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KeyBank is the 19th largest bank in the US and the only major bank based out of Cleveland, Ohio. They have over 1,100 branches and 40,000 ATMs in just 16 states:

Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, D.C. and Washington.

Although KeyBank doesn’t occupy the footprint of banks like Chase, Citibank or Bank of America, they do offer an enticing suite of credit cards that are often overlooked.

These include rewards cards, small business cards, and even cards specifically designed to help you build your credit with low risk. Here’s a list of the six credit cards offered through KeyBank (this list does not include retired cards that have since been converted):

• Key Cashback^® Credit Card
• KeyBank Latitude® Credit Card
• Key Secured Credit Card^®
• Key2More Rewards^® Credit Card
• Mastercard® Business Credit Card
• Mastercard® Business Rewards Credit Card
• Key Private Bank Mastercard® Credit Card

All KeyBank credit cards are Mastercards and most of them have no annual fees, but outside of this, they are all very different from each other. This article will highlight KeyBank’s reward card options and take a look at how to redeem points and rewards with a credit card from this bank.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

• Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Best Airlines Credit Cards
• Best Hotel Credit Cards
• Best Business Credit Cards
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• Best Overall in 2022

Rewards Credit Cards Offered by KeyBank

If it’s rewards you’re after, you’ll need one of the following three KeyBank Mastercards. These credit cards are packed with opportunities to earn and redeem points through spending and other account activities.

Key2More Rewards® Mastercard® Credit Card

The Key2More Rewards credit card by KeyBank lets you earn rewards on every purchase with a six month introductory APR of 0%. To qualify for this rewards card, you must have excellent credit (800+). 

You can earn points on eligible credit card purchases, account activities, and even score monthly point bonuses when you spend a certain amount of money (see “Earning Awards Through Spending Activities”) per calendar month. Redeem your points for cash, travel, gift cards, merch, and more. 

There is no cap to the rewards you can receive with this credit card. There is no annual fee.

KeyBank Business Rewards Mastercard®

The KeyBank Business Rewards credit card is great for small business owners that want to earn rewards when making purchases for their business. This can include travel expenses such as hotels and gas, restaurant bills for client meetings, and more (what qualifies an expense as “business” or “personal” is at the discretion of KeyBank). This handy card comes with a bonus of 100,000 points, redeemable for $200, when you spend $1,000 within 60 days of issuance. You must have a business checking account in good standing to qualify for this bonus offer. 

Cardholders also earn unlimited cashback of 2% or 10 points per dollar on business purchases and 1% on all other purchases. This card also has a six month introductory APR of 0% and flexible reward redemption. There is no cap to the rewards you can receive with this credit card. There is no annual fee.

Key Private Bank Mastercard® Credit Card

The Key Private Bank Mastercard Credit Card is a highly exclusive credit card only available to Key Private Bank clients. Key Private Bank is a private wealth manager associated with KeyBank designed primarily for high net worth individuals looking to expand their wealth through investing and asset allocation. If this sounds like you and you also do a lot of traveling, a Key Private Bank Mastercard might be a good fit for you.

This card comes with World Elite Mastercard benefits, which include “premium travel and lifestyle perks” such as complimentary Lyft rides, 5% cashback on Boxed orders, Postmates and Fandango discounts, access to World Elite Concierge, and 10% off of rentals through onefinestay. In addition to these benefits, World Elite offers services including free professional travel support, access to complimentary upgrades and amenities at luxury hotels and resorts, and exclusive savings on travel and stay packages. Key Private Bank Mastercard cardholders receive unlimited LoungeKey airport lounge access when they travel as well. 

Please note that this card comes with a hefty annual fee of $195 and requires a minimum combined balance—across all checking, savings, and investment accounts—of $100,000 in order to avoid a monthly maintenance fee of $50.

Earning Rewards Through Spending Activities

Almost all transactions* made through a KeyBank Key2More Rewards, Key Private Bank, or KeyBank Business Rewards are eligible to earn points.

Here’s a breakdown of how many points each of these cards earns:

• Key2More Rewards^® Credit Card: 5 points for every $1 in qualified purchases
• KeyBank Business Rewards Mastercard®: 5 points for every $1 in qualified purchases; 5 more points for every $1 spent on business costs including gas, restaurant, telecommunication purchases, and travel expenses (flights, hotels, car rentals, etc.)
• Key Private Bank Mastercard® Credit Card: 10 points for every $1 in qualified purchases

The Key2More Rewards card also qualifies to receive bonus points. Earn a bonus of 25% of your total purchase transaction points for every calendar month that you spend between $1,000 – $1,999 with your card and 50% for every month that you spend $2,000 or more. If your credit limit is less than $2,000, you can still earn this bonus if you use your card consistently to make purchases throughout the month. Bonus points are credited to your account on a monthly basis.

