KeyBank Credit Cards – How to Earn & Redeem KeyBank Rewards Points

KeyBank, which is a subsidiary of KeyCorp, is known regionally as a major bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. As one of the largest banks in the U.S., this publicly-traded company is one that often flies under the radar, despite its large size.

And although KeyBank doesn’t have a multinational presence in the same way that banks like Chase or Citibank do, they do have an intriguing rewards system.

In this guide, we’ll be investigating all of the ins and outs of KeyBank’s credit card rewards program. We’ll be taking a look at the points themselves, the cards that enable you to earn points, and the ways you can redeem points.

Let’s get started!

What are KeyBank Rewards Points?

KeyBank’s rewards program is unsurprisingly called KeyBank Rewards. With the right KeyBank credit card, you can accumulate lots of KeyBank Rewards points.

All of KeyBank’s rewards credit cards are of the Mastercard type, so keep that in mind as well.

KeyBank Rewards points expire 4 years after you earn them. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn, either.

After you’ve earned KeyBank Rewards points, you can redeem them simply by logging into your online KeyBank account and choosing your redemption choice from there.

If you decide to close your account(s), you’ll have up to 30 days to redeem any outstanding points via the number on the back of your card.

KeyBank Rewards Credit Cards

Although there are technically numerous credit cards through which you can earn KeyBank Rewards credit cards, many of the credit cards are converted or grandfathered into the credit cards we’ll be discussing below.

KeyBank’s portfolio of rewards credit cards is pretty simple — there is 1 main personal credit card, 1 main business credit card, and 1 wealth management credit card to earn KeyBank Rewards points.

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of each of them below.

Key2More Rewards^® Credit Card

The KeyBank Key2More card has a lot of unique benefits that might initially grab your attention. First of all, you will earn 5 points per $1 spent without caps.

Of course, ineligible purchases like cash advances, balance transfers, convenience check transactions, and overdraft protection transfers or credits do not count since these are not true purchases.

There is no annual fee, and you’ll also receive an introductory APR of 0% for the first 6 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers (balance transfers must be made within the first 60 days of account opening to qualify).

Notably, there is still a balance transfer fee of $10 or 3% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.

When you have this card, you can also access your FICO Score anytime without impacting your credit score.

This card is contactless, and you can stay secure by using its temporary lock security feature to lock and unlock a misplaced credit card.

Also, this card offers excellent cell phone protection insurance and comes with $1,000 in coverage ($600 per claim up to 2 times per year with a $100 deductible). You must charge your entire cellular bill to your card to qualify for this. This also covers stolen or damaged phones.

Furthermore, you have identity theft protection, zero liability protection, and MasterRental Coverage that will pay for covered damages like physical damage and theft to a rental vehicle.

KeyBank Business Rewards Card

The KeyBank Business Rewards card is essentially the business-equivalent of the Key2More Rewards card we discussed above. In some aspects, the KeyBank Business Rewards card is superior to the Key2More Rewards card.

You will earn 5 points per $1 spent on all qualified purchases, plus an additional 5 points per $1 spent on gas, restaurant, telecommunication purchases, and certain travel purchases (including flights, hotels, and cars).

There’s no annual fee for holding this card, and you’ll similarly have access to the introductory APR offer of 0% for the first 6 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers made in the first 60 days. There is still a balance transfer fee of $10 or 3% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.

You may even be able to find a welcome bonus offer when you sign up for this card. This offer typically is $200 (100,000 KeyBank Rewards points) after spending $1,000 in the first 60 days and having a qualifying KeyBank checking account.

With this card, you automatically have access to Mastercard Zero Liability fraud protection plus many other perks. You’ll get discounts for business software, including QuickBooks, TurboTax, and Intuit Payroll.

You’ll also have access to a team of cybersecurity and ID theft resolution specialists online all day to help resolve issues that might occur. Also, car rental insurance, global emergency services, and access to TPC Golf Privileges are all Mastercard business perks you’ll have access to.

Key Private Bank Mastercard^® Credit Card

The Key Private Bank card is another type of card that will earn KeyBank Rewards points. This credit card is primarily for KeyBank’s wealth management clients.

You must be a client of Key Private Bank to qualify, which comes with a monthly maintenance fee of $50 (waived with a minimum combined balance requirement of $100,000 in any combination of qualified accounts).

With this card, however, you’ll receive 10 points per $1 for all qualified purchases. This effectively matches the KeyBank Business Rewards card, except you won’t need to adhere to any bonus categories to earn the full 10 points per $1.

This card typically comes with a 0% introductory APR for the first 6 billing cycles and balance transfers within the first 60 days of account opening.

