GM Credit Cards Review: A Great Fit for General Motors Fans

General Motors credit cards can be great financial tools for fans of GM automobiles. The GM Rewards® Mastercard® offers a fantastic rewards rate and some other unique perks, as well as no annual fee. Read our full expert review to find out if it's a great fit for you.

Before we dive in, it's important to mention that there are technically three GM Credit Cards. There's the GM Rewards® Mastercard®, which is the version that is available to most consumers, and is the one we'll spend most of our time discussing in this review. There is also the GM Extended Family™ Mastercard®, which is designed for GM employees, suppliers, or dealership employees, as well as the GM Business™ Mastercard®, which is designed for small business owners.

This credit card is a good fit for: Fans of GM brands, especially those who eventually want to buy a new or pre-owned GM vehicle.

Top perks

As you can see from the bulleted list above, there are quite a few perks of the GM Credit Card. Unless otherwise noted, these perks apply to the GM Rewards® Mastercard®. We'll discuss the other two cards later within this section.

Excellent rewards rate

The GM Rewards® Mastercard® offers one of the best everyday reward rates on our radar, in terms of the percentage you get back. The card earns 4x points per $1 spent on purchases, with no limitations on earnings and no point expiration dates. Points can be redeemed at a value of $0.01 each, so this is effectively a 4% reward rate.

What's more, the card earns 7x points per $1 on purchases with GM itself, such as GM Certified Service or parts and accessories purchased from a GM dealer or online.

No annual fee and more

The GM Rewards® Mastercard®, as well as the other GM Credit Cards, have no annual fees whatsoever. Cardholders also pay no foreign transaction fees, and there are other unique fee situations, such as no fee for cash advances.

Welcome bonus

The GM Rewards® Mastercard® offers a competitive welcome bonus of 15,000 bonus points (with a $150 redemption value) after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. Plus, there's a 0% intro APR on purchases (but not balance transfers) for the first 9 months.

Statement credits

One of the most unique benefits of the GM Rewards® Mastercard® is the choice of a $100 statement credit after spending $1,500 on fuel in a calendar year, or a $100 statement credit when you use the card to pay six months' worth of electric bills in a year. There's also a $50 annual vehicle detailing benefit that can be used toward services at a participating GM dealership.

Cards for employees and business owners

As mentioned, there are two other versions of GM Credit Cards, designed for employees and small business owners.

• The GM Extended Family™ Mastercard® is designed for employees, suppliers, or dealership employees and offers some similar benefits of the GM Rewards® Mastercard®. It has a welcome bonus of $100 on $1,000 of spending in the first three months, as well as a 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases. It earns 1% back on purchases, and is designed to be combined with GM employee discounts to save even more on a vehicle.
• Next, the GM Business™ Mastercard® is the small business version of the GM Credit Card. It has a higher welcome offer of $750 in bonus earnings after $5,000 in spending in the first five months, as well as the 12-month 0% intro APR on purchases. It earns 5% back on GM purchases, 3% back on gas stations, restaurants, and office supply stores, and 1% back on everything else.

What could be improved

There's no credit card that is a perfect fit for everyone, and the GM Credit Cards certainly are not exceptions to this rule.

Inflexible rewards redemption

To be perfectly clear, a 4% rewards rate on everyday purchases is one of the best that we've found. But you can't exactly redeem your points for cash or a statement credit.

GM Credit Card points can be redeemed toward new and Certified Pre-Owned GM vehicles, dealership services, parts, and accessories, protection plans, and SiriusXM subscriptions. Up to $250 per year can be redeemed for gift cards, but at a much lower $0.0025 per point value.

The point is that unless you own (or plan to buy) a GM vehicle, the redemption options aren't great.

Lower rewards rates on employee and business cards

The small business and employee versions of the GM Credit Card discussed earlier offer some interesting benefits, but have generally lower rewards earning rates than the GM Rewards® Mastercard®. To be fair, the GM Rewards® Mastercard® points cannot be used in combination with the company's employee or supplier discounts, but even so, a 1% rewards rate on most purchases isn't too exciting.

The GM Rewards® Mastercard® is designed for consumers who have a good credit history or better, which you can think of as a FICO® Score of 670 or above. However, there's a lot more that determines credit approval, such as your income, other debts, and employment situation.

It's also worth reiterating that the GM Rewards® Mastercard® allows you to apply without a hard credit inquiry, meaning that it won't impact your credit score to see if you're approved.

The GM Rewards® Mastercard® is a particularly competitive credit card product with an excellent rewards rate and some unique money-saving bonuses, all with no annual fee. It makes the most sense for people who drive (or plan to buy) a General Motors vehicle.

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.