PenFed's New Defender Card Says 5X on Gas. In Gift Cards, That's 4.15%, and Everything Else Earns 0.83%.

If you burn a lot of gas, PenFed’s new Defender card can pay you about 4% back on it. On everything that isn’t gas, food or streaming, it pays you less than 1%.

That second number is the one the “5X” doesn’t mention.

The Defender Rewards Visa went live October 30. No annual fee, a 15,000-point bonus after $1,500 in spending in 90 days, and a pitch aimed at military families: 5X points at the pump and EV chargers, 3X at commissaries, base exchanges, sporting goods stores, supermarkets, restaurants and streaming. There’s a camo card design.

Here’s the catch. Points aren’t cash. PenFed’s own page says you can redeem them for gift cards, merchandise or travel. Doctor of Credit puts them at 0.83 cents each in gift cards. So 5X is really 4.15%, 3X is 2.49%, and 1X is 0.83%. That bonus works out to about $125 in gift cards.

The same page also promises “No gimmicks. Spend your points any way you want.” Any way on that list, anyway.

And it’s not as new as it looks. PenFed’s Platinum Rewards card already pays 5X on gas and 3X at supermarkets, restaurants and streaming. Its terms say “Military commissaries are supermarkets.” The Defender adds base exchanges, sporting goods and the camo.

Now the math, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ new 2025 spending data, released October 29. The average household spent $2,503 on gasoline, $6,491 on food at home and $4,142 eating out. Put all of it on the Defender and, if every grocery run codes as a supermarket, you’d get about $369 a year in gift cards. A flat 2% cash card pays $263 on the same spending.

That’s a $106 edge. Real money, and it’s in gift cards.

Every other dollar runs the other way. At 0.83% instead of 2%, you give back about 1.2 cents per dollar. After roughly $9,000 a year of everything else (rent by card, insurance, Amazon, utilities), the 2% card has caught up.

Verdict: smart as a second card, questionable as your only card.

PenFed even sells the fix. Its Power Cash Rewards card pays 2% cash back to Honors Advantage members, and military members qualify, along with anyone who has a PenFed checking account. Everyone else gets 1.5%.

Do this. Pull last year’s statements and add up gas, groceries and restaurants. The bigger that number, the more the Defender earns. At the average household’s $13,136, it’s about $106 a year over a 2% card. Use it only there. Keep a flat 2% card for everything else. Our no-annual-fee card picks and rewards guide cover the pairing.

Spend the points. They expire five years after you earn them, and they don’t grow while they sit. Cash out whenever the balance hits a card you’d buy anyway.

If you already carry Platinum Rewards, don’t apply just for the commissary category. You have it.

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