Our Verdict
The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 is a cash-back card with a twist. If you make a purchase with the card at one or more of the roughly six dozen brands within the M1 Plus premium membership portfolio, you’ll earn elevated rewards of either 2.5%, 5% or 10%*, depending on the particular retailer. But to get this full earnings rate on that selection of brands, you must have an M1 Plus membership, otherwise the earning rate drops to a flat 1.5%*.
Pros
- High rewards rate at dozens of popular brands
- No annual fee
- Seamless integration with your M1 account
Cons
- M1 Plus membership required to get higher earn rates
- The list of companies offering elevated rewards is limiting
Highlights
- Earn cash back on everyday purchases with the Owner’s Rewards Card by M1. Then, reinvest your rewards for long-term growth.
- Get a baseline of 1.5% cash back on everyday purchases, and unlock higher rewards tiers of 2.5%, 5%, and 10% cash back with M1 Plus.
- Use M1 automation to easily reinvest your rewards for long-term impact.
- Integrate even more of your financial life in one place, while M1 helps you grow your wealth with everyday transactions.
- Visa Signature® benefits including Zero Liability, exclusive experiences, and more.
- The credit card for investors is here. Invest when you spend and build your wealth with everyday transactions.
- There is no annual fee.
- Your first three months of M1 Plus is free.* Get exclusive features and discounts to help you build your wealth.
Introduction
The no-annual-fee Owner’s Reward Card by M1 is offered by M1 Finance, an investment platform that aims to be a one-stop shop for most of your financial needs. In addition to investments and other financial services, M1 offers lines of credit against the value of your investments, a personal savings option and more.
The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 is powered by Deserve and issued by Celtic Bank. With an M1 Plus membership, when you use the Owner’s Rewards Card, you’ll snag generous earnings of either 2.5%, 5% or 10%* when you make a purchase at one of the eligible M1 partner companies.
As of this writing, there were 79 companies on the card’s eligible list, including some of the most popular consumer brands like Apple, Target and Peloton. The amount of cash back you’ll earn at a specific brand on the bonus list will depend on what tier it’s in. For example, Apple is in the 2.5%* cash-back tier, which means you’ll earn 2.5%* for Apple purchases. All other spending outside of the list of brands earns 1.5%*.
There are a couple of big caveats with these big fat rewards. First, if you don’t have an M1 Plus membership, all of your spending on the card will earn just a flat 1.5%*, which can easily be bested by other cards. Second, your earnings are capped at $200 per month.
So, if you splurge on a Peloton treadmill, which is a company in the 10%* earn rate category, you won’t earn $299.50 back on that $2,995 purchase—instead you’ll only earn $200. Although that’s a pretty nice cash-back haul, big spenders in the higher reward tiers may be likely to find their enthusiasm tempered by this limitation.
Compare the M1 Owner's Reward Card With Other Cards
Quick Facts
- No annual fee, but an M1 Plus membership, which costs $36 annually or $3 monthly is required to earn rewards at the elevated levels
- This card does not offer a traditional welcome bonus but does offer the first three months of your M1 Plus membership for free
- Earn 1.5% cash back on standard purchases, with the opportunity to earn between 2.5% - 10% cash back at eligible brands* with an M1 Plus membership
- All rewards are capped at $200 monthly earnings. After that, no additional rewards will be earned for that month.
- No foreign transaction fee
The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 Rewards
Earning Rewards
The amount of rewards you can earn with the Owner’s Card is dependent on what companies from M1’s list earn at what rewards tier and how much you’re spending at those companies. If you have an M1 Plus membership, every time you use the card at a company on the elevated rewards list, you’ll earn either 2.5%, 5% or 10%* rewards, depending on the rewards tier that company is in. All other spending earns 1.5%*.
Those who own the card but do not have an M1 Plus Membership will earn a flat 1.5%* cash back on all spending. With or without an M1 Plus Membership, rewards are capped at $200 cash back per monthly billing cycle.
Redeeming Rewards
Rewards are automatically invested in your M1 portfolio.
Rewards Potential
Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies in order to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $116,000 annually and would reasonably charge $36,177 to a credit card.
