The Best Cash Back Credit Cards of 2019

Travel rewards credit cards can earn great returns if you’re willing to track point values and optimum redemption options. But sometimes, you just want to earn rewards in a way you can easily understand – dollars and cents. To help you find a cash back card that fits your spending patterns, we’ve assembled our picks for the best cash back credit cards of 2019.

Best No-Fee Flat Rate Cash Back Card – Citi Double Cash Card

Cash back cards have easy to understand rewards values. Some cards, however, complicate matters with rotating categories or tiered earning levels based on spending type. If your spending isn’t concentrated in one area or you don’t want to worry about timing your expenses to a quarterly bonus calendar, the Citi Double Cash Card can maximize your rewards without the headache.

Rewards: Earn 2% cash back on all purchases: Earn 1% when you buy, plus 1% when you pay your bill
Annual Fee: $0
Bonus Offer: None

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: The Citi Double Cash Card offers a 0% balance transfer for 18 months. To redeem cash back, you need to have a minimum rewards balance of $25. Also, if you choose to move away from this card, keep in mind that your cash rewards balance expires if you haven’t earned cash back for 12 months.

Cash Back Card With Best Sign-Up Bonus – Discover it Cash Back

The best sign-up bonus for a cash back card is also the most unique. The Discover it Cash Back card and the Discover it Chrome Gas & Restaurants card will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year. Depending on your spending, this match can definitely exceed the bonuses you can earn from cards such as the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express or the Chase Freedom card.

Rewards: Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 each quarter in rotating categories*, plus 1% cash back on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $0
Bonus Offer: 100% match of cash back earned in the first year, issued at the end of your first year

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: You have to remember to activate your rewards for the bonus categories each quarter, or you don’t get your 5% rewards. But you can opt-in for Discover to remind you when the bonus categories are changing. Discover’s bonus categories have typically been high-value spending areas such as groceries, Amazon purchases, gas stations, and restaurants. Keep in mind that Discover is accepted at somewhat fewer places than Visa and Mastercard and has limited reach outside the U.S.

Discover does offer great perks for customers. You can redeem your rewards for cash at any time, with no minimum value for redemption. You can use your rewards at Amazon.com checkout. You can also get free credit monitoring, freeze your account from the mobile app or website if you lose your card, and get a free Credit Scorecard with your FICO Credit Score.

Best Cash Back Card for Business – Capital One Spark Cash for Business

Keeping your business and personal expenses separate is always a smart practice. But it doesn’t mean you want to give up all rewards on your business spending. Luckily, the Capital One Spark Cash for Business offers great rewards, easy redemption, and no foreign transaction fees for those occasional trips abroad.

Rewards: Earn 2% cash back on all purchases
Annual Fee: $0 for the first year, $95 thereafter
Bonus Offer: $500 cash bonus if you spend $4,500 in purchases in the first 3 months

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: The Capital One Spark Cash for Business has no foreign transaction fees and you can redeem the rewards at any time, without having to hit a minimum earnings threshold. The $95 annual fee is steep if you run a small business or an online business with minimal expenses. In that case, I’d opt for the Spark Cash Select which offers unlimited 1.5% cash back and carries no annual fee. And if you’re looking to finance some large business expenses, keep in mind that neither of the Capital One Spark cash back cards offers promotional 0% APR rates.

Best Cash Back Student Card – Discover it Cash Back for Students

Years ago, I sat in my dorm room and applied for my first credit card. While I may be slightly biased towards what is still my longest standing credit card, the Discover it Cash Back for Students offers top-notch cash rewards (the same as offered to non-student cardholders), plus a $20 statement credit each year your GPA is 3.0 or higher.

Rewards: Earn 5% cash back up to $1,500 each quarter in rotating categories*, plus 1% cash back on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $0
Bonus Offer: 100% match of cash back earned in the first year, issued at the end of your first year

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: The Discover it card has no foreign transaction fee, but has limited acceptance outside the U.S. If you’re planning a semester abroad, the Capital One Journey Student card offers fewer rewards but may be a better choice.

Best Cash Back Cards With Rotating Categories – Chase Freedom

This category has long been a dead heat between the Chase Freedom and Discover it Card. Both cards offer 5% cash back in quarterly rotating categories for spending up to $1,500, with 1% cash back on all other purchases.

While the Discover it Card has had similar rotating categories for some time, the Chase Freedom card tends to have a main category similar to those offered by Discover as well as niche offerings. For instance, the second quarter of 2018, you could get 5% cash back at grocery stores and from PayPal purchases.
Whether the Chase Freedom or Discover it card is best for you depends on your spending. Because the Chase Freedom card is more widely accepted by retailers and does allow you to transfer rewards to one of Chase’s travel cards if you decide to upgrade to a points card, we’ve given it the nudge here.

Rewards: Earn 5% cash back up to $1,500 each quarter in rotating categories plus 1% cash back on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $0
Bonus Offer: $150 bonus if you spend $500 in the first 3 months

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: You have to opt-into the rotating 5% rewards cards each quarter to earn your cash back. You can opt-in at any time from 15 days before the start of the quarter up until 15 days before the end of the quarter. This card does have a foreign transaction fee, unlike the Discover it Card. Chase Freedom users have access to Chase’s Rewards site to earn more cash back at specific retailers and can earn a $100 bonus for each friend they refer.