*Transactions that do not earn points include cash advances, convenience check transactions, balance transfers, quasi-cash transactions, and overdraft protection transfers (for which a $10 fee is assessed).

Earning Rewards Through Account Activities

Another way to earn rewards with one of these three credit cards is through account activities. Qualifying activities include online statements and recurring payments. For all three rewards cards, signing up to receive online statements or electronic statements rather than paper statements earns up to 50 points per month. 

In addition, every recurring payment your credit card is used to make—such as charges for a streaming subscription or internet services—earns 50 points per transaction. This point-earning activity is capped at 750 points per month or a total allowance of 15 recurring payments.

Redeeming Rewards Points For:

Points expire after 48 months of issuance, so make sure that you don’t let them sit for too long (with the exception of points earned with a KeyBank Private Bank Mastercard).

You don’t just have to cash out your rewards if you don’t want to. To redeem your rewards and points for cash and other goodies, just sign in to your online account. From there, it’s easy to use your points for any of the following…

Cash Back

From your online banking profile, navigate to the rewards portal by selecting “Rewards” from your account summary page. This will show you your rewards balance and present you with the option to redeem points for cash. The monetary value of points is subject to change. Right now, 12,500 points will get you $25. This makes your point worth about 0.02 cents each no matter how you choose to redeem them.

If you choose this option, the cash will be automatically credited to your credit card account and you should see it on your next statement.

Booking Travel

If you’d prefer to use your points to book travel instead, simply access the rewards redemption site and search trip activities from this page. You can use your points to book flights, car rentals, hotel stays, and even cruises.

Buy Gift Cards

Redeeming your points for gift cards is a great way to go if you want to save money during the holiday season. Just shop the catalog through the KeyBank website and use your rewards points to make purchases.

Purchase Merchandise

The KeyBank Rewards Catalog includes everything from merchandise to electronics. If you ever need a new sweatshirt or drawstring bag, you could use your rewards to score some KeyBank-branded merch. Sometimes this catalog features hot tech items too, so be on the lookout for these.

The Rewards Catalog is also where you’d find gift cards and event tickets. 

Make Donations to Charity

You can use your points to make donations to charity with any one of these three cards. Access your account online or through the app to see a list of charities that accept point donations. 

Remember that making charitable contributions can benefit your wallet too. You can claim some contributions as tax deductions for a nice little tax break, either for yourself or your business.

Buy Event Tickets

KeyBank sometimes offers event tickets as a redemption option as well. Check the Catalog often for offers as these are, of course, always changing.

Other KeyBank Credit Card Offers

If you didn’t find anything in the rewards department from KeyBank (above) then you may want skim through the remaining three KeyBank credit card offers (below) to see if they’re a better fit.

Key Cashback Credit Card

This Key Cashback Credit Card comes with up to 2% unlimited cash back and no annual fee.

As of June 2021, it also features a balance transfer intro APR period of 0% for 12 months. So if you’re paying off high interest credit card debit on another card, you may want to consider transferring the balance over to the Key Cashback card.

How to get this card?

To qualify, you’ll need a checking account at KeyBank with at least $1,000 in monthly deposits AND a savings account with at least $1,000 in it (average daily balance).

KeyBank Latitude Credit Card

If you perked up with the 0% balance transfer offer via the Key Cashback credit card, then you’ll likely find the KeyBank Latitude Credit Card attractive as well.

It currently features a 0% introductory APR for the first 15 billing cycles on both purchases and balance transfers. If you are going to make a balance transfer, just understand it must be made within the first 60 days to qualify for the introductory APR. After this introductory period, your APR will jump to between 9.99% and 19.99% APR depending on your creditworthiness.

Key Secured Credit Card

This is just your basic secured credit card aimed at building or rebuilding credit. A low minimum deposit is required to get started and it regularly reports to all the major credit bureaus.

It comes with zero annual fee and also no rewards of any kind.

Final Thoughts

KeyBank has done a great job of creating a card for almost every type of consumer. Being a KeyBank customer means having access to more than 1,100 branches across 16 states and also gives you some pretty all-around great rewards card choices. But you do not need a KeyBank account to open a credit card and earn points. So whether you’re already a KeyBank member or not, as long as you have excellent credit, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to sign up for one or more of these rewards cards.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

• Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Best Airlines Credit Cards
• Best Hotel Credit Cards
• Best Business Credit Cards
• Best Cash Back Credit Cards
• Best Overall in 2022