The annual fee is $195 and each additional card costs $100. Plus, this card is a Mastercard World Elite card, so you’ll receive numerous benefits including a ShopRunner membership, $10 in monthly Lyft credits (when you take at least 5 rides a month), and the World Elite Concierge.

Also, having the Key Private Bank card affords you unlimited access to more than 1,000 airport lounges with LoungeKey.

How to Earn Bonus KeyBank Rewards Points

Monthly Spending Bonuses

If you hold the Key2More credit card, you can qualify for bonus points.

You will receive a 25% bonus of the total purchase transaction points earned in a calendar month if you spend between $1,000-$1,999 in that month.

Even more, you will earn a 50% bonus of the total purchase transaction points earned in a calendar month if you spend $2,000 or more in that month.

That means you can earn up to 7.5 points per $1 on purchases if you spend $2,000 or more per month on your Key2More credit card!

Account Activities

If you set up online statements, you will receive 50 points per month enrolled.

Additionally, if you set up recurring payments with your credit cards, you will earn 50 points per transaction with a monthly cap of 750 points.

How to Redeem KeyBank Rewards Points

Once you’ve amassed a healthy balance of KeyBank Rewards points, you’ll eventually want to use them. But what are the different ways you can redeem KeyBank Rewards points?

In most cases, you can start redeeming KeyBank Rewards points by logging in online.

Read on to find out more.

Get Cash Back

The first (and most obvious) way to redeem your points for cash-back. You can redeem your points in 3 ways here:

1. Statement credit
2. Direct deposit
3. Pay yourself back for select purchases already made

With the statement credit, you’ll simply receive a line item on your credit card statement that reduces your payment.

With the direct deposit, you’ll get a deposit into your bank account with the amount redeemed.

With paying yourself back, you’d effectively remove charges from your credit card statement that you’ve already made.

Your points will be redeemed for a value of 0.2 cents per point. That means that for 10,000 points, you can redeem your points for $20 in cash-back.

Book Travel

The other redemption you can make is to book travel using your points. Travel can be booked using points by logging into your online account or using the mobile app to access the rewards redemption site.

From there, you can book hotel rooms, airlines, car rentals, and more. The value you’ll receive will be approximately 0.2 cents per point, though you’ll be on the hook for “fulfillment fees,” which are charged for many travel redemptions.

However, there are no blackout dates when redeeming points for travel.

Buy Gift Cards

Gift cards are a solid way to redeem KeyBank Rewards points. You can redeem KeyBank Rewards points for fixed denomination gift cards across thousands of merchants.

You will still receive a value of around 0.2 cents per point with this type of redemption.

Purchase Merchandise

Buying goods and services is often a good way to redeem points. While it’s an option, in this case, you’ll want to avoid redeeming KeyBank Rewards points for merchandise and products.

When you log in, you’ll see a very healthy catalog of goods that you can buy with KeyBank Rewards points. However, you’ll notice that the prices are way more expensive than the cheapest available cost out there.

For this reason, it makes a lot of sense to stay away from purchasing merchandise outright and, instead, opt for a gift card redemption.

You will still get a value of 0.2 cents per point with this redemption option, but the price you’ll pay for a specific good is often marked up significantly.

Make Donations to Charity

With your KeyBank Rewards points, you can also make charity donations. To do this, you’ll want to log into your online account or use your mobile app, just like all the other redemptions.

You’ll receive a fixed 0.2 cents per point in value.

Buy Event Tickets

The very last redemption option is to buy event tickets, which includes concerts and sporting events. Just like all the other methods above, you’ll receive around 0.2 cents per point in redemption value here.

You may also see a fulfillment fee added to the price.

Final Thoughts

KeyBank Rewards is an under-the-radar points program. At first glance, earning 5 to 10 points per dollar spent may seem extremely appealing, but upon further examination, you’ll find out that KeyBank’s points themselves aren’t quite as valuable as Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou Points for example.

So while you will earn many points, the overall value you’d get sits around 1% to 2%. There are a couple of benefits associated with KeyBank Rewards credit cards, such as the absence of an annual fee with the 2 major KeyBank Rewards cards, plus the cell phone insurance!

Overall, you’d want to focus on this program if you’re a heavy spender on the Key2More Rewards card or if you’re hitting the bonus categories on the KeyBank Rewards Business card.

As far as redeeming rewards go, you should focus on redeeming for cash-back or gift cards. Redeeming points for merchandise is problematic due to the high retail price mark-ups, and redeeming points for travel can be less valuable due to fulfillment fees.