Bottom line: The Wells Fargo Cash Back? College Card is – at best – an average credit card option for students. It has some redeeming qualities, such as its cash back rewards and introductory 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers. Unless you’re set on getting your first credit card with Wells Fargo, there are plenty of better options.

At best, the Wells Fargo Cash Back? College Card offers a mediocre rewards program and 0% APR period. However, it does integrate well with your Wells Fargo accounts, displaying all your account information on one page:

This makes it a convenient option for an existing Wells Fargo customer, since you can track all your spending from a single location. However, we’ll explain in the following section how the card falls short on many other features.

Earning and redeeming rewards

The Wells Fargo Cash Back? College Card offers limited cashback rewards. As mentioned above, cardholders get 1% cash rewards for each $1 spent on all purchases.

• Redeem cash rewards automatically into your Wells Fargo savings account in $25 increments
• Apply rewards as a credit toward the principal balance of a qualifying Wells Fargo mortgage, loan or credit product
• Request a paper check or redeem in $20 increments at a Wells Fargo ATM with a Wells Fargo debit or ATM card
• Redeem rewards for travel, gift cards and more through the GoFar Rewards portal in $25 increments

If you don’t already own a Wells Fargo checking or savings account, you should refrain from applying for the Wells Fargo Cash Back? College Card – otherwise, you’d have to wait on a paper check through the mail to receive cash back.

The minimum redemption amounts severely limit your ability to earn and redeem cashback rewards quickly. To achieve the minimum redemption amount – $20 in cash back – you would have to spend at least $ on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases for the first six months. After this introductory period, you’d need to spend $2,000 to reach the $20 redemption threshold.

Beyond pure cash back, the GoFar Rewards portal offers redemption options for merchandise, gift cards and travel. With a minimum of $25 to redeem, it may take time to reach this limit, depending on your spending habits. Redeeming your rewards for cash back may be a better option, as Wells Fargo’s GoFar Rewards program is forgettable at best. Unless you’re redeeming for gift cards safe online payday loans, it’s hard to accrue enough rewards to redeem for merchandise or travel – not to mention its clunky interface and subpar redemption values.

0% introductory APR and balance transfers

Additionally, the Wells Fargo Cash Back? College Card offers an introductory APR of 0% for six months on balance transfers and 0% for six months on purchases. After the promotional interest rate runs out, a regular APR of % to % variable will kick in.

Keep in mind that any balance transfer you perform with this card comes at a cost. During the first six months, you must pay either Introductory fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater, for 120 days from account opening. After that, up to 5% for each balance transfer, with a minimum of $5.

Credit management tools for first-timers

If you’re a student, this is likely the first credit card you’ve ever owned. Wells Fargo also offers useful credit and budget management tools for first-time card users, including My Money Map and the ability to view your credit score from FICO.

My Money Map is Wells Fargo’s exclusive program to track your spending, including tools such as My Spending Report, Budget Watch and My Savings Plan. My Spending Report is a powerful money management tool that generates graphs to visualize your spending patterns. Budget Watch lets you know where your accounts stand, and allows you to create alerts for them – for instance, you’ll learn when you’ve reached a certain spending threshold. Meanwhile, My Savings Plan monitors your progress towards your savings goals. Finally, you’ll be able to view your FICO Score after a few months of card use through your Wells Fargo app or desktop sign-on.