The Owner’s Rewards Card By M1 Finance – Review

The Owner’s Rewards Card By M1 is a rewards credit card offered by M1 Finance. It’s complimentary with a subscription to M1 Plus, which costs $125 per year, or just $95 per year if you’re not an M1 Plus member.

Why apply for the Owner’s Rewards Card? For starters, it offers up to 10% back on purchases with eligible brands, one of the best rates of return on spending in the business. It promises seamless reinvestment of earned rewards, potentially increasing your return over time. And it integrates effortlessly with the rest of the M1 ecosystem: Spend, Invest, and Borrow.

Intrigued by the Owner’s Rewards Card by M1? Read on to learn more about its features, advantages, disadvantages, and overall suitability.

Key Features of the Owner’s Rewards Card By M1

The Owner’s Rewards Card By M1 has a generous rewards program and some additional features worth noting.

Earning Rewards With the Owner’s Rewards Card

The Owner’s Rewards Card earns 1.5% cash back on most eligible purchases. Certain purchases qualify for higher cash-back rates: 2.5%, 5%, or 10%.

These higher cash-back rates apply to purchases with M1 partner brands. To earn bonus cash-back above the 1.5% baseline on eligible purchases, you must hold the underlying brand’s stock in your M1 Invest account. A fractional share is acceptable.

Examples of brands that produce higher cash-back rates include:

• 2.5%: Amazon/Whole Foods, Apple, Home Depot, Uber, Target, Verizon, Walmart/Sam’s Club.
• 5%: Starbucks, UPS, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, FedEx, McDonald’s, Chipotle.
• 10%: Tesla, Netflix, Wayfair, Peloton, Adobe, Dollar General.

M1 caps monthly cash-back earnings at $200 across all cash-back tiers, including the 1.5% baseline. This card does not earn unlimited cash-back.

Redeeming Rewards With the Owner’s Rewards Card

M1 automatically reinvests cash-back rewards in the underlying securities. For example, if you earn $2 back on a purchase at Walmart, M1 adds $2 in Walmart stock to your portfolio.

If you prefer, you can opt to have your cash back deposited into your M1 Spend account — a cash management account that you can withdraw from at will. 

Additional Card Benefits

The Owner’s Rewards Card has some more benefits worth noting:

• Contactless payment technology
• A brushed metal card — no flimsy plastic
• Zero liability for unauthorized transactions
• Complimentary identity theft protection with enrollment
• 24/7 lost or stolen card assistance
• 24/7 account support
• Special perks and benefits at eligible properties in the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection
• No foreign transaction fees

Important Fees

The Owner’s Rewards Card costs $95 per year without an M1 Plus membership. If you have an M1 Plus membership, this annual fee is waived. Instead, you’ll pay a flat $125 fee per year for access to all of M1 Plus’s features and benefits.

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit. If you have any notable blemishes on your credit report, your application could be denied.

Advantages of the Owner’s Rewards Card By M1

The Owner’s Rewards Card’s top advantages include above-average cash-back earnings on select purchases and the opportunity to grow cash-back earnings through market investments over time.

1. Up to 10% Cash Back on Select Purchases. The Owner’s Rewards Card earns up to 10% cash back on purchases with M1 partner merchants. That’s more than most competing cards by some distance.
2. Decent Cash-Back Baseline. This card has a baseline cash-back rate of 1.5%. While not spectacular, this is a solid rate of return on everyday spending.
3. M1 Automatically Reinvests Cash Rewards. By default, M1 automatically reinvests cash rewards earned with the Owner’s Rewards Card. This gives your hard-earned rewards dollars a chance to grow over time, although during market downturns the value of your earned rewards can fall.
4. No Foreign Transaction Fee. This card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. That’s a big plus if you regularly travel abroad or make purchases with international merchants.

Disadvantages of the Owner’s Rewards Card By M1

The downsides of the Owner’s Rewards Card include its unavoidable annual fee, cap on cash-back earnings, and some other restrictions on its cash-back program.

1. Has an Unavoidable Annual Fee. The Owner’s Rewards Card has a $95 annual fee if you’re not a member of M1 Plus. With M1 Plus, there’s no additional annual fee, but your M1 Plus subscription costs $125 per year. 
2. Cash-Back Earnings Capped at $200 Per Month. M1 caps this card’s cash-back earnings potential at $200 per month. That’s a fairly high cap, but it does pose problems if you’re planning to make a big purchase with one of M1’s partner companies. For example, if you spend $40,000 on a new Tesla with your card, you won’t reap anywhere close to the full 10% cash back on the purchase price.
3. Must Own Stock in Companies to Earn Bonus Cash Back. If you want to earn bonus cash back with a partner company, you need to earn the underlying stock. Thanks to M1 Invest’s prebuilt portfolios, you don’t necessarily have to purchase shares in every company individually, but you’ll still have to do some extra work to make sure you have the right names in your portfolio.
4. Many Companies Don’t Qualify for Bonus Cash Back. The Owner’s Rewards Card’s bonus cash-back roster includes dozens of well-known companies. However, it excludes many more, very possibly including some names in your M1 portfolio. 

How the Owner’s Rewards Card By M1 Stacks Up

The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 has a lot of competition. Here’s how it compares to the Stash Stock-Back Card, another card offered by a leading investment platform.

Final Word

The Owner’s Rewards Card By M1 is a good complement your M1 Finance membership. If you’re thinking about opening an account with M1, you stand to add yet more value to your subscription by applying for this card.

That value includes cash-back earnings up to 10% on select purchases and a seamless cash-back reinvestment feature that could help those earnings grow over time.

But the Owner’s Rewards Card isn’t perfect. Under the hood, the cash-back program is somewhat restrictive, with a decent but not amazing 1.5% baseline rate and a cap of $200 in cash-back rewards each month. 

What’s the verdict? If you’re already an M1 fan, go ahead and apply. If you’re not yet in the M1 family, this card isn’t a must-have.