We estimate that about one-third of that could be spent at companies that earn bonus rewards at one of M1’s portfolio companies participating in the Owner’s Card reward program. To simplify, we estimated that the different rewards tiers average out to 5% rewards on that spending, yielding approximately $602.95 worth of rewards.
If the rest of your credit card spending was also on the Owner’s Reward Card, those expenses would earn 1.5% rewards, for an additional $361.77 in rewards, meaning that you’d earn a total of $964.72 cash back each year if your spending habits match our assumptions. Be aware that since there’s a cap of $200 in earnings per month, the absolute maximum you could earn back per year is $2,400. Bigger spenders will likely do better with a card that earns a flat rate of 2% cash back or more.
Other M1 Owner’s Reward Card Benefits
As a Visa Signature card, the Owner’s Reward Card comes with the following benefits:
- ID Navigator identity theft protections: Enroll in this complimentary service from Norton LifeLock and get credit monitoring and assistance if your identity is compromised.
- Roadside dispatch: Access to this pay-per-use service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Travel and emergency assistance: Access to multilingual service representatives who can answer questions and provide referrals anywhere in the world for issues including medical referral assistance, emergency transportation service and lost luggage assistance.
- Cardholder inquiry service: Get 24-hour access to a Visa representative with any questions about your account.
- Lost or stolen card assistance: You can report your lost or stolen card 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Visa will work with you and your issuing bank as needed to put a hold on your missing account, issue a replacement card and/or arrange for an emergency cash disbursement.
- Zero liability: Your liability for unauthorized transactions is $0.
- Visa Signature Luxury Hotel collection: Get special guest status at eligible hotels.
Fine Print
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 20.24% - 30.24% APR
- Purchase intro APR: N/A
- Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
Fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Balance transfer fee: See Terms
- Cash advance:
- Foreign purchase transaction fee: $0
How the M1 Owner’s Rewards Card Stacks Up
The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 vs. Citi Double Cash® Card
Although the Owner’s Reward Card offers tempting rewards in multiple areas of spending, those inflated earnings come with several requirements. A card like the Citi Double Cash® Card might be a less labor-intensive choice. Cardholders earn 2% cash back on all purchases—1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off. The earnings on the Double Cash can be taken as cash back to use any way you’d like, investing or otherwise. There’s no need to track where you’re spending since every purchase earns at the same rate on all purchases.
The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 vs. Chase Freedom Flex℠
If you’re looking for elevated earnings across a wide swath of spending categories, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ could be that needle in the haystack. For an annual fee of $0, cardholders earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in categories that rotate quarterly (requires activation), 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on dining and drugstores and 1% cash back on all other purchases. For bigger spenders, this will yield greater rewards overall than the setup offered by the Owner’s Reward Card.
The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 vs. Prime Visa
With the Prime Visa, you can earn 5% back on purchases at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership, 2% back at gas stations, restaurants and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare), and 1% back on other purchases. There’s no annual fee to own the card, but a Prime membership, which starts at $139 annually, is required to apply.
Is the Owner’s Reward Card by M1 for You?
The rewards structure on the Owner’s Reward Card by M1 is certainly tempting, but it’s not for everyone. This card might be best for someone who wants to automate their savings earned from their credit card spending, rather than manage the cash back, points or miles typical to the majority of rewards card programs.
If you are already using one of M1’s financial products, or you are inclined to do so, this card could be a good tool in your money-saving toolkit. But you may want to consider pairing it with a card that earns a higher rate of rewards in areas where you’d only earn 1.5%* on the Owner’s Reward card.
Methodology
Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:
- Annual fees
- Welcome bonus offers
- Ongoing earning rates
- Value of individual points
- Included merchant credits
- Additional cardholder benefits
Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.
Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards
Credit Card not available for US Territory Residents. The Owner’s Rewards Card by M1 is Powered by Deserve and issued by Celtic Bank. Review Cardholder Agreement and Rewards Terms for important information about the Owner’s Rewards Card by M1.
*1.5% – 10% Owner’s Rewards cash back earned on eligible purchases subject to a maximum of $200 cash back per calendar month. Cash back rates of 2.5% – 10% require an active M1 Plus subscription (billed at $36 annually or $3 monthly).
