Best Cash Back Credit Cards in November 2024

Cash back credit cards give you a percentage of your qualifying purchase back as a reward. Many cards offer 1% cash back as their lowest level, so for every $100 you spend, you will receive $1 back. Likewise, a 2% cash back card would net you $2 for every $100 you spend.

How does cash back work?

Cash back credit cards give you a percentage of your qualifying purchase back as a reward. For instance, a card that earns 5% cash back on groceries gives you $5 in rewards on a $100 grocery purchase. A card that earns 1.5% cash back gives you $1.50 on every $100 in purchases.

Your cash back rewards are usually available each month, after your statement closing date. Most cash back credit cards give you several ways to redeem your rewards. Redemption options may include:

• Statement credits toward purchases made with the card (the most common option)
• Direct deposits
• Paper check by mail
• ATM withdrawal
• Gift cards

• Flat-rate cash back credit cards

  Flat-rate cash back credit cards earn cash back at the same rate on every purchase. The rewards rate is typically between 1% and 2%.

  Flat-rate cash back card examples:

  • Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card
  • Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
  • Citi Double Cash^® Card

• Tiered category cards

  Many cards offer tiered rewards categories. This means you earn bonus cash back on certain categories of spend and 1% cash back on everything else. It’s common to find cards that offer 3% or higher cash back on groceries, gas, dining and more.

  Tiered category card examples:

  • Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
  • Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited^®

• Rotating cash back credit cards

  Some cash back cards offer elevated cash back rates that rotate on a monthly or quarterly basis. There’s typically a cap on how much you can earn for these categories, and you would earn the regular cash back rate after meeting the cap. A few cards let you choose the categories in which you earn rewards, allowing you to maximize the rewards potential.

  Rotating cash back card examples:

  • Chase Freedom Flex℠
  • Discover it^® Cash Back
  • Citi Custom Cash^® Card

  See the Chase quarterly bonus category calendar.
  See the Discover quarterly bonus category calendar.

• Store credit cards

  Store credit cards help you earn cash back at a specific store. Since store cards are usually limited to purchases with that retailer, you should pick a card from a store you shop with regularly. These cards usually have higher APRs, so make sure to pay off your card balance each month.

  Store credit card examples:

  • Costco Anywhere Visa^® Card by Citi
  • Prime Visa
  • Target Circle™ Card

Tiered vs. flat-rate credit cards

To show you how much you can earn with flat-rate and tiered cash back credit cards, we’ll compare two sample cards below.

• Gas

  Many issuers consider both gas and gas station purchases to be applicable for cash back rewards on gas. Most major gas stations are covered, but some smaller chains might not be. Check on your issuer’s website to see if your gas station of choice qualifies for rewards.

  Best cash back credit cards for gas : Citi Custom Cash^® Card

• Groceries

  Since groceries are a universal expense, many cards offer an elevated rate on them. Issuers sometimes label this category as “supermarkets” or “U.S. supermarkets.” Cards that offer rotating bonus categories may also feature a popular grocery store like Target or Walmart for a quarter.

  Best cash back card for groceries: Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express

• Restaurants

  The restaurants category can include everything from fast food to high-end restaurants. Many cards usually consider take-out and delivery to fall under dining as well.

  Best dining cash back credit card: Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

• Travel

  Some cash back cards give you a bonus on travel if you purchase through the issuer’s portal. However, if you’re serious about saving on travel, consider getting a travel card — you’ll often earn points that are more valuable than cash back.

  Best travel cash back credit card: Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

• Business

  Business cash back cards tend to have business-specific categories, like office supply stores, internet, phone services and more.

  Best business cash back credit card: Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

• Entertainment

  Entertainment can include concerts, sporting events, streaming services, theme parks, movies and more. Major events can be costly and it doesn’t hurt to earn some cash back to offset the price.

  Best entertainment cash back credit card: Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

Pros and cons of cash back credit cards

• Flat-rate cash back card

  Spending x Cash back rate = Cash back savings

  As an example, let’s use the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card, which gives you 2% (0.02) cash back on all purchases.

  Example: $1,700 x 0.02 = $34 cash back

• Tiered cash back card

  (Spending A x Cash back rate A) + (Spending B x Cash back rate B) = Cash back savings

  In this example, let’s use the Blue Cash Everyday^® Card from American Express, which gives you 3% (0.03) cash back* at U.S. grocery stores and U.S. gas stations and 1% (0.01) on other purchases.

  Example: ($700 x 0.03) + ($1,000 x 0.01) = $21 + $10 = $31 cash back

• Rotating cash back

  With a 5% rotating cash back card, like the Chase Freedom Flex℠, you’ll need to take a look at the card’s previous categories to guess which categories are likely to occur in the next 12 months. If a category is usually included in the card’s calendar, then you would assume that you’d earn 5% in that category for three months, plus the go-to rate the remaining nine months.

  (Spending A x 1/4 x Cash back rate A) + (Spending A x 3/4 x Cash back rate B) + (Spending B x Cash back rate B) = Cash back savings

  For this example, we’ll use the Chase Freedom Flex℠. The Chase Freedom Flex℠‘s categories have included groceries and gas in the past, so we’ll assume 5% for these categories for a quarter of the year, and 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

  Example: ($1,500 x .05) + ($4,500 x .015) + ($600 x .05) + ($1,800 x .015) + ($1,200 x .015) = $75 + $67.50 + $30 + $27 + $18 = $217.50 cash back

Cash back cards are best for people who don’t travel as much and prefer having flexible rewards. If any of these apply to you, then a cash back credit card is also likely a good fit for you.

 Savvy budgeters: If you love to find new ways to save money by budgeting, then a solid selection of cash back cards can help you do just that. Plus, cash back rewards only meet their full potential if you pay your balance off every month.

 Frequent shoppers: If you love online shopping or buying things elsewhere, then a cash back card can help you save on the shopping you’re already doing. Just be careful you don’t overspend for the sake of earning rewards.

 People new to credit cards: Cash back are usually a lot simpler to use and have lower annual fees than travel cards. If you’re new to credit cards and are interested in earning rewards, a cash back credit card is a great place to start.