Best flat-rate cash back credit cards

If you enjoy earning cash back rewards on your credit card spending, you might be a card juggler who keeps meticulous records of which categories are offering the most cash back and when. You might even stay on top of rotating bonus categories or pay close attention to when card issuers update their rewards structures.

For people who don’t like the hassle of keeping up with ever-changing rewards categories, it’s good to know there’s another option: flat-rate cash back cards. These types of rewards cards can simplify your rewards strategy by providing one consistent cash back rate for all of your everyday credit card spending — no matter the category.

Best flat-rate cash back credit cards

If you’re ready to jump into the world of flat-rate cash back cards, here are some options to consider:

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Wells Fargo Active Cash Card: Best for 2% cash rewards

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 2 percent cash rewards on purchases
• Welcome offer: $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 within the first three months of account opening
• Annual fee: $0

The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is one of the highest-earning flat-rate cash rewards cards on the market, and it allows consumers to earn 2 percent cash rewards without having to track or activate cash rewards categories. This card is made even better by its numerous benefits — you’ll get cellphone protection (terms apply), an auto rental collision damage waiver, travel and emergency assistance services, extended warranty protection and Visa Signature perks.

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card: Best for flexible rewards

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases
• Welcome offer: $200 cash bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening
• Annual fee: $0

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card not only offers a simple, flat-rate cash back structure, but it also comes with benefits like no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. The welcome offer — coupled with the card’s 0 percent intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months (then a variable APR of 19.99 percent to 29.99 percent) — enhances the card’s value and makes it a strong contender for a top flat-rate rewards card.

Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card: Best for Preferred Rewards members

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases
• Welcome offer: $200 online cash rewards bonus after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
• Annual fee: $0

The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card lets you earn 1.5 percent cash back on all of your purchases, and eligible Bank of America Preferred Rewards members can earn 25 percent to 75 percent more cash back on every purchase. Essentially, you could earn up to 2.62 percent cash back on every purchase depending on your Preferred Rewards member tier.

There’s no limit on how much cash back you can earn with this card, and the cash rewards don’t expire. You can redeem your cash back as statement credits, direct deposits to eligible Bank of America accounts or credits to an eligible Merrill account (including 529 accounts).

The information about the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card was last updated on May 15, 2023.

American Express Cash Magnet Card: Best for payment flexibility

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases
• Welcome offer: $150 statement credit after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening
• Annual fee: $0

The American Express Cash Magnet® Card* is a great card for people who want a predictable, hassle-free way of earning cash back from their credit card spending. Further, the American Express Pay It, Plan It features allow cardholders to quickly pay off purchases under $100 or select qualifying purchases to pay off over a fixed time period for a set monthly fee (terms apply).

PayPal Cashback Mastercard: Best for online shopping with PayPal

• Rewards rate: 2 percent cash back on all purchases; 3 percent cash back on purchases made through your PayPal account or when you send money to other PayPal users
• Welcome offer: N/A
• Annual fee: $0

The PayPal Cashback Mastercard®* is another card with a higher rate of cash back — 2 percent back on all purchases. With this card, you’ll need a PayPal account to earn and redeem cash back rewards. If you don’t mind this requirement, then you can enjoy using this card without an annual fee.

Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card: Best for fair credit

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases; unlimited 5 percent cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• Welcome offer: N/A
• Annual fee: $39

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is ideal for people who want to earn cash back while building their credit. Issuers may approve people with fair to good credit (or a FICO score of 580 to 739) for this card. Plus, there’s a low annual fee of $39.

Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa: Best for financing

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on card purchases every time you make a payment
• Welcome offer: Earn a $200 bonus after you open & fund a Rewards Checking Plus account & make 3 debit card transactions within 60 days. If you previously opened a checking account through Upgrade or do not do so as part of this process, you are not eligible. Payout made within 60 days of meeting the conditions.
• Annual fee: $0

The Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa® acts like both a credit card and a personal loan (or line of credit). For people who qualify for good terms, like a lower variable APR (currently ranging from 14.99 percent to 29.99 percent) and a longer repayment period, earning cash back is as easy as making installment payments each month.

