GM BuyPower Business Card from Capital One Review

Full Review of GM BuyPower Business Card from Capital One

Pros Explained

• High Rewards Rate on GM Service and Accessories: If you own a fleet of GM vehicles—Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac—you likely spend a sizable amount to maintain and repair those vehicles. This card essentially returns 5% of such expenditures made at GM dealerships to you in order to help you buy more GM vehicles. It would be difficult to find better rewards on vehicle expenses, especially if you also take advantage of the card's 3% earnings on gasoline. However, earning a net financial gain from the 5% bonus rate assumes that it makes sense for your company to maintain your GM fleet at GM dealerships, rather than independent maintenance shops, and to replace your current GM vehicles with further GM ones. 
• Introductory 0% APR on Purchases: The GM BuyPower Business card affords a 0% APR on all purchases for the first 12 months after opening an account. That’s an unusually generous offer for a card with no annual fee, and could allow a business some welcome breathing room to juggle payables made to the card without having to pay interest charges.

Cons Explained

• Only One Option to Redeem Rewards: You can redeem your rewards and bonus earnings on this card in only one manner: Applying them to the purchase of a new GM vehicle; used vehicles, for example, are ineligible even when bought from the automaker. By contrast, other business credit cards typically allow you to redeem your rewards in ways that range from statement credits and gift cards to airfare and merchandise. Note, however, that cardholders may use rewards not only to buy vehicles for the business but for personal use, and even for the use of immediate family members. You can also combine the card’s rewards with the GM College Discount, GM Military Discount, GM First Responder Discount, or GM Educator Discount to further lower your cost.

With its best earnings on automotive maintenance and gas expenses, and its only redemption option to help buy a new GM vehicle, the GM BuyPower Business card from Capital One best fits business owners who maintain a fleet of GM vehicles and intend to buy more of them, whether for work or personal use.

The card’s appeal also increases for a fleetholder who seeks a break on cash-flow for the year after they receive the card. The 0% APR offer allows you to carry any or all purchases in that period without paying interest. 

Rewards Earning Details

With this card, you’ll get: 

• 5% earnings on purchases of GM parts, accessories, and service at authorized GM dealers
• 3% earnings on purchases at gas stations, restaurants, and office supply stores
• 1% earnings on all other purchases

There’s no limit to how much you can earn with the card, and rewards never expire as long as your account is open. 

Rewards Redemption Details

The GM BuyPower Business card offers only one way to redeem your rewards: to apply them towards buying a new GM vehicle. 

To redeem your rewards, you’d go to an authorized GM dealership and select a new Buick, Cadillac, or GMC vehicle. You work with the dealer to agree on a price, then deduct from the price earnings you have on your GM BuyPower Business card. 

How to Maximize Your Rewards

To get the most value from your card, use it to manage and maintain your fleet of GM vehicles at authorized GM dealers. You’ll get 5% in earnings on parts, service, and accessories at authorized GM dealers. You could also use the card to earn 3% earnings on purchases at gas stations, restaurants, and office-supply stores, and even to earn 1% cash back on all other purchases, assuming you have no better option for those miscellaneous purchases.

To ensure you’re getting all the rewards possible from owning this card, consider getting additional cards for any or all of your employees who make purchases for the business, especially if they’re for gas or made at GM dealerships. Up to 99 additional cards can be distributed for the same account and, as with most business cards, there’s no additional charge for issuing each.   

To demonstrate how rewards can add up, let’s say you own a contracting business and have a fleet of 10 vehicles. 

According to AAA, it costs $942 per year to maintain and repair the average new vehicle. With 10 vehicles, that means you’d spend $9,420 on maintenance alone. Assuming you bought all of your parts and service at authorized GM dealers, and so earned 5% on those expenditures, you’d get $471 in rewards. 

Since it costs $2,094 per year, on average, to fuel a vehicle, you might easily spend an additional $20,940 annually to cover your fleet’s fuel. With the 3% rewards rate for purchases at gas stations, those gas expenditures would contribute an additional $628.20 in earnings. 

An additional $5,000 per year on other purchases, at the default 1% rewards rate, would contribute a further $50 to your annual rewards. 

All told, this scenario involves spending $35,360 and earning $1,149.20 in rewards. The price of a new 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD starts at $34,100. If you applied your annual rewards to buying that vehicle, you’d drop the price to $32,950.80. 

The GM BuyPower Business Card's Outstanding Benefits

Standout extras you get with the GM BuyPower Business card include: 

• Mastercard 24/7 Concierge: Speak with a concierge 24 hours a day at no charge to get assistance.
• Lost Luggage Insurance: Pays up to $1,500 a claim and 2 claims per 12 months.
• Free Shoprunner membership: This benefit entitles you to free two-day shipping and free return shipping on purchases from more than 140 online stores.
• Mastercard Easy Savings: Use your card at eligible retailers and rebates will be applied to your monthly statement. For example, you can get 5% in rebates if you rent a car through Avis. 

Other business credit cards offer similar benefits, but many of them have annual fees. Being able to enjoy these benefits without paying a yearly fee is a significant advantage. 

Standard Benefits

• Extended warranty protection
• Purchase protection
• Identity theft resolution services
• Events and experiences: Cardmembers get exclusive access to events and experiences such as spa services, golf outings, and celebrity meet-and-greets. 
• Mastercard Travel Services: Use your card to book your trip and enjoy free benefits, upgrades, VIP status, and complementary travel planning. 
• Travel protection: The card includes emergency travel assistance services and travel accident insurance
• Car rental insurance: secondary to your personal auto insurance 

Cardholder Experience

While this card is a branded card from GM, it is serviced by Capital One. That’s a good thing; Capital One is well known for its excellent customer service. J.D. Power ranked CapitalOne fourth out of eight national card issuers in the 2020 U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study. CapitalOne earned a score that was a bit higher than the average.

You can reach customer support with questions about your account via secure email or by calling 1-800-867-0904. 

Security Features

This card has some standard features that are typical of business credit cards, including zero liability protection and fraud alerts.

Our Verdict

If you own a fleet of GM vehicles and typically visit authorized GM dealers for parts and service, the GM BuyPower Business card may be a smart addition to your wallet. You’ll earn up to 5% in rewards on parts, accessories and service, and you can redeem your rewards when you purchase a new GM vehicle. With no annual fee, there’s no cost to using this card. And you can even enjoy an initial year of carrying purchases with no interest charges, thanks to the card’s 12-month 0% APR offer.

But, except for that no-interest period, the card literally offers nothing if buying a new GM vehicle is not in your future, since there’s no other way to enjoy its rewards than to make such a purchase. For an alternative to help reduce the costs of maintaining a fleet, look to business cards that have no annual fee, generous rewards on gas purchases, and flexible redemption options. One example is Chase’s Ink Business Cash which has no annual fee and offers 2% cash back on up to $25,000 of gas and restaurant purchases per year.