GM BuyPower Business Card from Capital One® Review: Earn Up to 5% Back Toward New GM Vehicles

Holly Johnson

March 29, 2019  •  5 Minute Read

Credit Cards

If you own your own small business and prefer to purchase or lease a brand new vehicle every few years, the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® could be a smart addition to your wallet. This card lets entrepreneurs and business owners earn tiered rewards for every dollar they spend with no annual fee. When you’re ready to redeem your rewards, you can use them directly toward the purchase of a new Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, or Buick vehicle for business or personal use.

While there are limitations on how you can redeem your rewards, this card lets you earn up to 5% back on at least some of your purchases. If you’re going to purchase a new car or truck every few years anyway, why not take advantage? This simple review will go over the pros and cons of this card, why you might consider it, and who it’s best for.

GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One®: a Smart Cash-Back Card for Car Enthusiasts

If you want to earn rewards on all your business purchases and apply your points to a new car or truck every few years, the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® is worth considering. This card lets you earn 5% back on purchases of GM parts, accessories, and service at authorized GM dealers, 3% back at gas stations, restaurants, and office supply stores, and 1% back on all other purchases. There’s no annual fee and the rewards you can earn are truly unlimited. You can also add additional employee cards to your account at no cost, making it easier to rack up more cash back over time.

On the redemption side of the equation, the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® only lets you cash in your rewards for GM purchases. However, they do offer a few variations in how you can redeem them for superior value.

For starters, you can redeem your GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® rewards on top of any other offers you qualify for. GM even suggests you visit a GM dealer and negotiate the lowest price and best incentives possible before identifying yourself as a BuyPower Business Cardmember. That way, your rewards are helping you save beyond dealer incentives and offers you negotiate on your own.

You can use your rewards as a down payment for your new vehicle, which should in turn lower your new monthly payment. You can also use your cash back rewards as part of the cash payment toward your new vehicle in the case you pay in full and don’t use dealer financing. Lastly, you can use your rewards to add additional optional equipment to your new ride —upgrades like leather seats or a premium sound system.

Aside from the fact the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® lets you earn up to 5% back, one of the biggest benefits of the card is the fact there’s no annual fee. This means you can use your card to earn meaningful rewards all year long without paying for the privilege or wondering if you’re getting enough value in return.

GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One®: Where it Comes Up Short

By now, the biggest downside of the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® should be obvious. While this offering is dubbed as a “cash-back credit card”, you can’t redeem your rewards for cash in your bank account. You can only cash in your points toward a purchase or lease of a new GMAC, Buick, Chevrolet, or Cadillac vehicle, and only from an authorized dealer.

Obviously, this could be a real problem for a certain segment of consumers and business owners. Not only do you have to choose from several specific brands of cars and trucks, but you have to buy or lease new. If you happened to come across a new Honda or Toyota you loved instead, the rewards on this card wouldn’t be of any help. The same is true if you found a used car you wanted to buy instead. Your rewards would basically be worthless.

For that reason, many business owners might be better off with a cash-back credit card that lets you redeem points in more than one way. Take the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business, for example. This card lets you earn a flat 2% back on every purchase you make with no exceptions. The kicker is, you can redeem your points for statement credits to cover any purchase you want with no limits or exclusions.

The Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business doesn’t offer the higher 5% or 3% back categories the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® does, but you’ll likely earn around the same amount of rewards since you’ll earn 2% back on all your regular purchases. Better yet, the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business offers a one-time $500 cash bonus when you spend $4,500 in the first 3 months from account opening.

The chart below shows how these two cards stack up:

This brings us to our last negative aspect of the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® — the fact that it doesn’t offer a signup bonus. Without an initial bonus, it will take you considerably longer to earn meaningful rewards you can use toward a new car or truck.

The Bottom Line

Is the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® the best option for your wallet? It could be, but you may also want to consider pairing it with another business credit card that offers more than 1% back on all your regular purchases and more flexibility in how you redeem your points.

On the flip side, the GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® may be the perfect credit card for your business if you:

• Plan to buy a new GMC, Buick, Cadillac, or Chevrolet vehicle every few years no matter what
• Don’t want to redeem your rewards for cash back or travel
• Spend a ton of money at gas stations, office supply stores, or restaurants

Only you can decide which card to get for your business and the best way to redeem your rewards for optimal value. The GM BuyPower Business CardTM from Capital One® is just one available in a sea of popular business credit cards, so make sure to compare several options and their benefits before you decide.

*Information for this card not reviewed by or provided by Capital One