Verizon Visa Card Review

If you’re a Verizon loyalist who spends a lot on the company’s services (including Fios), this card could unlock some nice savings on cellphone and wireless expenses. It follows the structure of many co-branded retail cards in that the rewards you earn can only be redeemed on Verizon purchases. Therefore, if you’re looking to get cash back or redeem points for travel, this isn’t the card for you.

That said, the rewards can add up nicely if you’re OK with using them to offset your Verizon bill or to help pay for your next phone upgrade.

• High rewards-earning rates: Getting 4 points per dollar spent on gas and groceries, and 3 points per dollar spent on dining is very appealing, and a high rate among no-annual-fee rewards cards. If you spend the same amount as the average household on groceries—about $378 per month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics—you have the potential to earn $15 back just from grocery spending every month. If you also use the card for gas and dining, you can tack on even more rewards.
• Cellphone bill savings that add up: The 2 points per $1 earned on Verizon purchases can effectively serve as a discount on subsequent monthly bills if you set up auto pay on the card. This can be significant if you have multiple phone lines and/or other services like Fios bundled in. For instance, on a $300 per month bill, you’d earn the equivalent of $6 off just for paying it (and that doesn’t include the other Verizon Dollars earned in other categories). 

• Limited redemption options: The Verizon Visa card allows you to save money on Verizon wireless expenses and purchases, but that’s all you can redeem your rewards for. There is at least one other cellular co-branded credit card that allows its cardholders to redeem for a lot more, including gift cards and travel.     
• Loopholes in the $10 off/month promotion: In its list of card benefits, Verizon touts the opportunity to save $10 per month per line by enrolling in Verizon’s auto pay with the card, along with paper-free billing. This sounds great, but read the fine print: If you’re a Verizon customer who’s already enrolled in auto pay using a bank account or debit card and paper-free billing, you won’t get this discount for re-enrolling with the card.

New cardholders can get up to $100 in credit applied to their Verizon wireless bills. However, you’re going to have to wait two years to enjoy the full benefit since it will be spread out as a monthly credit on your Verizon Wireless bill over 24 months. This comes out to $4.17 off your monthly bill, and to be eligible, you must use the Verizon Visa Card or Verizon Dollars to pay the bill. 

This bonus is lackluster compared to typical new cardholder bonuses—including one from a cellular competitor’s card—in which you get an instant boost of rewards after meeting a minimum spending requirement in the first few months of account opening. 

The real appeal of this card is its rewards-earning potential. Cardholders get 4 points per $1 spent on gas and grocery store purchases, 3 points on dining/delivery and curbside pick-up purchases, 2 points on Verizon purchases, and 1 point on all other purchases. 

This card’s highest earnings categories—groceries and gas, followed by dining—are on par with or better than similar co-branded retail cards on the market—and even some cash-back cards. You can really rack up the rewards. And as mentioned above, even at 2 points per dollar, the rewards you earn on Verizon spending translate to easy savings if you use the card to pay your cellphone or Fios bill.

All of the redemption options for the Verizon Visa credit card involve Verizon products and services. You can redeem your Verizon Dollars to:

• Buy a smartphone, basic phone or tablet upgrade, or new line of service
• Buy eligible Verizon wireless accessories 
• Make a down payment on a device payment agreement 
• Pay off a device payment agreement
• Pay your Verizon wireless or Fios bill

Your goal with this card should be to reduce your monthly Verizon bill. If you do the bulk of your grocery, gas, and restaurant spending with this card, plus enroll the card in auto pay to cover your Verizon bill each month, you can easily achieve double-digit percentage savings on your bill. Considering that the average cellphone bill was $157 per month as of 2017, any chance to bring that cost down is a good thing.

Here’s an example: Spend $300 on groceries, $100 on gas, $200 on dining out, and pay your $160 Verizon bill, and that’s about $25 Verizon Dollars earned. 

Then, if you also qualify for the $10/month auto pay/paperless discount, and add in the $4.17 credit from the new cardholder bonus, you’d be at just about $39 off of your $160 Verizon bill—a 24% discount. That’s a great deal for a card that charges no annual fee.

The Verizon Visa credit card offers one unique benefit: 

• Two free TravelPass days: This provides free talk, text, and data from more than 185 countries—a value of $20. The cardholder can choose which phone line on their account gets the TravelPass benefit.

If you qualify for the higher-tier Verizon Visa Signature card, you’ll also get a few additional perks including:

• Rental car collision insurance (secondary to your own policy)
• Roadside assistance hotline
• Concierge for booking event tickets, travel, and other services
• Discounts on certain hotel and golf purchases

Synchrony Bank is not really known for top-notch customer service, and ranked ninth out of 11 credit card issuers in J.D. Power’s 2019 Credit Card Satisfaction Study. It only scored a two out of five rating (placing it among “The rest”). That said, you can get customer support 24/7 via Synchrony’s hotline. You can also manage your account in a couple of ways: using the Verizon Visa card app or Synchrony’s website. The Verizon Visa card can also be added to a mobile wallet.

Security features are standard for the industry, including zero liability for fraudulent purchases.

Fees on this card are typical for this type of credit card, but it’s worth noting that there is no annual or foreign transaction fee—always a consumer plus!