Chase Freedom Unlimited: Best for flat cash back and bonus categories

• Rewards rate: 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases; 3 percent cash back on dining and drugstore purchases; 5 percent cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 5 percent cash back on Lyft purchases (through March 31, 2025)
• Welcome offer: Earn an additional 1.5 percent cash back on top of all purchases’ original cash back rate (on up to $20,000) for the first year (exclusive offer through Bankrate)
• Annual fee: $0

The Chase Freedom Unlimited®* is technically a bonus category card, but it offers a flat 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases — a rate that’s competitive with the best flat-rate cash back cards on the market. Along with no annual fee — and potentially increased redemption value for travel purchases through Chase Travel℠ — this card is a game-changer in the flat-rate cash back card space since it also offers boosted rewards rates in select categories.

Which flat-rate cash back cards earn more?

If you’re looking for the highest-earning flat cash back card, you should know that flat cash back percentages tend to be lower than cards that offer bonus category rates.

For example, you might see cash back rates on grocery spending go as high as 6 percent back, or rates on entertainment spending go as high as 8 percent back. But flat-rate cards usually top out at 1 to 2 percent cash back on all spending. This detail means you may want more than one card to maximize your cash back in different categories.

That said, here are some of the highest-earning flat-rate cards currently on the market, including some of the best 2 percent cash back cards:

• The Wells Fargo Active Cash Card offers an unlimited 2 percent cash rewards on purchases. You aren’t required to activate or track bonus categories to rack up unlimited cash rewards.
• The Citi® Double Cash Card offers up to 2 percent cash back — you’ll earn 1 percent back on all purchases you make, plus another 1 percent back when you pay off your purchases.
• The Alliant Cashback Visa® Signature Card* offers 2.5 percent cash back on all purchases (on up to $10,000 in qualifying purchases each billing cycle, then 1.5 percent back) with a qualifying Tier One Rewards status each quarter. Otherwise, you’ll earn an unlimited 1.5 percent cash back with Tier Two Rewards status.

Is a flat-rate cash back card right for you?

Whether or not a rewards card is worth it really depends on your spending and card payment habits. For example, if you struggle to pay your card off each month, you could risk paying more in interest than what you earn in rewards. In this case, you are not coming out ahead. In fact, you might be losing money by paying interest to your card issuer each month.

However, if you have a habit of paying off your balances, then a cash back card would reward this type of behavior. And a flat-rate card could be a good option if you don’t want to keep up with multiple categories or be mindful of your spending categories to get the most out of your rewards.

Spending example: Flat-rate card vs. bonus category card

If you want to check it out by the numbers, here’s an example of the cash back you can expect to earn with a flat-rate cash back card, like the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card, versus a card with a cash back structure for different categories, like the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express.

For reference, the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card offers 2 percent cash rewards on purchases, whereas the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express offers 3 percent cash back on U.S. supermarket, U.S. gas station and U.S. online retail purchases (on up to $6,000 per year in each category, then 1 percent back), along with 1 percent cash back on all other purchases.

Additionally, note that both cards come with no annual fee, so there’s no need to subtract a fee from your total earnings.

The bottom line

If you’re going to spend money, why not take advantage of earning cash back rewards on your spending? In a sense, you’re earning money by doing something you’d do anyway. Yes, the card jugglers among us might make getting cash back in multiple categories look easy, but if that’s not what you’re interested in, a flat cash back card can help you not miss out on earning cash back rewards.

For people who are busy with limited free time, a flat-rate rewards card could be exactly what you need. Cards that come with welcome bonuses, intro APR offers or boosted rewards for select categories can further enhance the value of flat-rate cash back cards. Take the time to research cards that might work for your lifestyle. Then, choose the best cash back card for you and start earning rewards on all of your spending.

*The information about the American Express Cash Magnet® Card, PayPal Cashback Mastercard®, Chase Freedom Unlimited® and Alliant Cashback Visa® Signature Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.