New Wells Fargo Attune Card: 4% cash back categories, $100 bonus and more for no annual fee

The Wells Fargo Attune World Elite Mastercard is currently offering new cardholders a welcome bonus of $100 cash rewards after spending $500 in qualifying purchases in the first three months. 

And, for a limited time, Wells Fargo will make a $50 donation for each cardholder who qualifies for the welcome bonus to Capital Link, a national nonprofit organization that creates clean energy solutions for health centers supporting local communities during power outages. New cardholders will also receive an introductory 0% APR on purchases during the first 12 months from account opening (after either 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99%).

The Attune earns an impressive 4% cash back on categories we rarely see with rewards cards:

• 4% cash rewards on self-care purchases, including gym memberships, exercise classes, salons and spas
• 4% cash rewards on select sports, recreation, and entertainment including live shows and sporting events, gardening and floral stores, pet supplies, boarding and grooming
• 4% cash rewards on “impactful” and planet-friendly purchases like public transit, EV charging stations and select thrift stores
• 1% on other purchases

Wells Fargo isn’t capping these rewards, so if you’re big into self-care (and own a pet), you could easily rack up plenty of rewards with these 4% categories. This is a great card to use alongside a card that has elevated bonus categories for purchases like groceries, such as the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, which earns 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%). Terms apply.

When the Autograph Journey launched, Wells Fargo told CNBC Select that with the addition of transfer partners, any Wells Fargo-branded consumer cardholders would be able to convert their rewards into transferable points, so long as you have a Wells Fargo card that enables rewards transfers. This means you could earn 4% in cash rewards on purchases with the no-annual-fee Attune card and combine the cash rewards with the Autograph or Autograph Journey. Then you can transfer those points to partners. However, if you only have the Attune card, you cannot transfer rewards to travel partners.

Current Wells Fargo transfer partners include: 

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue (partners with Delta)
• Avianca LifeMiles (partners with United)
• British Airways Executive Club (partners with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines)
• Iberia Plus (partners with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines)
• Choice Privileges

The conversion ratio is 1:1 for all of the programs except for Choice Privileges, which is 1:2.

Wells Fargo doesn’t limit how many cards you can have with them, but the issuer won’t approve you for the Attune card if you have opened another Wells Fargo-branded credit card in the past six months.

Wells Fargo also won’t apply introductory annual percentage rates, fees and/or rewards bonus offers if you currently have an Attune card or you opened one within the last 48 months from your application date – even if you have previously closed the old card. As this is a brand-new card, this restriction won’t apply to those getting the card for the first time, but it is something to keep in mind should you close the card and then want to reapply in the future.

The Chase Freedom Flex® also has no annual fee, and it earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 per quarter on rotating categories, 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% on dining including takeout and drug stores and 1% on all other purchases. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can combine the rewards earned from the Flex and transfer them to 14 airline and hotel travel partners.

If you just want a single cash-back card to use for all purchases and not have to think about which card gets the most rewards at the store you’re shopping at, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card might be a better fit for. The Active Cash has no annual fee, and it offers unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

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For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, click here.

Information about the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.