its segment. But keep in mind that you should pay on time to have your 0% introductory APR active. Otherwise, the issuer may revoke your introductory APR period.

Are there any other benefits?

Evolve℠ Card has some additional perks, among them are:

• Cell phone protection. Get up to $600 on cell phone protection (up to $1000 total per year). But remember that you have to pay your cell phone bill using Evolve℠ Card only.
• $0 liability on unauthorized charges. If someone stole your credit card and made a purchase - you don’t take any responsibility for it.
• 24/7 customer support. U.S.-based only customer support is working 24/7, and you can contact it by phone or using the mobile application.
• Convenient mobile application. View your balance and redeem your rewards using Sallie Mae mobile app. You can also receive customized alerts about your payments, open a digital dispute, and pause your Evolve℠ Credit Card (if you lost it e.g.).

Conclusion

To sum up, we can say that Evolve℠ Credit Card is a great credit card with notable advantages like a long-last 0% intro APR period, a $0 annual fee, and increased cash back on 2 categories. If you are looking for a card with flexible increased cash back categories and don’t plan to use it abroad - think of applying for the Evolve℠ Credit Card. The APR of 17.99% - 29.99% is an average rate among cash back credit cards.

However, the card has 2 notable shortcomings: relatively high credit score requirements and a foreign transaction fee. If the high credit score requirements are hardly surprising considering a number of benefits the credit card has, Evolve℠’s foreign transaction fees can act as a major drawback for travelers.

As you can see, the credit card doesn’t have lots of downsides, and those present are partly compensated by the perks. If you have a good to excellent credit score - we would recommend thinking about picking Evolve℠ Credit Card as your main cash back credit card.