Chase Instacart Mastercard benefits guide

Written by

Aja McClanahan,

Edited by

Published on October 18, 2023 | 4 min read

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Key takeaways

The Chase Instacart Mastercard® delivers 5 percent cash back on qualifying Instacart orders as well as a healthy welcome bonus opportunity.
With solid cash back rewards in other everyday categories – including gas, restaurants and select streaming services – this card could be an effective tool in battling inflation.
There’s no annual fee nor foreign transaction fees to eat into your rewards earnings, but there also isn’t an intro APR offer.

Online grocery delivery fans rejoice! Chase designed the Instacart Mastercard® with you in mind. This co-branded credit card offers one of the highest rates of cash back for specific grocery spending, plus respectable rewards rates for other common spending categories.

The Instacart card comes loaded with benefits and features if you’re interested in saving money on your online grocery delivery.

Chase Instacart Mastercard card highlights

Rewards rate: 5 percent cash back on Instacart.com and Instacart app purchases; 5 percent back on Chase Travel Center purchases; 2 percent back at gas stations, restaurants and on select streaming services; 1 percent back on all other purchases
Welcome offer: Get a free year of Instacart+ and a $100 Instacart credit automatically upon approval; membership auto-renews (Terms apply)
Annual fee: $0
Regular APR: 20.24 percent to 28.99 percent variable APR

Chase Instacart Mastercard benefits

Welcome bonus

Get started on the right foot with the Instacart Mastercard welcome bonus. Score a $100 Instacart credit as well as a free year of Instacart+, a savings of $99 for the annual plan, when you are approved for the card. An Instacart+ membership allows you to earn 5 percent Instacart credit on eligible pickup orders, and members enjoy free delivery for orders over $35 as well as reduced service fees (membership auto-renews each year). You’ll get your credit automatically upon approval.

Earning rewards

This Chase online grocery card features a generous rewards rate in its primary category — online grocery delivery. If you don’t like waiting around for grocery delivery, you can also set your orders for pickup (and your Instacart+ membership included for the first year means you’ll earn 5 percent credit on eligible pickup orders).

In either case, you should know that Instacart offers more than groceries through its app; the delivery service offers goods from more than 800 retailers nationwide. You can make purchases for higher-end items like Apple electronics, sports gear, home goods and even items for the pets in your life. With the Instacart Mastercard, this means you’ll earn 5 percent cash back on larger purchases that you might not earn as much on if you were using another rewards card.

In addition to the potential to earn 5 percent back on thousands of items, you’ll also get 5 percent back on Chase Travel Center purchases and 2 percent back at gas stations, restaurants and on select streaming services. Other spending categories still fetch 1 percent back.

With so many everyday spending categories covered, there are plenty of opportunities to maximize your cash back on the purchases you’ll put on this card.

Redeeming rewards

Once you start racking up rewards, you’ve got a few options for redemption:

Gift cards
Travel through the Chase Travel Center (keep in mind these rewards aren’t Ultimate Rewards points, so they aren’t transferable or combinable with your Ultimate Rewards earned through other Chase cards)
A direct deposit or statement credit
A credit for all or part of your Instacart orders

Further, there is no minimum rewards balance required for direct deposits, statement credits or Instacart orders.

Fees

On top of no annual fee, if you decide to travel with this card, you won’t have to pay any foreign transaction fees. This means that if you take a trip outside of the United States, you won’t be charged additional fees on purchases in foreign currency made with this card.

Additional perks and benefits

There are a few extra perks to appreciate about the Instacart Mastercard. Even though this isn’t necessarily a travel credit card, the fact that there are no foreign transaction fees and a significant amount of travel-related benefits is notable.

Instacart+ membership

With the Instacart Mastercard, you’ll get a free Instacart+ membership (which is typically $99 a year or $9.99 per month) for the first year. An Instacart+ membership means you’ll have $0 delivery fees for orders of $35 or more, plus reduced service fees and the ability to earn 5 percent Instacart credit for eligible pickup orders.

Travel and shopping protections

The card also offers some pretty handy travel insurance and purchase protection benefits. You’ll have access to travel accident insurance and emergency assistance services, baggage delay insurance, purchase protection, lost luggage reimbursement, roadside assistance and extended warranty protection.

World Elite Mastercard benefits

Because this card is part of the World Elite Mastercard network, you’ll also get access to that network’s benefits, like 24/7 concierge service and a free ShopRunner membership. Other Mastercard World Elite benefits include:

Zero liability protection (for fraudulent transactions)
Mastercard ID theft protection
Discounts with brands like Lyft, Fandango and DoorDash
Access to car, air, cruise and vacation packages, along with the Mastercard luxury hotel and resorts portfolio

Who should get the Chase Instacart Mastercard?

The right credit card can help you beat inflation in categories like food and gas spending, and the Instacart Mastercard would be a great option to consider. There’s no annual fee in exchange for a free Instacart+ membership for one year — plus a $100 welcome bonus credit toward your orders — which means you can quickly realize value with this card.

If Instacart isn’t available in your area or you don’t plan on using online delivery as much, you won’t get much value from this card. And if you’re a travel rewards enthusiast, look elsewhere, as there’s no way to boost the value of your rewards via travel redemption (such as with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®). Note, too, that Chase Sapphire Preferred offers three Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases, which includes those made directly with grocery stores, but does NOT include Instacart orders.

The bottom line

The Chase Instacart Mastercard is a refreshing option in the world of rewards and grocery credit cards. At a time when people are doing their best to fight the effects of inflation, this card can help cardholders save both time and money while purchasing the things they need.