3 Perks of the Wells Fargo Signify Business Essential Mastercard® That I Love

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Sometimes when you get a letter from your bank announcing changes to your credit card account, it's actually good news. This happened to me recently when Wells Fargo announced changes and new benefits for my small business credit card. Wells Fargo recently started the process of relaunching its small business credit cards into a new line called "Signify." And because I'm a current Wells Fargo business credit cardholder, I got to see the new perks first.

As part of this credit card revamp, Wells Fargo replaced my old Visa business credit card with a new Wells Fargo Signify Business Essential Mastercard®. Along with switching from the Visa to Mastercard network, my new Wells Fargo business credit card is offering some nice travel benefits. This is good news for small business owners!

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Let's look at a few benefits of the new Wells Fargo Signify Business Essential Mastercard.

1. Free Priority Pass membership with low-cost airport lounge access

There's been a lot of debate in the frequent flyer community recently about airport lounge access. Many airlines and rewards cards are cutting back on free access to lounges. The prevailing trend in the travel industry is that if you want unlimited lounge access, you're going to have to start signing up for the most-premium version of your airline credit card or have some of the highest levels of elite status with an airline.

My new Wells Fargo Signify Business Essential Mastercard offers a free Priority PassTM membership, with access to over 1,500 airport lounges. This lounge access is not free -- the exact price depends on your Wells Fargo business credit card, and my per-visit price is $35 per day. But to me, paying $35 for airport lounge access is worth it.

If I'm on a business trip and I have a long layover, or a flight gets canceled or delayed, I'd be happy to pay $35 with my business credit card to have a quieter, less crowded place to hang out and work. Airport lounges often provide complimentary food and drinks, too. When you consider that the cost of airport wifi alone can be $10 or more per day, and airport food is not cheap, getting into an airport lounge for $35 is a great deal.

2. Free car rental insurance coverage

As someone who gets into lots of car crashes, I have a constant sense of low-grade paranoia about rental car insurance. Even though I have good auto insurance that covers me when driving rental cars, sometimes I pay extra at the rental car counter to buy the damage waiver coverage. In case I get in a car crash with a rental car, I want to be able to walk away without paying a deductible. Buying rental car insurance might not be the smartest financial move, but it gives me peace of mind.

Fortunately, the new Wells Fargo Signify Business Essential Mastercard offers free rental car insurance, called MasterRental Insurance Coverage, that covers some possible expenses of a rental car crash. If you use your business credit card to pay for your rental car booking, this built-in insurance policy will pay for physical damage to (or theft of) the rental vehicle. It also provides some other coverage, like costs of towing the damaged car, or some costs of damage to your personal belongings in the rental car.

I'm going to use this perk on my next business trip. No more overpriced rental car insurance for me!

3. Free identity theft protection

Speaking of bad news in the mail, it seems like every day, more of our personal data is being lost, compromised, and stolen due to cyberattacks and data breaches. Chances are, some of your sensitive information is already out there on the dark web, being auctioned off to sinister networks of hackers. Everyone should consider signing up for credit monitoring services that alert you to suspicious activity on your credit report.

Fortunately, my new Wells Fargo Signify Business Essential Mastercard provides free identity theft protection. Mastercard ID Theft ProtectionTM searches online (including the deep web and dark web) for potential compromised credentials and damaging uses of your personal data, and provides resolution services in case you become a victim of identity theft.

Bottom line

As of Feb. 19, 2024, Wells Fargo is currently not accepting new business credit card applications. But once the bank officially launches this new Signify line of business cards, it could be worth checking out. Wells Fargo's new Signify business credit cards offer some helpful travel benefits and other perks to make small business owners' lives a little easier, more comfortable, and lower-risk.

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