Guide to the Wells Fargo Rewards program

Wells Fargo Rewards is the rewards program that’s available with one Wells Fargo credit card. Although this program receives less press attention than Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards, the Wells Fargo Rewards program offers solid value and good redemption options.

Read on for all the info you need to maximize the rewards on your Wells Fargo card.

What is the Wells Fargo Rewards program?

True to its name, Wells Fargo Rewards is the rewards program of the issuer Wells Fargo that earns you points for the purchases made on your Wells Fargo card. These points can be redeemed for several types of awards including cash, gift cards, statement credits toward purchases and travel reservations. You can even share your rewards with a friend or relative or use them to make a charitable donation.

Which cards earn Wells Fargo Rewards?

Currently, the only consumer card available to new applicants that offers Wells Fargo Rewards is the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card.

Though discontinued, the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa® card*, Wells Fargo Cash Back College Visa card*, Wells Fargo Cash Back Visa Signature card*, Wells Fargo Rewards Card* and Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card* also technically earn rewards under the Wells Fargo Rewards program.

How to earn Wells Fargo points

You can earn Wells Fargo Rewards points in several ways. The easiest way is by using an eligible Wells Fargo consumer or small-business credit card (though business cards earn rewards toward Wells Fargo Business Rewards) on regular purchases. Like most credit cards, you can earn points as a welcome bonus and for your ongoing spending.

With the Wells Fargo Active Cash, you can earn $200 in cash rewards (20,000 points) after spending $1,000 on purchases within your first three months of account opening. You also earn an unlimited 2% cash rewards (effectively 2X points) on purchases. New applicants also receive a 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on both new purchases and qualifying balance transfers made in the first 120 days (19.24%, 24.24% or 29.24% variable APR thereafter). And you get all this for no annual fee.

Earn More Mall

The Earn More Mall is another way to earn points by shopping in-store or online with select retailers to earn bonus points. Through this rewards feature, you can earn up to 10% back when shopping at one of the hundreds of participating online and in-store retailers. As of the time of this writing, 116 offers are available, including Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, JCPenny, Nike, Expedia and more.

You should be able to use the Earn More Mall for in-store offers, though they need to be activated in advance. Simply sign in to your account, then click “Activate” on the offers you’re interested in under the “Activate Offers” tab. However, at the time of writing, there are no in-store offers available.

However, there are plenty of online offers you can shop and pay for with your participating Wells Fargo credit card. To earn the bonus rewards online, visit the Earn More Mall and click on the “Shop Now” button to be redirected to the retailer’s site. If you go to the retailer’s site directly, you won’t earn points for purchases. You must start on the Earn More Mall webpage first.

How much are Wells Fargo Rewards points worth?

You have numerous ways to redeem your points, but the value can vary based on the redemption option you choose. Here are your options:

• Cash back. Points are worth 1 cent each toward cash rewards. You can request a check in the mail or have your rewards deposited into an eligible Wells Fargo account in increments of $25 (2,500 points). Alternatively, you can withdraw earnings from a Wells Fargo ATM in increments of $20 (2,000 points).
• Statement credits. A simpler option than receiving cash back can be to redeem your rewards for statement credits. You can redeem your points in increments of $25 by applying them directly to your credit card balance.
• Travel. You can book flights, hotels, rental cars and more through the Wells Fargo Rewards travel site. Points are worth 1 cent each but can be worth 1.5 cents each if you still have the Wells Fargo Visa Signature card* (which is no longer available to new applicants). Visa Signature cardholders who spend $50,000 or more in a calendar year will receive 1.75 cents in value per point when redeeming for airfare.
• Gift cards. You can purchase digital or physical gift cards and receive 1 cent in value per point redeemed.
• Merchandise. You can also redeem your points for purchases, usually discounted from the market price, with participating partners. Visit your Wells Fargo account for the current offers. If you do not have enough rewards to cover the entire purchase, you’re able to cover the rest with a debit or credit card.
• Apple products. The Wells Fargo Rewards portal also offers Apple products, including its latest devices such as the iPhone SE, iPad Air, Mac Studio and Studio Display. Unlike the other merchandise, these Apple products cost about the same as the market price.
• Send a gift. You can send rewards or account credits in $25 increments to anyone with any type of Wells Fargo account.
• Make a donation. Feeling generous? You can redeem your points to the American Red Cross to help provide shelter, food and health and mental health services during emergencies.

How are Wells Fargo Rewards redeemed?

You can redeem your Wells Fargo Rewards points online at wellsfargo.com/redeem or through the Wells Fargo mobile app. You can even redeem your rewards for cash at a Wells Fargo ATM by using your debit card.

If you need to talk to a live person, you can call Wells Fargo Rewards Customer Service at 1-877-517-1358 to redeem your rewards, seven days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to midnight Eastern Standard Time, excluding major holidays.

How does Wells Fargo Rewards compare to other rewards programs?

The Wells Fargo Rewards program is fairly average compared to other rewards programs offered by major issuers. However, programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards offer an important feature that Wells Fargo lacks. These competing programs allow cardholders to transfer their rewards to airline or hotel partners. And when you redeem those points or miles for business or first-class flights – or stays in luxury partner hotels – it’s often possible for the rewards to come out worth far more than 1 cent per point.

But not all Chase and Citi cardholders have access to these point-to-mile transfers. For example, owners of the Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Unlimited and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card earn Ultimate Rewards points, but they don’t give cardholders the option of transferring their rewards to airline miles or hotel points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve card.

Likewise, owners of the Citi® Double Cash Card, Citi Custom Cash℠ Card and Citi Rewards+® Card don’t have the ability to transfer their ThankYou points to airline miles, like Citi Premier® Card cardholders do.

When you don’t have the ability to transfer rewards to travel partners, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou points are worth only 1 cent each – the same as Wells Fargo Rewards points.

Another distinction between Wells Fargo Rewards and other programs is the number of cards available. American Express, Chase and Citi each offer numerous cards for both consumers and small-business owners and mostly allow you to pool the points that you earn from all your cards. This enables customers to hold several cards, each with different benefits and bonus spending categories. But, as noted above, Wells Fargo currently only offers one card available to new applicants that participates in its rewards program – the Wells Fargo Active Cash.

Bottom line

While the Wells Fargo Rewards program doesn’t offer quite the same level of value compared to competing programs (such as the ability to transfer your rewards to travel partners), it’s a solid program that gives you plenty of other options to redeem your rewards. In fact, one of the best redemption methods is for merchandise since the items are discounted, and you can pay for them with points and your debit or credit card.

*All information about the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa® card, Wells Fargo Platinum, Wells Fargo Cash Back College Visa card, Wells Fargo Cash Back Visa Signature card, Wells Fargo Rewards Card, Wells Fargo Propel American Express® card has been collected independently by CreditCards.com. These issuers did not provide the content, nor are they responsible for its accuracy. These cards are no longer available.