by jakfrist
Since the summary table is all anyone cares about, here it is up front. I apologize in advance if any of this is incorrect, I aggregated it by hand in Excel
| Issuer | Card Name | Card | Reward Level | Annual Fee | APR – Low | APR – High | All Categories | Other | Limits | Promo | When spending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citi | Double Cash | Mastercard | $ – | 15.74% | 25.74% | 2.0% | $ – | $ – | |||
| Fidelity | Rewards Visa Signature | Visa | Signature | $ – | 16.24% | 16.24% | 2.0% | Must be deposited into Fidelity Account to get 2% | $ 100.00 | $ 1,000.00 | |
| HSBC | Cash Rewards | Mastercard | $ – | 15.24% | 25.24% | 1.65% | $ 150.00 | $ 2,500.00 | |||
| American Express | Cash Magnet | AMEX | $ – | 15.24% | 26.24% | 1.5% | $ 150.00 | $ 1,000.00 | |||
| Capital One | Quicksilver Cash Rewards | Capital One | $ – | 16.24% | 26.24% | 1.5% | |||||
| Wells Fargo | Cash Wise | Visa | $ – | 16.24% | 28.24% | 1.5% | 1.8% w/ digital wallet (ex. ApplePay) | $ 200.00 | $ 1,000.00 | ||
| Chase | Freedom Unlimited | Visa | $ – | 17.24% | 25.99% | 1.5% | $ 150.00 | $ 500.00 | |||
| Ally | CashBack | Visa | Signature | $ – | 15.24% | 25.24% | 1.1% | 2.2% Groceries & Gas | Must deposit to Ally account to get 2.2% / 1.1% (2% / 1% otherwise) | $ 100.00 | $ 500.00 |
| Discover | it Cash Back | Discover | $ – | 14.24% | 15.24% | 1.0% | 5% rotating categories | ||||
| Discover | it Chrome | Discover | $ – | 14.24% | 25.24% | 1.0% | 2% Gas \ 2% Dining | Limit: $1,000 in purchases / qtr | |||
| PNC | Cash Rewards | Visa | $ – | 15.24% | 25.24% | 1.0% | 4% Gas \ 3% Dining \ 2% Groceries | Limit: $8,000 /yr | |||
| American Express | Blue Cash Everyday | AMEX | $ – | 15.24% | 26.24% | 1.0% | 3% Groceries \ 2% Gas & Department Stores | Limit: $6,000 / yr on groceries then 1% | $ 150.00 | $ 1,000.00 | |
| US Bank | Cash + | Visa | Signature | $ – | 16.24% | 25.74% | 1.0% | 5% Choose 2 Categories \ 2% Everyday Category | Limit: $2,000 combined purchases / qtr | $ 150.00 | $ 500.00 |
| Bank of America | Cash Rewards | Mastercard | World | $ – | 16.24% | 26.24% | 1.0% | 3% Choose Category \ 2% Groceries & Drugstores \ up to 75% bonus on all cash back w/ Premium Rewards | Limit: $2,500 / qtr then 1% | $ 150.00 | $ 500.00 |
| Chase | Amazon Rewards | Visa | Signature | $ – | 16.49% | 24.49% | 1.0% | 5% Amazon & Whole Foods (w/ Prime) \ 2% Gas, Dining, & Drugstores | |||
| Chase | Freedom | Visa | $ – | 17.24% | 25.99% | 1.0% | 5% rotating categories | Limit: $1,500 in purchases on selected category | $ 150.00 | $ 500.00 | |
| Citi | Costco Anywhere | Visa | $ – | 17.49% | 17.49% | 1.0% | 4% Gas \ 3% Dining2% Costco | Limit: $7,000 / yr on gas | |||
| Goldman Sachs | Apple Card | Mastercard | $ – | 13.24% | 24.24% | 1.0% | 3% Apple \ 2% w/ ApplePay1% w/ Physical Card | ||||
| Capital One | QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards | Capital One | $ 39.00 | 26.98% | 26.98% | 1.5% | |||||
| Alliant CU | Signature | Visa | Signature | $ 59.00 | 12.24% | 15.24% | 2.5% | 3% all purchases for 1 yr | |||
| American Express | Blue Cash Preferred | AMEX | Preferred | $ 95.00 | 15.24% | 26.24% | 1.0% | 6% Groceries \ 3% Gas | Limit: $6,000 / yr on groceries then 1% | $ 200.00 | $ 1,000.00 |
| Capital One | Savor Cash Rewards | Capital One | $ 95.00 | 16.74% | 25.74% | 1.0% | 4% Dining & Entertainment \ 2% Groceries \ 8% VividSeats purchases | 8% Cash Back @ Vivid Seats through May 2020 | $ 500.00 | $ 3,000.00 |
Best of the Best
Obviously, these are my personal opinions. This is not financial advice for your situation and you should do your own research before applying for any cards
Best All Categories Cash Back
If spending < $1,000 / mo.
Citi DoubleCash 2% interest with no annual fee and no restrictions makes this my current catch-all card.
If spending > $1,000 / mo.
Alliant CU Signature Visa if you plan to spend more than $11,800 / yr on this card then 2.5% cash back more than covers the $59 annual fee, especially in the first year when all purchases receive 3% cash back.
Categories
You Choose
US Bank Cash+ Select 2 categories of your choice and receive 5% cash back up to $2,000 / qtr is just about the best I found anywhere. Pretty much the only way I found to beat this is with a small army of cards dedicated to separate categories.
Dedicated
Costco and Amazon Amazon nets 5% and Costco nets 4% back total on purchases with those retailers if you have a membership. So if you already have a membership and frequently shop at Costco / Amazon both of those cards seem like pretty good deals as well.
Promos
By %
Chase Freedom Unlimited, US Bank Cash+, & Bank of America Cash Rewards all offer $150 when you spend $500 in the first 3 months which is an astounding 30% back!
By $
Despite the annual fee Capital One Savor offers a $500 promo if you think you are going to spend more than $3,000 in the first 3 months. Personally I am not a fan of the annual fee associated with this card, but if you are just about those promo offers, $500 is nothing to scoff at.
Summary
Selfishly, I made this list for myself as I was deciding which cards to apply for. I already have strong credit, but I wanted to find cards that I could keep open long term to build my credit as my lifestyle changes, so my #1 rule was “No Annual Fees.” Without an annual fee there is no penalty to keeping the account open by purchasing a snickers once / qtr so my average account age can grow. While there are a few cards with annual fees that have nice benefits, I personally didn’t find that they wound up outweighing the chance that my lifestyle would change or a better card would come along and I would need to close the account.
Personally, I wound up applying for the Citi DoubleCash & US Bank Cash+. If I find that I am spending more than $1,000 on the Citi DoubleCash I will probably apply for the Alliant Signature Visa since I will be over the breakeven point. As for the US Bank Cash+, I really like this card because I can see keeping it open for quite a long time due to it’s great rewards and flexibility to adapt to life changes.
Please let me know if I made any mistakes or if you have a better card that should be on this list!
Edit:
I can’t keep up with all the comments so I am just going to list suggestions here without all the details
- Uber Visa -$0 fee – 4% Restaurants \ 3% Travel \ 2% Online purchases \ 1% everything else
- PayPal – $0 fee – 2.0% back
- Alliant Platinum Rewards – $0 fee – 2% back
- Capital One SavorOne – $0 fee – Dining & Entertainment