If you are an avid fan of online grocery delivery services, you might be interested in the latest addition to Chase’s family of credit cards: the Instacart Mastercard®. This co-branded credit card offers one of the highest rates of cash back for specific grocery spending, plus respectable rewards rates for other common spending categories.

If you’d like to save more on online grocery delivery, we think you’ll be impressed with many of this card’s features and benefits. With our guide, we’ll highlight everything from its rewards rates and redemption options to its Mastercard benefits and free Instacart+ membership perk.

Chase Instacart Mastercard card highlights

  • Rewards rate: 5 percent cash back on Instacart.com and Instacart app purchases with partnered retail brands; 5 percent back on Chase Travel Center purchases; 2 percent back at gas stations, restaurants and on select streaming services; 1 percent back on all other purchases
  • Welcome offer: Get a free year of Instacart+ and a $100 Instacart credit automatically upon approval; membership auto-renews (Terms apply)
  • Annual fee: $0
  • Regular APR: 19.24 percent to 27.99 percent variable APR

Chase Instacart Mastercard benefits

Welcome bonus

Perhaps the most appealing feature of the Instacart Mastercard is the potential to score a $100 Instacart credit. You’ll get your credit automatically upon approval, then your membership will renew automatically.

Earning rewards

The next best thing about this Chase grocery card is the generous rewards rate in a category you’re bound to spend a ton of money on — online grocery delivery. If you don’t like waiting around for grocery delivery, you can also set your orders for pickup.

In either case, you should know that Instacart offers more than groceries through its app; the delivery service offers goods from over 800 retailers nationwide. You can make purchases for higher-end items like Apple electronics, sports gear, home goods and even items for the pets in your life. This means you can earn 5 percent back on larger purchases that you might not earn as much on if you were using another rewards card.

In addition to the potential to earn 5 percent back on thousands of items, you’ll also get 5 percent back on Chase Travel Center purchases and 2 percent back at gas stations, restaurants and on select streaming services. Other spending categories still fetch 1 percent back.

With so many everyday spending categories covered, there are plenty of opportunities to maximize your cash back on the purchases you’ll put on this card.

Redeeming rewards

Once you start racking up rewards, you’ve got a few options for redemption:

  • Gift cards
  • Travel through the Chase Travel Center
  • A direct deposit or statement credit
  • A credit for all or part of your Instacart orders

Further, there is no minimum rewards balance required for direct deposits, statement credits or Instacart orders.

Fees

On top of no annual fee, if you decide to travel with this card, you won’t have to pay any foreign transaction fees. This means that if you take a trip outside of the United States, you won’t be charged additional fees on any purchases made with this card.

Additional perks and benefits

There are a few extra perks to appreciate about the Instacart Mastercard. Even though this isn’t necessarily a travel credit card, the fact that there are no foreign transaction fees and a significant amount of travel-related benefits is notable.

Instacart+ membership

With the Instacart Mastercard, you’ll get a free Instacart+ membership (which is typically $99 a year or $9.99 per month). An Instacart+ membership means you’ll have $0 delivery fees for orders of $35 or more, plus reduced service fees.

Travel and shopping protections

The card also offers some pretty handy travel insurance and purchase protection benefits. You’ll have access to travel accident insurance and emergency assistance services, baggage delay insurance, purchase protection, lost luggage reimbursement, roadside assistance and extended warranty protection.

World Elite Mastercard benefits

Because this card is part of the Mastercard network, you’ll also get access to World Elite Mastercard benefits, like 24/7 concierge service and a free ShopRunner membership. Other Mastercard World Elite benefits include:

  • Cellphone protection
  • Zero liability protection (for fraudulent transactions)
  • Mastercard ID theft protection
  • Discounts with brands like Lyft, Fandango and DoorDash
  • Access to car, air, cruise and vacation packages, along with the Mastercard luxury hotel and resorts portfolio

Who should get the Chase Instacart Mastercard?

If you want to beat inflation in categories like food and gas spending, this would be a great card to consider. The fact there’s no annual fee in exchange for an Instacart+ membership — plus a $100 welcome bonus credit toward your orders — means you’re already netting a lot of value with this card.

If Instacart isn’t available in your area or you don’t plan on using online delivery as much, you won’t get much value from this card. And if you’re a travel rewards enthusiast, look elsewhere, as there’s no way to boost the value of your rewards via travel redemption (such as with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®).

The bottom line

The Chase Instacart Mastercard is a refreshing update to the world of rewards and grocery credit cards. At a time when people are doing their best to fight the effects of inflation, this card can help cardholders save both time and money while purchasing the things they need.