Gas stations across the country provide numerous money-saving and points-based credit cards to their customers. In theory, these cards can help reward frequent customers and help the business grab extra profit from increasing customer consumption. However, are these cards actually worth the investment for the customer? Here are the pros and cons for the Shell credit card.
Types of Shell Credit Cards
Shell credit cards are lines of credit that offer specific rewards for purchasing goods at a Shell gas station. There are six main types of Shell credit cards:
- The conventional gift card.
- The Drive for Five card, which rewards the consumer with $0.05 off gas purchases.
- The Fuel Rewards Network card, the third type, provides reward points for none gas good purchases at Shell stations. Those reward points can then be used to save money at the pump.
- The fourth type of card is the Saver Card. This card is directly connected to the consumer’s banking account, but the card helps to shave off $0.02 off each gallon of gas.
- The fifth type of card, My Shell Bucks, is a pre-filled card that can have up to $300 on the card.
- Finally, there is the Shell Platinum Mastercard. This credit card is a conventional credit card offered from specific credit card companies, like Citi. However, working with Shell, the credit points that accumulate help with purchases specifically at Shell stations. Customers can save up to $0.10 a gallon with their Shell gas purchases when they have enough points on their Shell Platinum Mastercard. For the purposes of this review, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of the Shell Platinum Mastercard.
Pros
The Shell Platinum Mastercard works like a conventional credit card. This allows the customer to use it for various purchases, such as grocery shopping or electronics purchases. This increases the chances of racking up points since the consumer does not need to focus on only Shell gas station purchases. In addition, there are no annual fees to having this card. If the customer is an exclusive Shell gas station consumer, then the gas points can be quite a save. The card allows the customer to get 5% cash back on all Shell purchases. The maximum amount a customer can earn is about $0.20 per gallon off on gas. This can save a sizable amount on money per month on gasoline if the customer can use the card often enough.
Cons
To apply for the Shell Platinum Mastercard, the customer needs a fair credit rating of 660 or above. The reward points are also geared toward Shell stations and Jiffy Lube services. Although this can be very helpful with fuel and car service purchases, the points do not translate well on non-Shell purchases. For example, all Shell and Jiffy Lube purchases can get 5% cash back, but all other purchases from other vendors only provides 0.5% cash back.
In addition, in terms of gasoline purchases that can go toward rewards, the Shell Platinum Mastercard has a cap of 100 gallons per month. For individuals or families who consume over 100 gallons per month, the rewards to this card may be limited. This can become a further issue since there is a relatively high APR rate on this card, which is 23.9% on purchases and balance transfers and 29.9% on penalties. That can make the rewards seem too narrow compared to the APR costs, especially since the card can only be used at a Shell station.
If a customer is a frequent Shell consumer, the Shell Platinum Mastercard can be a great credit card. However, if the consumer shops around for their gas, they need more than 100 gallons a month, and they want higher cash back rates for non-gas station goods, then the Shell Platinum Card may not be the card for that consumer.
