AT&T Universal Rewards Card Review

One of Two Cards From AT&T - Since AT&T's credit card agreement with Citi (dating back to 1987)¹, they have always had two credit cards. There was always a cash back card and another rewards. This card is the rewards version and it has gone through a couple of changes.

Rewards Prior To 2007 - The latest version came about in 2007². Prior to that, the reward features of this card was slightly different. Here is a brief description of how the card was like prior to 2007. It was a prepaid phone card combined with a reward credit card based on Citibank's ThankYou Network Rewards Program. You could earn 5 points for every dollar you spend at standalone supermarkets, gas stations and drugstores.

You could also earn 10% savings for any AT&T purchases directly from AT&T stores or from att.com. You also earn one point for every dollar you spend on non at&t items.

The ATT Universal credit card also functions a prepaid phone card and a credit card combined into one. Cardholders get 2 free directory inquiries each month. Furthermore, you get up to 30 minutes free phone minutes per month, anytime, anywhere.

Present Version - The present version of this card is almost the same as the previous one. The big difference is that you can no longer earn 5 points on supermarkets, gasoline and drugstores.

Instead of getting 10% savings for AT&T purchases, you only get 5% (up to $350 a year). You still get 10% savings during the first 12 months (they count that as an introductory bonus).

So looking at the present card versus the older version, one can come to the conclusion that the old version had more perks and was a better value.

We long For The Good Old Days - After looking at the old rewards formula, I think many of us long for the good old days of 5% rewards. In fact, the old version resembles the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card where you can earn 5% rewards for everyday purchases. But those days are long gone and even the Diamond Preferred Rewards card was replaced by the ThankYou Preferred Card, which only allows you to earn one point per dollar!

For AT&T Customers - At the end of the day, this is the card to get if you are (or are going to become) an AT&T customer. The reason is because this is the only card that allows you to save money when you buy their products or when you pay your bills with this card. In fact, this is exactly what this card is for. You should be putting your AT&T bills on autopay with this card and earn that discount.

I personally have the iPhone and use AT&T. And I have already received a number of emails from them promoting this card to me! If saving on your AT&T bills is important to you, this card will allow you to do just that. In fact, the great thing about having this card is that you can treat it like a Citi rewards card and earn ThankYou Points, yet at the same time same money on your AT&T bills. That's what I call a win win situation.