Sallie Mae to Begin Offering Credit Cards

Sallie Mae will soon offer credit cards: Here’s what to know

Written by: Paris Ward

• Updated June 18, 2019 •2 min read

Editorial Note: Intuit Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. Information about financial products not offered on Credit Karma is collected independently. Our content is accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.

We think it's important for you to understand how we make money. It's pretty simple, actually. The offers for financial products you see on our platform come from companies who pay us. The money we make helps us give you access to free credit scores and reports and helps us create our other great tools and educational materials.

Compensation may factor into how and where products appear on our platform (and in what order). But since we generally make money when you find an offer you like and get, we try to show you offers we think are a good match for you. That's why we provide features like your Approval Odds and savings estimates.

Of course, the offers on our platform don't represent all financial products out there, but our goal is to show you as many great options as we can.

Credit Karma’s editors and writers want to help you stay on top of credit card news. The information below is accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted. Heads up: Credit card terms are subject to change, and the terms outlined below may not be current after the date of publication.

Sallie Mae, a company generally known for student loans, is getting into the credit card business.

Sallie Mae will soon be offering three new credit cards geared toward students and recent graduates, including one that offers cash back incentives for paying your bill on time. Here are some of the key features of these zero-annual-fee cards.

For college students: Sallie Mae Ignite^SM — Offers 1% unlimited cash back on purchases and a 25% cash back bonus after making six consecutive on-time payments. The card also offers an introductory 0% APR for purchases for the first six months after you open the account, and then a variable 15.24% to 25.24% APR on purchases after that.
For recent grads: Salle Mae Accelerate^SM — Offers 1.25% unlimited cash back on purchases and a 25% cash back bonus on rewards used to pay down a student loan. The card also offers an introductory 0% APR for purchases for the first 12 months after account opening, and then a variable 15.24% to 25.24% APR on purchases after that.
For young professionals: Sallie Mae Evolve^SM — Offers 1.25% unlimited cash back on purchases, and a 25% cash back bonus on your top-two spending categories each month. And this card also offers an introductory 0% APR for purchases for the first 12 months after account opening, with a variable 15.24% to 25.24% APR on purchases after the offer expires.

Sallie Mae is currently hosting a waitlist for people interested in applying for the new cards.

Are these new cards worth it?

If you’re in the market for a cash back card, there are certainly other cards out there that offer higher cash back rewards.

But if you’re a student looking to begin building credit history, the Sallie Mae Ignite^SM card could be a good option because it incentivizes on-time payments.

If instead you’ve got student loan debt to pay off, the Sallie Mae Accelerate^SM card could be a good option, because it offers an incentive for paying your student loans, with a cash back bonus each time you use rewards for loan payments.

What should you keep in mind?

As with any credit card, if you carry a balance on your Sallie Mae card from month to month, you’ll be charged interest. So if you’re thinking about applying for any of Sallie Mae’s credit cards, you’ll want to pay your balance in full and on time each month to avoid interest charges. And make sure you budget for expenses like your student loan payments before making any purchases just to earn credit card rewards.

About the author: Paris Ward is a content strategist at Credit Karma, providing readers with the latest news that will aid their financial progress. She has more than a decade of experience as a writer and editor and holds a bachelor’s… Read more.