No matter how much we love the rewards from Airlines and Hotel programs, “Cash is King”. There are many cards in the market that offer Cashback as a reward for your spends.
Here is a quick comparison of all the popular Cashback credit cards available.
| Cashback on purchases | 5% Rotating Categories? | Annual Fee | Redemption Options | |
| Consumer Cards | ||||
| Citi Double Cash | 2% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited | 1.50% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Gift Cards |
| Chase Freedom | 1% | Yes | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Gift Cards |
| Discover it | 1% | Yes | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Gift Cards |
| Discover it Miles | 1.50% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Gift Cards |
| American Express Blue Cash Everyday | 3% cash back at US supermarkets, 2% cashback at US gas stations and select US department stores 1% cashback on all purchases. |
No | $0 | Statement Credit |
| American Express Blue Cash Preferred | 6% cash back at US supermarkets, 3% cashback at US gas stations and select US department stores 1% cashback on all purchases. |
No | $95 | Statement Credit |
| Bank of America Cash Rewards | 1% cash back on all purchases, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, 3% at gas stations |
No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Check |
| Bank of America Premium Rewards | 1.5 – 3.5% | No | $95 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Check |
| Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa card | 1.50% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer |
| US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature card | 1% | Yes | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer |
| Capital One Quick Silver card | 1.5% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, Check, Gift cards |
| Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Credit Card | 3% First year, 2.5% after | No | $0 for first year and $59 after that | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer |
| Small Business Cards | ||||
| Capital One Spark Cash | 2% | No | $0 for first year and $95 after that | Statement Credit, Check, Gift cards |
| Capital One Spark Cash Select | 1.50% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, Check, Gift cards |
| Capital One Spark Classic | 1% | No | $0 | Statement Credit, Check, Gift cards |
| Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card | 5% cash back at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services. 2% cashback at Gas Stations and Restautants 1% cashback on other purchases |
No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Gift Cards, Better value by redeeming for Travel |
| Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard credit card | 1% cash back on all purchases, 2% at Restaurants and wholesale clubs, 3% at gas stations |
No | $0 | Statement Credit, ACH Transfer, Check |
| American Express SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card | 5% at U.S. office supply stores, 3% on a select category you choose and 1% on all other purchases | No | $0 | Statement Credit |
- Citi Double Cash Credit card:
$0 Annual fee and earn 1% cashback when you buy and an additional 1% cashback when you pay for the purchases.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited:
$0 Annual fee and earns 1.5% cashback on all purchases.
- Chase Freedom
$0 Annual fee and earn 1% cashback on all purchases. You can also earn 5% on rotating categories that change every quarter, up to a maximum of $1,500 in combines purchases.
- Discover it:
$0 Annual fee and earns 1% cashback on all purchases. You could also earn 5% cashback on purchases when you activate and spend at different places that change every quarter, up to a maximum of $1,500 in purchases.
For the first year of card membership, Discover will match the Cashback.
Also, when redeeming your cashback, Discover offers the option of buying various merchant Gift cards at a discounted price.
- Discover it Miles:
Even though this card is called as Miles card, it is effectively a cashback card that 1.5% on all purchases.
Similar to Discover it card, your rewards will be matched by Discover at the end of your first year membership.
- American Express Blue cash Everyday:
3% cashback at US supermarkets, on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) and 2% cashback at US gas stations and select US department stores and 1% cashback on all purchases.
$0 Annual fee
- American Express Blue cash Preferred:
6% cashback at US supermarkets, on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) and 3% cashback at US gas stations and select US department stores and 1% cashback on all purchases.
$95 Annual fee
- Bank of America Cash Rewards:
1% cash back on purchases everywhere, every time, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 3% on gas for the first $2,500 in combined grocery/ wholesale club/ gas purchases each quarter.
No annual fee
Get a 10% customer bonus every time you redeem your cash back into a Bank of America checking or savings account.
- Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card:
2 points for every $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
$95 Annual fee
Preferred Rewards customers get an additional 25%-75% rewards bonus on every purchase
If you could maintain a balance of over $100K+, you can enjoy 75% rewards bonus for being a Platinum Honors member. That means you could earn up to 3.5 % per $1 on travel and dining purchases and up to 2.62 % per $1 on all other purchases.
Remember this is tax season, you could pay taxes using credit card using services like Pay1040.com for a fee of 1.87%. When you compare 1.87% fee with the possibility of earning of 2.62% cashback, you could make money on your tax payments.
- Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa card:
Unlimited 1.5% cash rewards on net purchases
$0 Annual fee
- US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature card:
2% cashback on one everyday category, like gas or groceries and 1% on all other net purchases.
$0 Annual fee
- Capital One Quicksilver card
Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
$0 Annual fee
- Alliant Cashback Visa Signature Credit card:
Earn 3% cashback on all purchases during the first year of membership and 2.5% after that
$59 annual fee, waived for the first year
Small Business Credit cards
If you own a small business, you could get one of the small business credit cards that earns Cashback.
- Capital One Spark Cash credit cards
There are three variants of this card and offers varying amounts of cashback.
- Chase Ink Business Cash Credit card
Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases–with no limit to the amount you can earn
No Annual fee
- American Express SimplyCash Plus Business Credit card
5% at U.S. office supply stores, 3% on a select category you choose. On purchases up to $50,000 at 5% and 3% per calendar year, then 1%
No Annual fee
How to maximize the benefits?
All the above mentioned cards offer cash back on all purchases ranging from 1-3.5% on all purchases. However, there are a few cards that offer additional cashback on purchases that falls in specific categories like Gas stations, Grocery stores etc..
For example, Discover it and Chase Freedom card offers 5% cashback on rotating categories that change every quarter. You could earn 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in purchases when you activate.
Here are a few tips you could consider to maximize the
- Purchase Gift cards – Many Grocery stores sell gift cards of various merchants like Restaurants, Gas stations, Amazon, prepaid visa/Master gift cards etc. You could purchase gift cards and buy stuff from that merchant, effectively earning 5% cashback on that purchase.
- Many gas stations also sell gift cards and could be a great opportunity to maximize your purchases.
- If you purchase regularly, you may consider stocking up the gift cards of that merchant for future use or you could buy items in bulk for future use.
Which cashback credit card do you hold and how do you maximize the benefits?
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