Cash back credit cards can help consumers practice responsible spending while earning a little extra for their efforts when used properly. It wasn’t long ago that the best cash back credit cards were offering rewards as high as 5% for all purchases, but that is unfortunately no longer the case.
Today’s cash back credit cards are all similar in nature, generally offering 1% cash back on all purchases. However, if you look hard enough, you’ll find a number of credit cards with higher cash rebates than just 1%. This article lists the best cash back credit cards you can find today, and I update the article when there is new information to share. Along with a brief description of each of these best cards, I have included the cash back percentages and any tiers or restrictions, so there are no surprises if your cash back credit card isn’t earning as much as you first thought. Keep in mind that in order to make credit card with rewards program worthwhile, you must avoid interest charges and late fees by paying your bill on time and in full every single month.
Editor’s choice
Chase Freedom® Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back. The Chase Freedom Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back offers a standard 1% cash back on all purchases, as well as the opportunity to earn 5% cash back on select purchases throughout the year, subject to a maximum. Every three months, the categories in which you can earn 5% cash back change, so for example January through March could be gas stations and Amazon.com, April through June might be grocery stores and movie theaters, July through September could be gas stations and restaurants while October through December could be hotels, airlines, Best Buy and Kohl’s. In order to qualify for the 5% cash back, you must have an account in good standing and follow the terms and conditions set forth by Chase. Categories will be announced to cardholders before they happen, so look out for updates from Chase.
The Chase Freedom® Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back also offers up to an additional 10% cash back (up to 11% total cash back) on purchases made at select merchants when you shop online through the Chase website. The card also carries no annual fee. To qualify for the $200 cash back, you must spend only $500 during the first three months, making it the easy choice for best cash back credit card.
Chase Freedom® Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR. Like the above offer, the Chase Freedom Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR offer combines a powerful cash back program with a strong introductory offer. In order to qualify for the $100 bonus, new cardholders must spend $500 during the first three months. The bonus will be supplied in the form of 10,000 points, and these points can be redeemed for a $100 check. The card also offers a 0% APR for an introductory period of one year for balance transfers and of six months for purchases. After the introductory periods, purchases and transfers are subject to a variable APR currently between 11.99% and 22.99%.
The cash back program is identical to the program provided with the first offer listed here, and is standard among all Chase Freedom offers.
Discover® More Card – 18 Month Promotional Balance Transfer. The Discover® More® Card has a tricky cash back rewards program. For the first $3,000 in purchases, cardholders will earn 0.25% cash back then 1% on all purchases after that. Just like the Chase Freedom® Card, the Discover® More® Card offers 5% cash back on rotating categories throughout the year, but there is a cap on the amount of money you can earn with 5% cash back. If you’ve reached your limit, you will only receive 1% on all remaining purchases. If your account is inactive for 18 months or you fail to make your minimum payment for two consecutive months, all rewards will be forfeited. Finally, warehouse purchases (like Costco or Sam’s Club) will always earn 0.25% cash back, no matter what spending level you have reached.
This version of the Discover More Card comes with a 0% introductory offer on balance transfers for 18 months, one of the longest offers available, and there is no annual fee.
Discover® Open Road – $150 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate. After earning 0.25% on the first $3,000 spend using the Discover Open Road Card, cardholders begin earning 1% cash back on all purchases. Gasoline expenses and purchases in restaurants, on the other hand, earn 2% cash back for the first $250 spent in those categories. If you live your life on the road, traveling from town to town and paying your credit card in full every month, this could be a beneficial offer. For a limited time, Discover is offering new approved members a $150 gift certificate for Restaurant.com.
Discover® Motiva Card. The Discover Motiva Card offers a cash back program similar to the Discover More Card. Earn 0.25% cash back on the first $3,000 spent using the card and 1% cash back thereafter. There is a unique twist; 5% of any interest charges are credited back to your account. For example, if you pay a $10 interest fee one month, you’ll receive $0.50 cash back. Keep in mind that cash back reward programs are most effective when you do not carry a balance from month to month, but if you’re working on paying down a large balance, this could help reduce your interest cost.
