Earlier this week, rumors about an imminent release of the Chase Starbucks credit card began to make its rounds. Starbucks had announced their plans to release a pre-paid card issued by Chase early 2017, but seemed to have later changed their mind to focus on a credit card instead. The Starbucks credit card was originally slated to be released late 2017, but was obviously pushed back; it is now rumored to be released in February 2018.
Earlier today, some sharp-eyed netizen on Doctor of Credit noticed a video posted to Vimeo. The corporate video details some of the benefits and reward structure of the Chase Starbucks credit card, and the same user had uploaded multiple cuts to it.
Reward structure of the Chase Starbucks credit card leaked on Vimeo.
The reward structure of the card is still relatively vague:
- 1 star per $4 spent outside of Starbucks
- Up to 3 stars per $1 spent at Starbucks
- 8 “Barista Picks” curated just for cardmembers throughout the year
125 stars will get you a free item at Starbucks, which can be a free drink, a food item, or a bottled beverage. Under this reward proposition, you would need to spend $500 outside of Starbucks to get a free item. This is hardly a good value, and is a terrible incentive for customers to use the Chase Starbucks card outside Starbucks. A 2% cash back card like the Citi DoubleCash would get you $10 in cash back for spending $500, whereas most items at Starbucks are single digits in dollar amount.
Meanwhile, if you use the card exclusively at Starbucks, you can also spend “as little” as $41.67 at Starbucks to earn the same number of stars with the credit card. I say “as little,” because it’s still unclear what kind of purchases would earn you the maximum of 3 stars per $1 spend. If you redeem your stars for a ~$6 free item, this is basically the equivalent of about a ~15% cash back. Currently, you can already earn 2 stars for every $1 spent on coffee, food, drinks, merchandise at Starbucks by using the app or a registered Starbucks card. My best guess is that using the Chase Starbucks card would get you an additional star, making a total of 3 stars per $1.
Finally, I have no idea what a “Barista Pick” would be. This could mean anything from 8 certificates for free drinks to use within the year, or perhaps access to “secret menu” item. I can even see Starbucks using this to promote new drinks, or even giving card members exclusive access to #PSL earlier in the year. Again, all speculations here.
What do you make of this leaked reward structure of the Chase Starbucks card?
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1 comment
What a joke of a card. Jokebucks card.