- Intro Offer
-
20,000 Points Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months – that’s a $200 cash redemption value
- Annual fee
- $0
- APR
- 19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% variable APR
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
-
670 – 850
Good – Excellent
- Rewards rate
-
1x – 3x Earn unlimited 3X points on restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans. ; Earn 1X points on other purchases
Wells Fargo credit cards may not be as talked-about as the offerings from Chase, American Express and other reward heavy-hitters, but the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card will give plenty of folks a reason to add their own autographs to an application.
There is no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. And during the first year, there are no interest charges, thanks to a 0% introductory APR offer on purchases for 12 months from account opening (19.74%, 24.74% or 29.74% variable APR thereafter).
The Autograph card also earns 20,000 bonus points for spending $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening -- a $200 cash redemption value.
The card’s biggest strength is its 3x points on a wide range of expenses: restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans. Other purchases qualify for a run-of-the-mill, 1x point per dollar payout.
Despite the lack of foreign transaction fees, this isn’t one of the best travel credit cards, as there are no transfer partners and few travel perks.
However, if you’re looking for a straightforward, fixed rewards structure without an annual fee, the Autograph card can be a great fit.
Rewards and redemption
The Wells Fargo Autograph card’s 3x rewards structure applies to a wide range of expenses:
- Restaurants: dining in, ordering take out, catering and delivery
- Travel: Flights, car rentals, hotels and cruises
- Automotive fuel and power: Gas stations and electric charging fees
- Transit: Subways, rideshare services, parking and tolls
- Popular streaming services
- Phone plans: Cell phones and landlines
For expenses that do not fall into these categories, the card earns the standard 1x point per dollar. So, for everyday expenses like groceries, this is not the card to use. You’re better off with the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, which earns 3% cash back (on up to $6,000 spent annually in each of the following categories, then 1%) at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations and for U.S. online retail purchases. Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.
All the points you’ll earn using the Autograph card will add up in your Wells Fargo Rewards account, and you can redeem them for cash, travel and a range of other options.
One particularly convenient piece of the Wells Fargo Rewards program is the ability to turn your points into cash at an ATM. However, Wells Fargo Rewards has one major drawback: No travel transfer partners.
Welcome bonus
The Autograph’s welcome bonus is easily within most cardholders’ reach: Spend $1,000 in purchases within the first three months and you’ll earn 20,000 bonus points. That’s a $200 cash redemption value.
If you have any trips on the horizon, pay for your flight, hotel, car rental, Uber or Lyft rides and other expenses so you’ll score the 3x points on travel while speeding your way past the bonus threshold. Additionally, you’ll want to update your cell phone billing with the Autograph card as your auto-pay option. Not only will that cost help you hit the bonus number, you’ll also qualify for up to $600 of cell phone protection against damage or theft (subject to a $25 deductible).
It’s important to note that the protection does not help if you lose your phone; it only applies to damages with a phone in your possession.
Introductory purchase APR offer
In the first year of using the Wells Fargo Autograph card, you can avoid interest charges thanks to a 0% introductory APR offer on purchases.
If you have any large purchases to make, this means you can pay off the bill over 12 months from account opening without accruing any additional finance charges (19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% variable APR thereafter) as long as you make your minimum payments on time. It’s a nice perk, but it’s not quite as generous as the introductory APR offers attached to other rewards cards like the American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card and the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card*.
There are cards with significantly longer 0% APR windows that can be better candidates for transferring a balance -- especially considering the Autograph doesn’t feature an intro APR offer for balance transfers. And remember that after the introductory APR period runs out, the card will charge a variable APR of 19.74%, 24.74% or 29.74% based on your credit. The only way to make your rewards pay off is to pay your bill off every month.
Alternative cards
The Autograph has plenty of competition, so be sure to compare a range of options. If you’re looking for a similar earning structure -- or if you’re willing to hand over an annual fee in exchange for some bigger perks -- these two cards should be on your list.
Citi Premier® Card
While you’ll need to pay a $95 annual fee to keep the Citi Premier in your wallet, that cost can be well worth it to cash in on a more rewarding welcome bonus. This card pays out 60,000 bonus points -- a value of $600 when redeemed for gift cards at ThankYou.com -- for spending $4,000 in the first three months.
The card is great for travelers with 3x points on airfare, hotel and gas station purchases, but it’s also helpful for at-home expenses with 3x points at supermarkets. Plus, if you book a single hotel stay through ThankYou.com or 1-800-THANKYOU that costs $500 or more, you’ll get a $100 discount each calendar year.
For more details, see our Citi Premier review.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
If you’re considering the Autograph, you’ll also want to give some consideration to Wells Fargo’s flagship cash-rewards card. The Active Cash card has a simplified earning structure: 2% cash rewards on your purchases. So, instead of the 3x points on some expenses with 1x points on others, the Active Cash card balances out your rewards earning potential.
The other distinction between the two cards is that the Active Cash Card comes with a longer 0% introductory APR period of 15 months from account opening on both purchases and qualifying balance transfers (19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% variable APR thereafter).
So, if you’re thinking about making a balance transfer and working to pay off your debt, this is a better option. However, if you’re a regular international traveler, the Autograph beats the Active Cash, which charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.
How Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card compares to other cards
- Intro Offer
-
20,000 Points Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months – that’s a $200 cash redemption value
- Annual fee
- $0
- APR
- 19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% variable APR
- Intro Purchase APR
- 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- Good – Excellent
- Rewards rate
-
1x – 3x Earn unlimited 3X points on restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans. ; Earn 1X points on other purchases
- Intro Offer
-
$200 cash rewards Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months
- Annual fee
- $0
- APR
- 19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% variable APR
- Intro Purchase APR
- 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- Good – Excellent
- Rewards rate
-
2% Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases
- Intro Offer
-
$200 Earn a $200 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
- Annual fee
- $0
- APR
- 18.74%-29.74% Variable
- Intro Purchase APR
- 0% on purchases for 15 months
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- Good – Excellent
- Rewards rate
-
1% – 3% 3% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%.; 3% Cash Back on U.S. online retail purchases, on up to $6,000 per year, then 1%.; 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations, on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%.; 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
FAQs
Not all credit cards offer cell phone protection. If yours does, you need to pay your cell phone bill with the card to qualify for the coverage. It’s important to note that the protection may not cover the full cost of replacing your phone if it is damaged.
An introductory APR offer allows a cardholder to avoid paying any interest on charges for a set period of time. For example, a 12-month 0% APR offer means that you will not accrue additional charges for carrying a balance from month to month. However, after that period is over, the credit card’s standard APR kicks in.
So, if you haven’t paid off those purchases, you can be in a bad position. Credit card interest rates tend to be close to 17 percent for cardholders with the best credit -- a figure that can lead to huge debt if you aren’t focused on paying your bill in full and on time each month.
Wells Fargo Rewards is the bank’s credit card rewards program, which allows cardholders to redeem points for cash, gift cards and travel purchases. In most cases, 1 point is worth 1 cent.
Unlike rewards programs that apply to certain cards from Chase, American Express and Citi, the Wells Fargo Rewards program does not include the ability to transfer points to travel partners. You can, however, share your points with another Wells Fargo cardholder.
*All information about the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.