Starbucks has introduced an affinity credit card. I was hoping for something a little bit more rewarding.

This no annual fee Visa earns 1% of your spending back as Starbucks credit. In their marketing terms (“Two remarkable cards in one!”), your Visa doubles as a Starbucks Card. 1% of your total purchases are deposited onto the Starbucks card each month, and you hand over your Visa as though it were such a card to pay for lattes, etc.

Sounds good, no? The concept is good but the rewards are on the low side. You get $10 in Starbucks for every $1000 you put on the card. I’ll take 1000 Starwood points for $1000 over this any day. To me, that’s at least three times as rewarding.

While many folks consume a whole lot of Starbucks, and thus Starbucks credits may displace cash purchases, Starbucks points aren’t quite as worthwhile or liquid as cash. And several cards offer real cash rebates on at least as good a return basis.