Verizon Visa® Card Review: Monthly Savings and Big Rewards for Verizon Customers

Available only for Verizon customers and issued by Synchrony Bank, the Verizon Visa® Card can score you savings on your phone bill every month. This no annual fee card offers an autopay discount, up to $100 in promotional credits, and up to 4% back on eligible purchases. However, there are a couple perks it's missing. Read our full Verizon Visa® Card review to see if you should apply.

This credit card is a good fit for: Verizon customers who want to pay less for wireless service. Those who have high spending on groceries, gas, and dining will do especially well thanks to this card's generous bonus categories.

Top perks

Verizon has included several benefits for customers who get its credit card.

Earn up to 4% back

The Verizon Visa® Card earns:

• 4% on grocery store and gas purchases
• 3% on dining purchases, including takeout
• 2% on Verizon purchases
• 1% on all other purchases

Those bonus rates are some of the best on the market, especially among no annual fee credit cards. There aren't many cards offering 4% on groceries or gas, much less both. You'll earn plenty of extra rewards on everyday purchases with this card.

Since this is a Verizon credit card, it earns Verizon Dollars. You can redeem your Verizon Dollars toward purchases with the carrier, including your monthly phone bill. They're not quite as versatile as cash back, but since you need a Verizon account to get this card, you shouldn't have any trouble using your rewards.

Read more: Best Gas and Groceries Credit Cards

Up to $10 per line monthly discount with autopay

When you sign up for autopay and paperless billing with Verizon, you can receive a discount of up to $10 per month on each Verizon Wireless line. The discount amount depends on the type of Verizon plan you have.

Eligible payment methods for autopay are:

• A Verizon Visa® Card
• A debit card
• A bank account

If you want to get a Verizon autopay discount, the Verizon Visa® Card is the only credit card that's accepted as a payment method. That alone could make the card worth getting, because you can use it to get that discount and earn rewards on your monthly bill with Verizon.

No annual fee

You won't have any extra costs if you add the Verizon Visa® Card to your wallet. Since it's a no annual fee card, it's great for anyone looking to keep costs down.

Up to $200 in promotional credits

New cardholders can receive up to $200 in promotional credits when paying a Verizon Wireless bill or a Verizon Fios bill with the Verizon Visa® Card or with Verizon Dollars.

The promo credit is applied to your bill over a period of 24 months, equaling a credit of $4.17 per bill. It starts one to two billing cycles after approval for the Verizon credit card, and the credit applies if bill payment requirements are met for the billing cycle.

This is one of the more unique new cardholder offers, as the card issuer doles it out in small increments over a period of two years.

Two free TravelPass days per year

If you're on an eligible Verizon Wireless plan, you receive two single-day-use TravelPass days per calendar year. You get your first two upon approval for the Verizon Visa® Card, and after that, you get two more on the first calendar day of each year your credit card account is open. TravelPass days are valid for the year they are issued.

TravelPass lets you use your domestic talk, text, and data in more than 185 countries outside the United States. This benefit normally costs $5 per day in Mexico and Canada and $10 per day in other countries where TravelPass can be used. Based on that, two free TravelPass days per year can save you $10 to $20, assuming you use them.

No foreign transaction fee

Some credit cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee, but the Verizon Visa® Card isn't one of them. Foreign transactions don't have this additional charge. Between that and the two TravelPass days per year, a Verizon card can help frequent travelers save money.

Read more: Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards

What could be improved

While it doesn't have any huge flaws, the Verizon Visa® Card could be better in a few areas.

Lengthy introductory offer

The promotional credits are a plus, but that offer doesn't look as good once you realize you're getting those credits in increments of $4.17. Two years is a long time to wait to collect your card's full welcome bonus.

Most credit card sign-up bonuses don't take nearly as long, and there are several that offer much more value. Those are worth looking at before you go with this Verizon credit card.

No 0% intro APR financing

The Verizon Visa® Card doesn't offer a 0% intro APR or any type of special financing plans. You should only get it if you plan to pay your full credit card bill every month. Otherwise, you'll get charged credit card interest.

If you want a card that gives you time to pay off purchases, intro 0% APR credit cards are a better way to go. These have a 0% APR for an introductory time period, allowing you to finance a big purchase without racking up interest charges.

No cellphone protection

Although quite a few of the best credit cards have started offering complimentary cellphone protection against damage or theft, the Verizon Visa® Card doesn't. That's understandable, since Verizon offers cellphone insurance for an additional fee. However, it'd be nice to see the wireless carrier include it as an extra for its cardholders.

Rewards must be used with Verizon

The Verizon Dollars this card earns are only redeemable with Verizon. You can use them to pay your bill, make a payment on a device, buy a device, or buy accessories. Through My Verizon, you also have the option of buying a gift card or travel with your Verizon Dollars.

Since you can always just use Verizon Dollars for your phone bill, you shouldn't have too much trouble redeeming them. It's still worth mentioning they're not as useful as cash back or many types of travel points. You might want to explore more credit card reviews to see if another card's rewards program is a better fit for you.

A FICO® Score of 670 or higher is recommended for the Verizon Visa® Card, as it's intended for consumers with good credit to excellent credit.

Since your credit score isn't the only important factor in a credit card application, this isn't a hard-and-fast rule. Some applicants have managed to get approved with scores in the mid-600s.

Keep in mind you must be a Verizon wireless customer who is the account owner or account manager to be eligible for this card. In addition, accounts with more than 10 lines and prepaid accounts aren't eligible to apply.

You're a Verizon wireless customer and you're looking for an easy way to save on your cellphone bill.

With no annual fee and multiple discount opportunities, the Verizon Visa® Card can benefit practically any Verizon customer. The rewards are excellent, and it earns you big bonuses on your grocery, gas, and dining spending. You could use it as your only credit card and get plenty of value from it.

Keep reading: Best Cash Back Credit Cards

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.