US Bank Ups Card Rewards for EV Charging

U.S. Bank announced Monday (Jan. 10) that it has added new rewards for its business and consumer credit cards for gas station purchases to help out with electric vehicle (EV) charging.

“We have expanded our card rewards to put EV charging transactions on par with gas,” Steve Mattics, head of U.S. Bank Retail Payment Solutions, said in the announcement. “We are continuously evaluating our credit card offerings to ensure we provide meaningful rewards to our customers, and as options for fueling vehicles expand from gas to a mix of gas and electric charging, we are making sure that our cards follow our customers’ needs and preferences.”

The release says lots of EV users charge their vehicles at home, but on longer trips, a public charging station may be necessary. With U.S. Bank’s update, there could be more rewards, including 4% cash back for their EV charging transactions.

According to Mattics, the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card gives cardholders four times the points for purchases at gas stations.

There are around 45,000 public EV charging stations in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Energy reports.

In other EV news, EV manufacturer Rivian has said its vehicles will include connected services addressing the whole life cycle of a vehicle.

Read more: Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Expects Recurring Revenue From Connected Services

The services will include a fleet management platform for commercial vehicles, along with membership services for consumer vehicles.

Rivian has raised $13.7 billion in gross proceeds with its initial public offering (IPO) from November. The company delivered a pickup truck in September and a sport utility vehicle in December, and plans to put out a commercial delivery van.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said both the consumer and commercial products will come with value-added services to help with the vehicles’ life cycles.

“Starting with a clean sheet, we built a vertically integrated ecosystem comprised of our vehicle technology platform, cloud architecture, product development and operational capabilities, products and services,” Scaringe said.