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $200 Cash Back. The Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card is a close runner-up to the Chase Freedom Visa for best cash back credit card because it includes a $200 cash bonus after spending $500 in purchases during the first three months. The card offers something very similar, with 1% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back on rotating categories. You may earn up to a $300 annual maximum but note the $100 cash back offer as well as cash back earned on purchases through the Citi Bonus Cash Center are not subject to your annual maximum. There is no introductory period with lower APRs on purchases or balance transfers with this version of the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card.
Discover® More Card – $0 Balance Transfer Fee. This offer is identical to the Discover More offer listed above. Discover is offering the same rewards program. Rather than an extended introductory period for balance transfers, this card eliminates the all-too-common balance transfer fee. With most credit card offers today, a balance transfer fee prevents cardholders from using balance transfers as arbitrage, earning interest on borrowed money from card issuers. This is still a difficult game to play, but for cardholders interested in paying off significant credit card debt, transferring the balance to a 0% APR credit card could save hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest. With this offer, the 0% APR introductory period for balance transfers is only 12 months.
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card. Like the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa Card offer described above, this card offers 1% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back on rotating categories throughout the year. The cash back is limited to $300 annually, but this offer includes a $100 bonus after spending $500 during the first three months of owning the card, which is earned above and beyond the cash back. This is less than the $200 offered above, but this card compensates with a 0% introductory offer on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months and carries no annual fee.
Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express. Of all the cash back cards available, this offers the possibility of earning maximum rewards. The Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express Card offers $100 cash back bonus after spending $1,000 in eligible purchases in the first three months as well as 3% cash back on supermarket purchases, 2% cash back on gas and department store purchases and 1% cash back on everything else. This card is a new version of the standard Blue Cash Card and it even offers a $25 referral bonus. Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express also includes a 0% introductory offer on purchases for 12 months and carries no annual fee.
True Earnings® Card from Costco and American Express. The True Earnings® Card from Costco and American Express has a tiered cash back program. Cardholders can earn 3% cash back on gasoline purchases, 2% cash back on travel and restaurants, and 1% cash back on everything else, including warehouse clubs like Costco. Once you’ve spent $3,000 in annual gasoline purchases, your rebate falls back down to 1%. There are no limits to cash back received on restaurants and travel. In addition, the card comes with an introductory rate of 0% on purchases for six months. If you have a Costco membership, the True Earnings® Card from Costco and American Express carries no annual fee.
IBERIABANK Visa® Gold Card. The IBERIABANK Visa® Gold Card made this list for a few reasons. First, the card offers a flat 1% cash back on all qualifying purchases. Second, there is no annual fee associated with this card, so it’s an inexpensive option. Lastly, this card offers a low interest rate. Customers receive an APR of 9.25%, 12.25% or 15.25%, which is about as good as you can do these days. The IBERIABANK Visa® Gold Card is a plain cash back credit card, without anything special, just a very solid offer.
PenFed Visa Platinum Cashback Rewards Card. The PenFed Visa Platinum Cashback Rewards Card offers 5% cash back on gasoline purchases paid at the pump except fuel purchases for airplanes and boats which receive 1% cash back. Certain restrictions may apply. Earn 1% cash back on all net purchases. The card also has a reasonably low interest rate with no annual fee. The catch is that you have to be a member of the Pentagon Federal Credit Union. That means you must be a United States Government employee, member of the United States Military and Uniformed Services, employee or volunteer of the American Red Cross, or a family member/housemate of a current PenFed member. Or, another option to establish your membership eligibility to Pentagon Federal Credit Union is, you may become a member of the National Military Family Association, or Voices for America’s Troop (there is a low one-time fee to join one of these two organizations).
If you’re holding on to a cash back credit card that you feel deserves to make this list, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below. If the offer is good, I’ll add it to this best cash back credit cards list.
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published January 25, 2012. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Does anyone have the history of the rotating categories of the Citi® Dividend World MasterCard.
I’m interested if the #$&*! categories aren’t in perfect alignment with other cards using the “Category Rotation” methods.
