Samsung and Barclays have launched the Samsung Galaxy Card, a relatively un-exciting cash back card, except for the card’s one killer feature: Uncapped 3% rewards on purchases made with Samsung Wallet.
Here’s what you need to know about the card.
Samsung Galaxy Card at a glance
The Column ID value for provided table ID not found! doesn’t offer much in the way of benefits, but its 3% rewards on all purchases made with Samsung pay is highly compelling if you have a Samsung phone and can use the card as your “everywhere else” card.
Rewards
- 5% on eligible purchases made directly from Samsung
- 3% on Samsung Wallet purchases
- 2% on eligible streaming service purchases
- 1% on other purchases
Rewards can be redeemed as a statement credit, gift cards, or deposit to your bank account. Most cash-back redemptions are only available in $25 increments.
Benefits
Samsung benefits
- 20% off Samsung VIP Advantage membership
Travel Benefits
- Trip Interruption/Cancellation Insurance. Covers up to $1,500 per person for certain trip disruptions when you charge at least a portion of your eligible trip to your card.
- Baggage Delay. Cover up to $100 a day for 3 days if your checked luggage is delayed more than four hours from when you arrive at your destination. To get coverage, you must charge your entire common carrier fare to your card.
- MasterRental Coverage. Covers damage to or theft of a rental vehicle and related charges when you decline the collision damage waiver or similar insurance and charge your entire rental to your card. Provides secondary coverage in the cardholder’s country of residence, and primary coverage in most other countries.
- Travel accident insurance. Provides a fixed benefit amount for certain losses of life and limb when you charge your common carrier tickets to your card.
- Travel and Emergency Services. Provides a single number to call for many emergency assistance services. Costs of services provided are the responsibility of the cardmember.
Other benefits
- Complimentary FICO score
Rates and fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Foreign transaction fee: 0% of each transaction in U.S. dollars.
My take: I’m getting this card… and a phone to use it!
Aaron Hurd
Executive Editor of Cards and Points
This may seem a bit crazy, but I’m definitely getting this card and a Samsung phone to go with it. Here’s why.
First, 3% rewards everywhere you can use a mobile wallet is a highly compelling rate of return that can largely displace most other cards that I carry for my everyday spending. It’s better than the 2.62% I currently get with my Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards card (thanks to the bonus I get from my baking relationship) and it beats most category-bonus cards.
Since mobile payment tap-to-pay is pretty universal, having a single card to use almost everywhere simplifies my wallet quite a bit.
Second, I want to be able to see and report on what benefits that card actually has. From the information that Samsung and Barclays has made public, it appears that the card offers substantively no consumer or travel insurance benefits. This would be disappointing if true.
But what actually shows up in the card’s Guide to Benefits might be more than advertised. That’s what I’m hoping for, and when I get the card, I’ll come back and update my coverage.
Honestly, although this card is pretty vanilla, getting 3% cash back everywhere you use Samsung Pay is a pretty compelling reward structure. This could end up being the most exciting (and undersold) card launch of the year!
How to maximize the Samsung Galaxy Card
Maximizing the Samsung Galaxy Card is pretty simple: Use the card a for any in-store purchases where you can use tap-to-pay with Samsung Wallet. You’ll need a Samsung phone to do this.
For most everything else, use a 2% cash back credit card or another card that earns rewards in bonus categories. You might also want to consider using a card with good consumer insurance protections for purchases of durable goods or travel insurance protections when purchasing travel.
Who should get the Samsung Galaxy card?
Honestly, if you have a a Samsung phone, and you make in-store purchases, this card is hard to beat as a use-everywhere card.
Bottom line: Probably the best “everywhere else” card for Samsung phone users
With mobile phone tap-to-pay’s acceptance being nearly universal, the Samsung Galaxy Card’s 3% rewards everywhere you use Samsung Pay is incredibly compelling for Samsung Phone users. Depending on the benefit package that comes with this card, this may be the most exciting card launch of 2026.
