Top perks
The perks of this card are green -- and not just metaphorically.
Automatically help plant trees with every purchase
The core green feature of the Aspiration Zero Mastercard is that users can plant trees simply by making purchases. There are two ways to "earn" planted trees:
- Aspiration automatically plants a tree for every purchase.
- Plant Your Change rounds up your purchase to the nearest dollar to pay for another tree.
In other words, every time you use your card to make a purchase, that's one tree planted. And if you have Plant Your Change enabled, it's two trees for every purchase. Plant Your Change is enabled by default for every new Aspiration Zero Mastercard, but you can turn it off. Planted trees are tallied as you go and each quarter.
Aspiration doesn't plant the trees; the company works with "tree-planting partners" from reforestation projects around the world. Aspiration partners are focused on responsible reforestation, with an eye to restoring native ecosystems and biodiversity.
Card is made of PLA bioplastic
A green credit card made of PVC isn't all that green, because it isn't biodegradable. The Aspiration Zero Mastercard is about as close to biodegradable as a modern card can be. It's made of around 84% PLA (polylactide) plastic, a plastic made from fermented starch from plants like corn, sugarcane, and sugar beet.
Although some parts of the card are not biodegradable, including the magnetic stripe and chip, the PLA itself is compostable. Additionally, unlike PVC -- the most common credit card material -- PLA doesn't emit toxic fumes when incinerated.
Up to 1% cash back for being carbon neutral
Aspiration Zero Mastercard cardholders earn up to 1% cash back on purchases -- but note the "up to." You only earn 0.5% cash back on your purchases by default. To earn the full 1% cash back, you need to use your card enough to effectively erase a typical carbon footprint.
If you reach "carbon neutral" for a billing cycle, your cash back rewards for that cycle are doubled, for a total of 1% cash back. You reach "carbon neutral" status by earning 60 planted trees in one billing cycle.
Users who have Plant Your Change enabled earn two planted trees for every purchase, so they need 30 purchases in a billing cycle to reach "carbon neutral" status. If you don't have Plant Your Change enabled, you need to use your Aspiration Zero Mastercard 60 times in one billing cycle to earn 1% cash back.
Redeem rewards to plant more trees
As with most cash back cards, you can redeem your Aspiration Zero Mastercard rewards for a statement credit. This posts to your credit card account and helps pay down your balance. (Keep in mind that most statement credits can't be used to make your minimum card payment.)
However, a unique feature of the Aspiration Zero Mastercard is that you can also use your cash back rewards to plant more trees. Rewards are redeemable for planted trees at a rate of $1 in rewards per tree.
The Aspiration Zero Mastercard's cash back rewards are redeemed automatically each month. The default setting for cash back rewards is to redeem 50% of your cash back as a statement credit and 50% as planted trees. You can change your redemption preferences inside your Aspiration Zero Mastercard account at any time.
Earn a $300 sign-up bonus
One of the better aspects of the Aspiration Zero Mastercard is that new cardholders can earn a cash back sign-up bonus. You earn $300 cash back by spending $3,000 on your card within three months after account opening. This is a competitive sign-up bonus, especially for a card with an annual fee under $100. It also goes a long way toward helping the Aspiration Zero Mastercard compete with other rewards credit cards that have much higher cash back rates on purchases.
