Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard review: Elevated cash back on everyday spending
This card is a simple way to build credit and earn rewards for people with fair credit.
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Snapshot
3.0
Bottom line
The Ally Everyday Cash Back Card is a decent choice if you want to earn bonus cash back on typical daily expenses. But if you’re looking for more perks, redemption flexibility and overall rewards value, it’s better to consider a different cash back card.
Intro offer
N/A
Rewards rate
1% - 3%
Annual fee
$0
Regular APR
19.99%-29.99%, variable
4.1
Cardholder rating
Extra perks
Meets needs
Online tools
Customer service
3.0
Bankrate score
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Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard overview
The invite-only Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard is one of Ally Bank's newest rewards cards. The card features fairly standard perks and fees and offers 3 percent cash back on common expenses such as gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores and 1 percent cash back on all other purchases.
While it could be a useful addition to your wallet if you can’t qualify for better cash back cards, the card’s perks are limited compared to those of other cash-back cards with similar spending categories and it might charge an annual fee. If you’re concerned about perks or want to explore higher rewards rates, you’ll want to consider other cash back cards. Many of them are stronger and potentially easier to get than the Ally Everyday Cash Back.
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Rewards
- 3 percent cash back at gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores
- 1 percent cash back on everything else
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- APR: 19.99 percent to 29.99 percent (variable)
- Annual fee: Between $0 and $39, depending on your creditworthiness
- Balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 4 percent of each balance transfer, whichever is greater.
- Cash advance fee: Either $10 or 5 percent of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Foreign transaction fee: None
- Late payment fee: Up to $40
- Returned payment fee: None
- Over limit fee: None
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Free FICO credit score access
- Card lock feature
- 24/7 customer service
Expert Appraisal: Unimpressive
See our expert analysis
Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard pros and cons
Pros
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The card features a good selection of cash back categories for everyday purchases.
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You can qualify for this card with fair to good credit, making it a good fit if you’re a credit-builder who wants a decent rewards card.
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The card doesn’t penalize you with an interest rate hike if you make a late payment.
Cons
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The card is only available via invitation, restricting approval odds.
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Its lack of a sign-up bonus and basic set of perks and benefits drops its overall value compared to competing cards.
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The card’s limited redemption options hinder its flexibility.
Why you might want the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard
This card is a decent option for anyone who wants a solid rewards card but isn’t the most practiced credit card user. Although it’s an invite-only card, it has good approval odds for fair credit.
Rewards: Boosted rates in everyday categories
This card has solid rewards rates for common everyday purchases. It earns 3 percent cash back for gas, groceries and drugstore purchases, which makes it a great choice if you’re constantly running errands. This offering of categories compares well with offerings on other cash back credit cards for fair credit because it’s far more nuanced and matches the spending expectations of most consumers.
Fees: No APR increases for missing payments
If you’re a fair credit user who struggles with fees, the Ally Everyday card’s lenience on missed payments could save you money. While there may be a small annual fee of $39, the card lacks returned payment fees and foreign transaction fees and won’t impose rate hikes for late payments. These skipped fees can help you pocket more cash back, especially if you aren’t the most seasoned credit card user who would be otherwise prone to extra charges.
On average, fair credit users experience more late fees than users with good to excellent credit. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, late fees disproportionately impact cardholders in the subprime, deep subprime and near-prime brackets more than those in higher brackets. Not many cards are as forgiving as the Ally Everyday Cash Back, so if you have fair credit, you should keep this card on your radar if you aren’t as familiar with using credit or typically pay late.
Approval: Good approval odds for people with fair to good credit
Ally invites and accepts applicants with fair to good credit. Many cards for fair credit don’t boast favorable rewards rates or user-friendly perks, but the Ally Everyday has both. If you receive an invite and are focused on building your credit, this could be a worthwhile opportunity.
Why you might want a different cash back card
Although the card’s annual fee is marginal compared to annual fees on premium rewards cards, this card doesn’t make up for that cost with additional perks.
Welcome offer: Lacks a sign-up bonus
Unfortunately, the Ally Everyday Cash Back card doesn’t have a welcome offer. Despite its great cash back rates for practical purchases, it fails to bring the outstanding first-year value that many competing no-annual-fee cards offer. This shortcoming might not be a deal-breaker if you have fair credit, but it can detract from the card’s overall first-year value if you have good credit.
Annual fee: Potential yearly cost eats into cash back earnings
Depending on your creditworthiness, Ally may charge you up to $39 a year just for holding this card. While this is low for an annual fee on a rewards card, there are more affordable options available, especially if you’re more concerned with building credit.
On the bright side, it’s relatively easy to offset the annual fee with rewards earnings from regular spending. You’ll need to spend at least $110 monthly in the card’s 3 percent categories to earn enough cash back to offset a $39 annual fee by the end of a 12-month period. If you don’t spend that amount, a card with a lower annual fee may be a more suitable choice.
Perks: Limited benefits compared to other cash back cards
Some cards for people with fair credit may come with perks like credit limit increases and introductory APR periods, making them convenient picks for cost-effective credit building. Cards for good credit may come with perks of monetary value, such as annual statement credits and merchant discounts.
The Ally Everyday offers a generic set of perks that most cards offer. There’s nothing unique or exciting that would serve as an incentive to get this card, other than its credit-building features. Even then, the card’s annual fee means better options for building credit are available. If you want a card with more credit-building features, consider secured cards or other starter cards.
How the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard compares to other cash back cards
Even though the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard offers a decent reward rate on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases, there are cards with better rates on the market.
Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard®
Annual fee
Intro offer
Rewards rate
3% cash back at gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores. 1% cash back on everything else.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
Rewards rate
6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%). 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions. 3% Cash Back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more. 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations. 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Ally Unlimited Cash Back
Annual fee
Intro offer
Rewards rate
2% unlimited cash back on all your purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Best cards to pair with the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard
Because you can only earn elevated rewards in three specific spending categories, pairing the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard with a flat-rate cash back rewards card is a great way to maximize your rewards on all purchases.
Who is the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard right for?
The Ally Everyday card isn’t a great fit for everyone, but it has its place. Anyone with fair credit who wants access to rewards rates that are readily available on cards for good credit should have it on their radar.
Bankrate’s Take — Is the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard worth it?
While the Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard rewards you for everyday purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores, this card offers little else in terms of value, such as perks, a welcome offer, reward redemption options or even a 0 percent introductory APR offer like you can find with other cash back rewards cards.
If you have fair to good credit, this could be a great card to build credit and a decent pick to keep as an option for your everyday spending. But if you want more long-term value and the chance to maximize cash back in common spending categories, you’ll want to upgrade to another card once your credit improves.
How we rated this card
We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.
Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).
We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:
Frequently asked questions
What cardholders think
Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard®
In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. Users received an incentive for their feedback. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
