Don’t fill out an Exxon Mobil credit card application without seeing this review! It’s important to understand how their rewards (or lack thereof) really work.

pumping gas holding hand full of hundreds
When it comes to big oil companies, this is usually the first one that pops in our head. Exxon and Mobil merged in ’99 and did you know that both were originally part of Standard Oil; Rockefeller’s mega monopoly which was broken up in 1911 due to anti-trust concerns? Well, nearly a century later, they are once again the largest publicly traded oil and gas company in the world… recently raking in almost half a trillion in annual revenue!

Their Gas Stations
Being that they have affiliated stations bearing their name, it comes as no surprise that they have the Exxon Mobil credit card. However you may shocked to learn there aren’t as many stations as you would think. Why? Because even though they’re the biggest, they make their real money through refining and distribution, not the retail fuel business.

In fact in 2008, the company announced they were getting out of the retail gas station business altogether! The 820 stations owned by the company will still exist, but they’re relinquishing ownership. Because the retail side of the business is apparently not very important to them, this is probably why they didn’t own that many gas stations in the first place.

Their Credit Cards
Exxon Mobil actually offers three different consumer charge cards…
Exxon Mobil Personal Card
This is just your very basic gas station credit card. It can only be used at their affiliated stations. At the time of this credit card review, the interest rate is 24.99%. I carefully reviewed the literature on this Exxon credit card and reportedly there are absolutely no rewards given for spending. Because the APR is so high, there are no rewards, and you can only use it at their stations… this one is a bad idea.

Exxon Mobil Preferred Card
Like the personal card, this card is not affiliated with Visa/MC/Discover/Amex so it can only be used at their stations and affiliates. The biggest difference between the personal version and this one is that it can be used to book travel arrangements, but only through the Exxon Mobil reservation center. They do offer rewards/discounts on those travel purchases, but apparently no rewards on your gas purchases… which is the only reason we get these cards in the first place! Plus, it has been alleged that their “reservation center” doesn’t offer all the same deals and prices that sites like Expedia, Priceline, etc. give you.

The other so called benefits aren’t exciting either. For example, they advertise free “travel agency services” as a benefit – meaning you can call them for free and book travel – but since when do travel services charge you for this anyway?!

Considering that this card offers no rewards on gas, no worthwhile benefits, and also carries an annual fee of $29.00… I will definitely pass on this one!

Exxon Mobil MasterCard
This Exxon Mobil credit card can be used at their gas stations and elsewhere since it’s affiliated with MasterCard. At first glance this one sounds like a good deal, but once you dig a little deeper, you will see that it’s a different story.

Rewards: They give you 15 cents per gallon at their stations, but when you do the math, you realize it’s not nearly as rewarding as you think... First of all they are considered “name brand” gas, so a lot of times they cost 10 or 15 cents more per gallon than the other guys anyway. So in that way alone, the rebate might pretty much be a wash.

Then when you take into account that there are other cards which give up to 5% cashback (that’s 15 cents on $3 gas) at every gas station, including Exxon Mobil, you realize there’s really no point in confining yourself to only their stations. To make matters worse, if you’re traveling outside your neighborhood, you may not be able to find one of their stations. Surprisingly, there are a ton of major areas which have none at all!
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Last updated Jan. 2011