Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa® review: Turn credit card balances into installment loans

The Discover it® Chrome offers cardholders several benefits, including bonus rewards on everyday categories and impressive introductory rates. You’ll earn your highest rewards rate on purchases in popular categories and Discover matches all the cash back you earn at the end of your first year. Its welcome offer has the potential to outshine the Upgrade card’s modest offer. Unlike with the Upgrade card, you don’t have to open a checking account with Discover to be eligible for its Cashback Match.

Additionally, the Discover it® Chrome has intro APR offers on both purchases and balance transfers. This perk gives you significant time to pay down existing high-interest credit card balances or finance a larger purchase if needed. The regular APR will kick after the intro period ends. Unlike the Upgrade Visa Card, you can temporarily pause interest payments and earn rewards at the same time, making the Discover it® Chrome a worthwhile and even more cost-effective alternative to the Upgrade card.

If you like the idea of getting rewarded with an increased credit line based on responsible payments, then the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card may appeal to you. After six months of on-time payments, you may be eligible for a higher credit limit, which helps boost your credit score. Additionally, you earn an unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases. A primary difference between the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards and the Upgrade Visa is what earns you the rewards. The Capital One QuicksilverOne earns cash back when you make purchases while the Upgrade Visa earns cash back when you pay off your purchases. The Upgrade card may have stronger credit-building features because of its emphasis on incentives to make on-time payments.

The Capital One QuicksilverOne charges an annual fee, but you might be able to offset this cost with rewards. You can also expect the interest rate to be on the higher side. Neither card has introductory APR offers, but the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards could be more expensive than the Upgrade Visa Card if you carry a balance or make a balance transfer (See Rates & Fees).

If you don’t mind doing a bit of legwork to earn extra rewards on some of your purchases, take a look at the Discover it® Cash Back. You’ll earn your highest rates in rotating bonus categories each quarter (up to the quarterly maximum when you activate) and 1 percent on all other purchases. The Discover cash back calendar for 2023 included grocery stores, streaming services, restaurants and more.

The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a terrific low-maintenance rewards card option. You earn unlimited bonus rewards in categories like dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and grocery stores. Since there's no rotating calendar to keep track of, you can earn consistent rewards with less hassle.

If you are budgeting for a significant expense like new home appliances or a big trip, then the Upgrade Visa can help you reach your goals. Instead of minimum payments that fluctuate, you'll have a fixed amount due monthly for a set time period, so you can plan ahead more easily. 

This card can help credit builders who want to improve their credit and potentially upgrade to a card for good to excellent credit. While it doesn't report credit utilization, the Upgrade Visa still reports relevant activity like payment history to all three credit bureaus.

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Based on this data, we determine a “chargeable” spend (which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards). This includes the following spending by category:

• Groceries: $5,200
• Dining out: $3,000
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,100
• Apparel and services: $1,700

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 23 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits. 
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.

While the Upgrade card does not technically support balance transfers, there’s an easy workaround: Simply have your funds deposited to your bank account, pay off your existing debt and then pay off your Upgrade card balance over time according to your account’s installment terms. 

While you won’t be able to completely avoid interest charges as you would with a zero percent intro APR, you could still save a ton if the APR you’re offered on the Upgrade card is much lower than the rate on your current credit card.

The Upgrade Visa offers personal credit lines from $500 to $25,000, depending on your credit history. While that rivals some of the best high-limit credit cards on the market, there’s no guarantee the issuer will offer you a high limit since it depends on your credit history. 

Like most cards, applying will affect your credit score. But luckily, you can check your Upgrade card credit line and APR before applying. With traditional credit cards, you typically must apply and face a hard credit inquiry before you know what your credit limit and APR will be. The Upgrade Visa lets you see whether it makes sense to move forward without risking your credit score.