Credit card that donates to SIAI.

From the Important Disclosures page of the application:

• No annual fee
• 11.9% to 21.9% APR based on credit worthiness
• 24.9% APR for cash advances
• 29.4% penalty APR for late payments
• Due date is 25 days after close of each billing cycle
• No transaction fees
• $10 or 3% fee (whichever is greater) for cash advances
• Late payment up to $35 fee
• Over-the-credit-limit penalty up to $29 (only if you allow them to charge beyond the limit)
• Returned payment fee up to $35
• Credit limit based on your credit history, between $300 and $20,000
• Minimum payment of $15 or 1% of balance plus interest and late fees
• No cap to the rewards on purchases
• Rewards balances are transferred to SI quarterly
• They provide an example of rewards, and note that $9000 in purchases for a year is about $126
• All the standard boilerplate about applying for a new credit card.

Rejected. Something about making less than $5000 a year, being 18, and not having a house/apartment made Capital One not trust that I would pay back my bills every month.

It's a standard Visa Cash Rewards card, with the rewards automatically going to the Singularity Institute instead of to you.

After significant research several years ago, I switched to a credit card which has the same percentage values, just provided as cash to me. This was after doing a diligent search of credit card rewards programs and finding the one most compatible with my personal interests (not flight points, etc.). Since the percentages are the same across card providers, I'm thinking it's generally a good deal.

The funny thing I liked to do with the card was to donate to SingInst - after donating, I get 1% cash back on the donation, which I then donate later. If I used this one, it would simply be increasing the amount of donation by 1% without the paperwork in between.

Here's a good article on choosing a credit card from Get Rich Slowly which notes that it is just a tool, and that the interest rates, penalties, fees, and everything else should be taken into account before signing up. From that article, it looks like you might be able to earn slightly more cash back if you have a Schwab Brokerage account or a Costco membership.

... I don't get the point of this. Is there some cultural US thing related to credit cards that make them a viable strategy or am I just being stupid?

The question is basically how good the rewards program is. If you can get better rewards even in different areas (for instance, plane tickets if you travel a lot), then you could potentially save more money that way, and then donate the saved money to SIAI.

What countries are these cards available in? (Should that information be added to the post?)

Retracted.