However, if they rotated their 5% and the categories are different, I could easily determine which card to use based on a particular month. (ie. if one card offered 5% in gas Jan- Mar and another offered 5% from Jun-Aug) I’d just switch the card I used to pay for gas based on the one that paid me the most cash back.
A comment about the Chase Freedom Card. (At least for me when I applied) If you have a Checking account with them, they will give you an additional 10% of the 1% for a total of 1.1% back. Plus for each transaction they give you an additional tiny amount back. (like $.01 for each transaction)
I didn’t see the Bank of America card which offers 3% for gas(with a spending cap), 2% for groceries(with a spending cap), and 1% for everything else. If you have a Bank of America checking account they pay an additional 10% of your reward if you deposit the money into your BAC checking account.
HSBC has a credit card that pays 2% flat rate, no restrictions or annual fee. I recently set up all my recurring monthly bills to be paid automatically with this card. It makes a lot more sense to earn 2% cash back paying with that than it does paying straight out of my checking account.
do you have a link to this offering? I can’t find that particular card paying 2% & no annual. thanks
I can’t find the HSBC card you’re referring to. The only thing HSBC offers is the first 6 months at 2%, afterwards it falls to 1%.
good article too by the way
As for the Penfed 5% Gas cash back CC, you must be a member of their union. However, to become a member, all you need to do is make a $15 donation to their organization serving troops and invest $5 into your own share account as the minimum. From their, your entitled to all of the credit union’s benefits including some amazing loan rates. I just got my card 2 weeks ago : )
Another great benefit to this card is they pay you your cash back each month as a credit to your account statement.
Yup, I had this card for one year – and just got a mailing from them saying they are cutting their cash-back rate on non-gas purchases from 1% down to 0.25%.
Time to find another card and cancel this one.
Maybe this is new, but you may want to update the Citi Dividend World Mastercard details. You have on there that you get a $100 bonus after $500 in the first three months, well I applied and got approved about a week ago for that card, but with a $200 bonus after $500 in the first three months. Anyways, I’m looking forward to getting that card!
Good article, I am looking to switch my everyday use card.
I am currently have Pentagon Federal Credit Union card, and just got a notice yesterday. They are lowering the interests rate (useless for me as I payoff every statement) and LOWERING the 1% rebate to 0.25% starting Feb 2012.
So you might need to drop it from your list.
Jonathan
Extremely helpful article as I am looking for a new everyday use card. Here is my dilemma: I spend most of my money on groceries, gas and misc shopping items at either Sams Club or Wal-Mart. According to many of the card offers, Sams Club does not qualify as a grocer due to their Merchant Category Code. In fact, my wife’s Sam’s Discover Card only gives her.25 % back on purchases. Any recommendations on the best card if your primary purchases are from these outlets on a routine basis?
You generally can’t find good cash back deals at warehouse stores because the prices are generally lower per unit. The AmEx Costco TruEarnings card could be a good option if you shop at Costco stores, free for Costco members.
PenFed is cutting their cash back for general purchases to .25% as of Feb. 1. Still get 5% at the pump though.
I just signed up for the $200 cash back Chase Freedom card. I spent $500 on some much needed things (i.e. new tires, car maintenance), and now I can receive my $200 cash back. Not to mention….I am getting 5% cash back on all these purchases.
This is great info. I was switched by Chase to the Freedom card a few months ago. My original card with them always paid 5% back on gas, groceries and drugstores. That was a slammin’ good deal. They cut that back before changing to the Freedom card. It’s not bad, but I sure miss that original deal.
My card is the best. 6% groceries, 3% gas & department, 1% everything else.
And what would that be?
It’s the AMEX with the annual fee, like $95 or $75 or something.
Which cards would be best “longterm” once the signing bonuses have been used?
I have my wife delivery expenses coming up in this month, any idea which card would give maximum cash back on hospital / medicines expenses. I did get my Chase Freedom today, is it advisable to apply another card immediately, or it might hurt my credit real bad. thanks.
Pen Fed is changing the Platinum Cash Rewards card which is why I was on this site.
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