Barclays relaunches the Uber Credit Card with an increased earning rate of 5% on Uber

Richard Kerr is a veteran naval officer and founder of the Award Travel 101 Facebook community. He’s one of the foremost experts in points and miles strategy, featured in Forbes, US News, Money Magazine, Kiplinger Personal Finance and presented at #SXSW 2017. Richard has visited over 45 countries, lived in England and Japan, and spends his spare time dissecting loyalty program award charts to maximize the value of points and miles. Richard holds a BBA in International Business and has his wife and two small children in tow for his travels as often as possible.

The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don’t cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Effective today, Barclays is relaunching its Uber Credit Card with a higher earning rate on all Uber products, but a reduction in what you'll earn at most dining establishments. The card is also shifting from earning points that can be redeemed for cash back to earning Uber Cash as the card's primary currency.

The card will remain a no-annual-fee product, but has a new 5-3-1 rewards earning structure:

• Earn 5% back in Uber Cash on all Uber purchases including Uber rides, Uber Eats and JUMP bike and scooter rentals
• Earn 3% back in Uber Cash on restaurants, bars, hotels and airfare
• Earn 1% back in Uber Cash on all other purchases

The sign-up bonus on the card will remain the same as the current offer — you'll earn $100 in Uber Cash after spending $500 on the purchases in the first 90 days. The relaunched card appearance has been redesigned as well.

The previous version of the card earned 4% back on restaurants, takeout, bars and Uber EATS, 3% back on hotel and airfare, 2% back on online purchases including Uber and 1% on all other purchases. It was always odd that Uber earned so little as a category on its own cobranded credit card, so the new version of the card increasing to 5% back on Uber purchases is much more logical.

For comparison, the old version of the card earned points which could be redeemed as cash back, Uber Cash or towards credit for gift card redemptions. The new card will earn only Uber Cash which will be automatically deposited into your Uber account after you earn $50 in Uber Cash. For rewards balances under $50, you can manually select to move the rewards into your Uber account — there's no minimum. Your Uber Cash also never expires, regardless of whether it's on the card or has been moved to your Uber account.

The card will still carry $600 in mobile phone insurance when you use your Uber card to pay your monthly phone bill, and there are still no foreign transaction fees. Barclays also told TPG that none of the card's category merchant coding will change, so the hotel and airfare 3% earnings still include vacation home rental purchases from sites like Airbnb.

Existing Uber Credit Card holders can either wait until the completion of their first year with the current product or call and opt into the new product effective immediately by calling customer service on the back of their current card. However, all existing card holders will be switched over to the new version by the middle of 2020.

Bottom Line

Losing 1% on dining with the new card is a minor setback compared to the 3% increase on Uber earnings. If you're after straight cash earnings, the new Uber Credit Card is now the best to use for Uber purchases. If you'd like to earn transferable points which could be valued at more than 5%, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, and American Express® Green Card all earn triple points on Uber purchases (up to $150,000 in combined purchases each account anniversary for the Ink Business Preferred). For other options when it comes to dining cards, check out our guide to "The Best Credit Cards for Restaurants and Dining Out." The information for the Amex Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

I think the new Uber Credit Card is a better product overall. It's a shift that makes the card more beneficial to regular users of all associated Uber brands, and should be attractive to regular Uber users with 5% rewards in exchange for no annual fee.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.