Best Cash Back Credit Cards
With a cash back credit card, every purchase you make will earn you some money back, and the more you spend, the more money you can get.
There's a variety of cash back credit cards with slightly different benefits. Some cash back credit cards offer a fixed-rate percentage back on every purchase the cardholder makes. Other cards give bonus cash back in some specific categories (such as gas, restaurants or groceries). Also, other cards offer 5% cash back in rotating categories that change every quarter.
Here we've listed and evaluated some top-rated cash back credit cards to help you pick the right one according to your consuming habit.
- No.1 Citi® Double Cash Card
- No.2 Chase Freedom®
- No.3 Chase Freedom Unlimited℠
- No.4 Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
- No.5 Discover it® Cashback Match™
- No.6 Barclaycard CashForward™ World Mastercard®
- No.7 Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card
No.1 Citi® Double Cash Card
- No annual fee
- Free FICO score
- High rewards rate
- Balance transfers
- Simple rewards
Pros
As one of the highest cash back rates available, Citi Double Cash Card enables people to earn 1% cash back making purchases and an additional 1% paying them off. Users can redeem cash back as a gift card, a check or a statement credit by mail.
Cons
What may disappoint users will be the 3% foreign transaction fee compared to most cards without such cost, which makes it a bad choice for spending abroad. Besides, other cards have higher cash back proportions in some particular categories.
Summary
On the whole, the Citi Double Cash Card will be one of the best rewards cards which have a simple cash back earning process. People will get 1% cash back on each dollar they spend and another 1% paying off.
No.2 Chase Freedom®
- No annual fee
- Cash sign-up bonus
- Cash back bonus
- Rotating bonus categories
Pros
With Chase Freedom rewards credit card, people can get 5% cash back on rotating bonus categories, like restaurants, gas, wholesale clubs, groceries and 1% on other purchases. Besides, you will earn a cash sign-up bonus of which people get a $150 bonus after they spend $500 on purchases in the first three months the moment the account is opened.
Cons
It requires cardholders of Chase Freedom to opt into the bonus category each quarter to get the perks for the entire quarter. You cannot get the 5% cash back if you forget to do in that way. Meanwhile, you might earn more rewards with another card if you don’t spend much to maximize the bonus categories.
Summary
Rated as one of the best rewards credit cards, the Chase Freedom is available to people without an annual fee or the complicated redemption program. The cardholder will easily earn substantial cash back if they spend on the items in the 5% bonus categories as most people do.
No.3 Chase Freedom Unlimited℠
- 1.5% cash back on every purchase
- Bonus cash back for the first 3 month
- No annual fee
- Long 0% intro APR
Pros
With Chase Freedom UnlimitedSM, users can earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase they make. You can also earn an additional $150 bonus cash back as long as you make $500 or more purchases in the first 3 months. There’s a 0% intro APR for 15 months on both purchases and balance transfers and it charges no annual fee. Besides, the card has long-term value because if you pair the card with either the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card, then your points can be combined, which will significantly increase their value. The points you combined can be redeemed for cash back, airline miles or other things, and the 1.5% cash back rate can get increased.
Cons
The card charges 5% balance transfer fee ($5 minimum) and a 3% foreign transaction fee, which will cost cardholders much money in interest. Chase Freedom Unlimited card also has no bonus categories.
Summary
Chase Freedom Unlimited℠ card is suitable for people who use it mainly for making purchases instead of doing balance transfers.
No.4 Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
- Cash sign-up bonus
- Everyday rewards
- Simple redemption
Pros
Rated as one of the highest rewards rates cards at US supermarkets, Blue Cash Preferred Card returns cardholders 6% cash on up to $6,000 of expenses per year. It offers an unlimited 1% back on all other purchases. Besides, cardholders can use the 6% cash back not only on groceries but also at the supermarket or restaurants.
Cons
The disadvantage of the Blue Cash Preferred Card is that it has a high annual fee, which makes the cash back got from the expenditure limitation offset with the annual fee. Besides, this card may be limited to use in some places. And people who like go abroad had better not choose this card due to its foreign transaction fee.
Summary
The Blue Cash Preferred Card will be a good choice if you’d like to spend money on gas stations, department stores, and supermarkets. However, the similar Blue Cash Everyday Card will be a better choice compared with the Blue Cash Preferred Card if you spend less than $3175 per year at the supermarket. It has no annual fee though its rewards rates are low.
No.5 Discover it® Cashback Match™
- No annual fee
- Free FICO score
- Cash back bonus
- Rotating bonus categories
- New cardmember bonus
Pros
With broad rewards bonus categories, Discover it Cashback Match rewards credit card enables to get 5% bonus on online retailer, restaurants, gas stations and more others. Meanwhile, the bonus changes each quarter. This credit card gives people access to the Discover Deals online bonus mall, which makes people enjoy 5%-20% cash back on purchases at popular online stores in the condition of signing up the credit card. Furthermore, this card with no foreign transaction fee offers people a distinctive sign-up bonus, that is, the one dollar-for-dollar match all the cash back you’ve got at the end of your first year automatically.
Cons
Cardholders need to remember that what kind of spending will maximize the reward bonus each quarter. Aside from that, you won’t get the 5% cash back if you forget to opt into the bonus categories.
Summary
Discover credit card helps you save a lot to buy things from popular retailers at the Discover Deals online mall with the high cash back rates. You will be the last winner with multiple bonuses of Discover credit card including the 0 annual fee, rotating 5% bonus categories, a new cardmember bonus, and a solid intro APR.
No.6 Barclaycard CashForward™ World Mastercard®
- 1.5% cash back on every purchase
- Bonus cash back for the first 3 month
- Cash rewards redemption bonus
- No annual fee
- Long 0% intro APR
Pros
For every purchase you make, you can get 1.5% cash back. You can also receive a $200 bonus as long as you make $1,000 or more purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. The cash rewards can be redeemed for a deposit, gift cards or other things. Every time you redeem a reward, the card will offer you a 5% cash rewards redemption bonus to use at your next redemption. Also, there's a 0% introductory APR for the first 15 months on purchases and 0% introductory APR for the first 15 months balance transfers made within the first 45 days. There is no annual fee, and the rewards will not expire as long as you don't close your account. As a Mastercard credit card, it gives you more widespread merchant acceptance of it than other cards from American Express or Discover.
Cons
It charges 3% of each balance transfer ($5 minimum) and 3% foreign transaction fee.
Summary
The Barclaycard CashForward is easy to use because its rewards structure is much easier than the rotating categories structure of other cards. It's a good card for purchase and balance transfer made for the first several days.
No.7 Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card
- 1.5% cash back on every purchase
- On-time payment bonus
- Simple earning &redemption
Pros
You can earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on literally every purchase you make every day, and there’s no limit on how much rewards you can earn. Capital One may bump your credit limit up as long as you make your first five monthly payments on time. It provides fraud coverage if your card is lost or stolen. You can get 50% back on your monthly Spotify Premium subscription as a statement credit now through April 2018.
Cons
It charges $39 as the annual fee, and its ongoing APR is considerably high. There's no 0% introductory APR period.
Summary
The card is easy to use because of the simple earning and redemption way. But it's not a good choice for those who cannot pay the full money back every month.