Best Cash Back Card for Groceries – Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express

According to the USDA, a low-cost budget for food at home for a family of four is $718.80 a month, or more than $8,600 a year, as of December 2018. With the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express, that average family could earn more than $380 in cash back rewards. Minus $95 for the annual fee.

The Blue Cash Preferred card offers excellent rewards on groceries and fuel for families, with a strong sign-up bonus that covers over two years of annual fees.

Rewards: 6% cash back on US supermarkets up to $6,000 per year, 3% cash back at US gas stations and select department stores, 1% cash back on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $95
Bonus Offer: $200 statement credit if you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: The Blue Cash Preferred card is one of the few cash back credit cards with an annual fee. But the high rewards on groceries and gas more than offset the cost for most families. However, if you’re looking to avoid a fee, the Blue Cash Everyday card offers 3% cash back on groceries with no annual fee.

The Blue Cash Preferred card does offer 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers in the first 12 months and car rental loss and damage insurance.

Best Cash Back Card for Amazon Addicts – Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

After my first child was born, we received an Amazon package almost every day for a few months. Last minute diapers or a new teething toy were always showing up at the door. Today, the influx of packages has slowed a bit. But we, like many families, still do a shocking amount of our shopping on Amazon.

If you’re an Amazon addict, or love getting fresh almond butter at Whole Foods, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card can earn you big rewards.

Rewards: 5% cash back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market; 2% at restaurants, gas stations & drugstores; 1% on all other purchases
Annual Fee: None, but need Prime membership to earn 5% reward rate listed above

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: While rewards at Amazon and Whole Foods are excellent, rewards for other purchases are just average. If you do most of your grocery shopping elsewhere or your Amazon purchases don’t add up to a significant portion of your budget, there may be a better cash back card for you.

You can redeem rewards as an Amazon credit with no minimum. However, you can also redeem your cash back as a statement credit or direct deposit to a checking or savings account once your rewards balance reaches $20 or more.

The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card also has no foreign transaction fees, travel accident insurance, and baggage delay insurance. It also has perks like Visa Signature’s Luxury Hotel Collection and Concierge Service.

Best Cash Back Card for Restaurant Lovers – Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards

Enjoy a fancy dinner out and tickets to see your favorite band live? The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards card might be for you. You can get great cashback rates on dining and entertainment while securing access to VIP experiences and discounts at sporting and music events and chef series.

There is a Capital One Savor card that carries an annual fee of $95. But while the cash back on dining and entertainment increases from 3% to 4%, the other cash back categories don’t change. You’d have to spend $9,500 in dining and entertainment a year (almost $800 a month) to make up for the annual fee, which might be why the sign-up bonus is $500 instead of $150.

Overall, we prefer the SavorOne as the additional perks of the Savor card won’t offset the fee for most users. But if you change credit cards every 2 to 3 years, the bonus offer might be worth the annual fee. Especially as the fee is waived in the first year.

Rewards: Unlimited 3% on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores, and 1% on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $0
Bonus Offer: Earn a $150 cash bonus if you spend $500 in the first 3 months

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: The Capital One SavorOne card offers 0% APR on purchase and balance transfers for 15 months, but there is a 3% balance transfer fee.

The Capital One SavorOne card offers 24/7 free concierge services for restaurants, entertainment, and travel. It also has no foreign transaction fee, travel accident insurance, and auto rental collision protection.

Best Cash Back Card for Long Distance Drivers – Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi

Growing up playing ice hockey, my parents spent a fortune on gas driving my brother and me across New England and Canada every weekend. If you’re racking up the miles like we were, the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi could be the best card for you.

You do need to be a Costco member to apply for the card, but there is no additional annual fee and rewards on purchases extend beyond Costco. Even if you paid the $60 membership just to apply for this card, you’d need to purchase just $125 in gas (at any station, not just Costco) a month for the rewards to cover the fee. Additional savings from Costco gas stations or purchases will also offset this cost for most users.

Rewards: 4% on gas for the first $7,000 per year, 3% on restaurant and travel worldwide, 2% on Costco purchases, and 1% on all other purchases
Annual Fee: $0, but need to be a Costco member which starts at $60 per year
Bonus Offer: None

Other Benefits or Drawbacks: Exclusively for Costco members, so the $60 annual Costco fee is a little steep if you don’t drive long distances or use Costco’s other services.

The biggest drawback, however, is that you do not get instant access to your cash back rewards. Instead, redemption is limited to once per year via a rewards certificate. And you’ll have to cash your certificate in person at Costco. If you want to redeem your rewards more often (and with less hassle) consider the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express that offers 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations, but does come with a $95 annual fee.

The Costco Anywhere card has no foreign transaction fee, worldwide travel accident insurance, worldwide car rental insurance, and trip cancellation & interruption protection provided you paid for your trip with your Costco Anywhere card.

Finding the Best Cash Back Card for You

There are many great cash back cards on the market, but the card that will earn you the greatest rewards depends on your spending habits. Before committing to a card, take a look at your budget and see where you spend most frequently. Then choose the card that fits most with your lifestyle.