Best Cash-Back Credit Cards

It’s little surprise that cash-back cards are some of the best credit cards on the market. Cardholders earn rewards for using their cards to make purchases, and can qualify for new cardholder bonuses that pay out as much as $200 in the first few months after opening an account. Whether you want flat cash back on all of your spending, or a card that doles out bonuses for spending on gas, groceries, restaurants, and other categories, there’s a credit card out there that’s perfect for you. Best of all, very few cash-back cards carry an annual fee, making them suitable for people with all levels of spending needs.

Our best cash-back credit card picks are mainly chosen by reviewing three broad factors:

1. Sign-up bonus and ongoing rewards -- A card needs to rank well either for the size of its sign-up bonus or high cash-back rate.
   
2. Fees -- Annual fees are justifiable for some high-quality offers (don’t worry, we’ll tell you when!), but the majority of the cash-back cards we covert include $0 annual fees. Balance-transfer fees should also either match or beat the competition.
   
3. APRs -- Including a 0% intro APR for purchases and/or balance transfers has become table stakes in this category and it’s a requirement for inclusion.

Card issuers earn fees from merchants every time you use your card to make a purchase, which helps them afford to pay rewards to cardholders who use a particular type of card.

A cash-back credit card gives cardholders cash back when they make a purchase with the card. Cash back is usually accrued as a percentage of the amount a cardholder spends on purchases, typically ranging from 1% to as high as 10% on select purchases.

A 2% cash-back credit card would reward you with $0.02 per $1 spent. A 3% cash-back credit card would reward you with $0.03 in rewards per $1, and so on.

Cash-back credit cards generally fall under one of three different categories of rewards programs. Which one is best for you depends what you spend, where you spend, and how much effort you want to put into collecting cash back on every swipe of your card.

Flat cash-back credit cards -- These are the simplest cash-back cards, because they offer flat cash-back rewards every time you make a purchase. These cards usually offer unlimited cash back equal to 1% to 2% of your purchases. The key advantage of these cards is that all spending earns rewards at the same rate, making them a great pick for a “one-card” wallet. Rewards are typically unlimited, so you earn the same cash-back rate whether you spend $10 or $10 million.

Bonus category cards -- Some cash-back cards offer enhanced rewards rates on certain types of spending. Bonus category cards are best for people who spend a disproportionate amount in a particular category (groceries or gas, for example).

Rotating bonus category cards -- These cards offer a high cash-back bonus approximating 5% on certain types of spending, in addition to a flat amount of cash back around 1% on all other types of spending.

Our handy checklist can help you decide if a cash-back credit card is right for you. If most or all of these statements apply to you, you’re probably a good candidate for a cash-back credit card.

You have good credit -- Cash-back credit cards typically require a better credit score than credit cards that do not have rewards programs, but you don’t need perfect credit to qualify. Fair credit (scores above 650) are generally good enough for most cash back offers.

You don’t travel much -- Cash-back credit cards are an excellent alternative to travel credit cards because they offer rewards that can be redeemed for cash, which can be spent however you’d prefer. That said, travel cards can offer more financial value for travelers, and tend to carry features (such as no foreign transaction fees) that cash-back rewards cards don’t always offer.

You won’t carry a balance -- As a rule of thumb, a single month of interest is roughly equal to the amount of rewards earned by a 1.5% cash back card. For this reason, it doesn’t make sense to spend heavily to accrue rewards if it means carrying a balance at a double-digit interest rate. Carrying balances is a losing strategy.

You can maximize bonus categories -- Bonus categories are the real killer feature of cash-back rewards cards. Many cards offer bonus cash back for spending on gas, groceries, restaurants, Amazon.com purchases, and more. These bonuses can be very lucrative considering some pay out as high as 5% to 10% on purchases.

There are five basic features that tend to separate the best cash-back cards from the worst. These details are often lost in the fine print, but we’re here to shine light on the things that can guide you toward picking the best card for you.

Here are five features you want your cash back card to have:

1. A low minimum redemption threshold -- Cash back rewards don’t have any value unless you can cash them in. Some cards require you to earn as much as $50 in rewards before they can be redeemed, whereas other cards have no minimum redemption requirement. People who have lower spending needs may be smart to prioritize a card that offers a no minimum redemption feature, even if it offers a lower cash back rate per $1 of spending.
   
2. New cardholder bonus -- Qualifying cardholders can get a new cardholder bonus that offers as much as $150 in bonus cash back for opening an account and meeting a minimum spend requirement. For example, many of our favorite cash-back cards offer $150 in bonus cash back after spending $500 in the first 90 days after account opening.
   
3. 0% intro APRs -- Some cash-back credit cards offer up to 12 months of 0% intro APRs on purchases and balance transfers. This is a valuable perk that can save you hundreds of dollars in interest compared to carrying a balance at a typical APR of 18%. (This isn’t a “must-have” feature if you don’t carry a balance.)
   
4. FICO® scores for free -- It’s becoming more common for credit cards to offer free access to your real FICO® credit score. This is a useful feature for people who value being able to watch their credit score rise or fall over time.
   
5. No annual fees -- Luckily, annual fees are relatively rare in the world of cash-back credit cards.

Following some best practices can help ensure that you earn the highest possible rewards from a cash-back credit card without paying fees or interest to do so. Here’s a quick guide to using a cash-back credit card responsibly:

1. Don’t carry a balance -- If you plan to carry a balance, a 0% intro APR credit card is a better solution than a cash-back credit card. The cash back you earn on purchases typically amounts to just one month of interest charges, so carrying a balance is almost always a losing strategy.
   
2. Enroll in bonus categories -- If your card offers bonus categories, make sure you enroll. Most cards that have rotating bonus categories require you to enroll every three months by logging into your account and clicking a link. Set up reminders so you can be sure to maximize your rewards.
   
3. Get a new cardholder bonus -- Sign-up bonuses add a lot of upfront value to cash-back credit cards, as many offer as much as $150 in bonus rewards for spending as little as $500 within 90 days of account opening. To put that in perspective, you’d have to spend $10,000 at a flat 1.5% cash back rate to earn $150 in ordinary rewards.
   
4. Use an issuer’s shopping portal -- Many card issuers have an online portal that pays bonus rewards when cardholders use it to navigate to an online retailer. These bonus rewards can add up fast, as many offer 3% to 10% cash back on purchases you’d make anyway. Before you shop online, see if your card issuer has a relevant bonus offer.
   
5. Look for rewards bonuses and multipliers --Customers who are Preferred Rewards clients with Bank of America, for example, can score an even larger bonus of 25% to 75% on their rewards. Depending on your status with the card issuer, these bonuses can substantially increase the effective rewards yield of a cash-back credit card. This is just one example of how having a banking relationship across multiple products (not just credit cards) can increase the value of a cash back card.

To recap, here are the best cash back credit cards