Americans are good at spending money. Really good. With all the money that flows in and out of our households, it makes sense to try to capitalize on that. When we spend wisely or reward businesses with our purchase, shouldn’t we in turn be rewarded for doing business with them? Now more than ever, credit card companies are offering ways to do that with several cash back credit cards. “Bonus points”, “cash-back programs”, “spending incentives”, and “rebates” are just a few of the terms frequently tossed around by reward-savvy consumers in credit card circles. With so many different options, consumers may find themselves dizzy from the offers streaming across their laptops, televisions, and mobile devices. Thankfully, the only decision for consumers to make is which credit card to use. With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the best cash back credit cards.
Editor’s Choice Top Cash Back Credit Card:
Best Cash Back Credit Cards 2013:
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $100 Cash Back: A close second to the Chase Freedom Visa, the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa card is extremely appealing, and for good reason. It offers $100 cash back after spending $500 in the first 3 months of being a cardholder. No annual fee, 1% cash back on all purchases, and 5% cash back on various spending categories during different times of the year make this an excellent asset to have in your wallet. You won’t regret with this card in your wallet!
Discover it® Card with 18 months 0% APR on balance transfer comes No annual fee. No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. No late fee on your first late payment. And we won’t increase your APR for paying late. Cardholders receive a generous 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $1,500 in purchases at Home Improvement Stores now through June with free and easy sign-up. And 1% cash back on all other purchases. Sign up today!
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express offers $100 Reward Dollars after spending $1,000 within the first 3 months of card membership. Earn Cash Back: 3% at US supermarkets, up to $6,000 per year in purchases, 2% at US gas stations & select US dept stores, 1% on other purchases. This is a great card for those who spends a larger portion of their income in these areas, i.e. families. The Blue Cash Everyday card also offers a 0% introductory rate for 12 months and carries no annual fee.
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers a $150 Reward Dollars after spending $1,000 within the first 3 months of Cardmembership. This new version has no spending threshold to get the maximum cashback. Earn Cash Back: 6% US supermarkets up to $6,000 per year in purchases, 3% US gas stations & select US dept stores, 1% other purchases. However, the Blue Cash Preferred comes with a $75 annual fee. With the 6% reward rate on groceries, a family really only needs to spend $25 a week on groceries to make up for the annual fee.
TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express offers a great opportunity to earn maximum rewards for restaurants and gasoline purchases. The TrueEarnings card offers 3% cash back on gasoline purchases at U.S standalone gas stations of up to $4,000 (1% thereafter), 2% cash back on restaurant and travel purchases, and 1% cash back on all other purchases including Costco purchases. The card comes with 0% intro APR on purchases for 6 months. If you are already a Costco member, this card comes with no annual fee.
There are several opportunities to earn cash back on the money you spend. With some of these credit cards at your disposal, you can maximize your return on that money and put more money back in your own pocket! And that’s something that will really have you seeing green.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Chase Freedom, three Citi, and Discover are best credit card that offer top cash back. But before applying for that credits, we have to consider about the regular insterest. We must compare them in order to get the best card.
You may want to add the US Bank Cash + Visa to this list. It’s got a lot of perks.
You should add the Fidelity Investment Awards American Express. 2% on everything.
Priceline credit card offers 2% cash back on all purchases and 5% on “name your own price” purchases
Freedom is BY FAR the best IF you are paying off your cards each month.
I have a Chase checking so besides the regular cash back, I get 10 points (a dime) EACH time the card is swiped.
I charge $1,400-2,000 per month and get AT LEAST $50 a month on average back.
Good luck though !
Given my continuing bad experience with Discover who refuse to update their cashback reporting system to properly track purchases against cashback (I have to call or IM customer service a lot of times to get cashback and it is impossible to track everything manually), a review of cashback credit cards should also include info on how the online account management of these cards track cash back. Cashback amount earned and status should be a field against every purchase line item in the online transaction display even if the cashback is yet to be reported by the merchant. That way there will be tracking available for every item.
Harry, I totally agree. Also, Discover needs to have just one website to check cards. We have two cards with different numbers and you need to log in separately for each one. Chase just has one site and I can see all our accounts at once. I mentioned it at least a year ago when talking to Discover and the rep said they were “working on it.” Well, we’re still waiting.
We use the American Express Costco card and are pretty happy with it. We used to have an airline card because we like to travel so much, but it was difficult to use the miles for flights with all the blackout dates,etc. That’s when we switched to American Express and getting the real cash back seems like a great benefit.