Pros
- No membership fees
- High rewards rate
- $100 initial rewards bonus
- No foreign fee
Cons
- No intro APR on purchases
- No intro APR on balance transfers
- Requires good/excellent credit
REI Credit Card
- Earn 5% back at REI retail locations and on REI.com, and 1.5% back on everyday purchases.
Rewards Details
- Get a $100 REI Gift card after you make your first purchase outside of REI within 60 day of account opening.
- Earn 5% back at REI retail locations and on REI.com, and 1.5% back on everyday purchases.
- REI Co-op Rewards won't expire for the life of your account.
- You will earn $50 account credit when you use your card to make an REI Co-op Experiences purchase, including multiday and single-day trips and instructional courses.
Additional Info
- Info about the card has been collected by WalletHub to help consumers better compare cards. The financial institution did not provide the details.
- The REI Co-op® Mastercard® program proudly donates $2M every year to the REI Cooperative Action Fund, which directly supports organizations promoting justice, equity and belonging in the outdoors.
- The REI Mastercard is offered exclusively to REI members.
- Membership is not included with the card; however, in order to apply for the card, you must first become a member, which requires a one-time payment of $30.
- 24/7 Account Access with Online Banking and 24/7 Cardmember Service.
- More Details & Reviews About REI Credit Card
Is the REI Credit Card Worth It?
The REI Credit Card is worth it if you shop at REI and have good credit or better. The card has a $0 annual fee, gives 1.5 - 5% cash back on purchases and awards a $100 REI gift card after your first purchase outside of REI in the first 60 days. It has a 0% foreign transaction fee, too.
While the card has no annual fee, you do have to pay $30 for a lifetime REI membership in order to apply. That’s well worth the money even before the card enters the equation, though, given the 10% rebate it gets you on most REI purchases. The REI Credit Card also gives a $50 annual account credit when you use your card to pay for REI Co-op Experiences, including multiday and single-day trips and instructional courses.
What You Need to Do to Make the REI Credit Card Worthwhile
To make the REI Credit Card worthwhile, you should always pay your monthly bill in full by the due date. The card’s APR is 19.24% - 30.24% (V), and if you carry a balance, interest can easily outweigh the value that you get from the card’s rewards.
To further maximize the value of REI Credit Card, you should make at least one purchase outside of REI in the first 60 days, which will get you a $100 REI gift card. And if you usually pay for at least one REI Co-op Experience in a year, you should use your card so you can get the $50 annual credit.
REI Credit Card Highlights
- $100 Initial Bonus: Simply making a single purchase within 60 days of account approval will score you a $100 REI gift card. That’s quite an appealing signup incentive, especially if you plan to buy something from REI soon anyway.
- 5% Cash Back On REI Purchases: This plastic is your ticket to an extra 5% cash back on all REI purchases. Unlike most other store-affiliated credit cards, this actually includes gift cards and items that are on sale. These savings are also on top of the standard 10% “discount" that REI membership gets you. It’s not all roses, however, as you’ll have to wait months to reap the rewards of your spending. Rather than being credited to your account immediately, or even within a billing cycle or two, your earnings are only distributed once per year, in March, along with your annual membership dividend. Dividends can be redeemed as cash at an REI store location, and they expire roughly 22 months after being awarded, with any unredeemed cash-back earnings being refunded to you.
- 0% Foreign-Transaction Fee: The great outdoors isn’t limited to domestic locales, as well as your ability to make surcharge-free purchases with the REI Credit Card. You will incur no surcharge for foreign purchases or ATM withdrawals in a foreign currency. The market average foreign transaction fee, in case you’re wondering, is 1.56%.
REI Credit Card Lowlights
- Potential For A High APR: Everyone who gets approved for the REI Credit Card has at least good credit, but not everyone will be approved for that good of an interest rate. Depending on your creditworthiness, it could be anywhere from 19.24% to 30.24% (V) for both purchases and balance transfers. For context, the average APR for “excellent credit” credit cards is 18.04%, and the average for “fair credit” cards is 26.41%, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.
Other Things to Consider About the REI Credit Card
- REI Membership Required: Only REI members are eligible for the REI Credit Card, which effectively gives it a $30 lifetime membership fee. REI members receive roughly 10% back on most REI purchases as well as access to special sales and other similar perks.
- No Reduced-Rate Introductory Financing: Many retail credit cards offer promotional financing, which often includes both a 0% teaser rate and a dangerous deferred-interest feature. The REI Credit Card offers neither the benefits nor the drawbacks of such deals. Hopefully, financing won’t be necessary for the types of things you’ll buy at REI.
- No Penalty APR Or Overlimit Fee: You won’t get punished with more expensive finance charges if you slip up when using the REI Credit Card. Not only will you avoid a fee commensurate with the amount by which you overspend your limit should you happen to do so, but you’ll also avoid seeing your new-purchase interest rate skyrocket due to an overlimit transaction, a late payment or other such infraction. Just make sure to view these features as potential conveniences, rather than as a crutch.
- $0 Balance-Transfer Fee: It’s unlikely that you’ll be tempted to transfer a balance to the REI Card, given its lack of a 0% intro rate and potentially high regular APR. This $0 transfer fee should be enough to dispel you of such notions, however.
REI Credit Card vs. The Competition
*The information about Cabela's Credit Card, REI Credit Card and Bass Pro Shops® Credit Card has been independently collected by WalletHub. The financial institution did not provide the details.
REI Credit Card Review Methodology
This REI Credit Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the REI Credit Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the REI Credit Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close REI Credit Card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare REI Credit Card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
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