Cash back sounds simple: you spend, and the card pays a small share back. The knot is in the rules. Some cards pay one rate almost everywhere. Others pay more in a few categories, up to a limit, or only when you book through the issuer’s own travel site.
Pick the card whose rules match where your money already goes. If you don’t want to track anything, a card with one base rate keeps it simple. If most of your spending lands in a few categories, a category card can pay more, until its limit. And if you carry a balance, interest will usually cost more than any card pays back.
Card terms are a dated snapshot from issuer pages, not live offers. We don’t take applications or check your credit, and WalletNoodle has no affiliate deals. Confirm current terms with the issuer before you apply. How we make money
Match the card to how you spend.
This guide looks at three reward structures, and one card can mix them. The structure tells you more than the headline rate.
Three reward structures a cash-back card can use.
One base rate: most eligible purchases earn the same. Little to track.
Categories: a higher rate in set kinds of spending, often up to a limit. Everything else earns the base rate.
Buy and pay: part of the reward comes when you buy, the rest as you pay the purchase off.
Here are the 4 cards we list, A to Z. That’s an order, not a ranking, and not the whole market. Rates and limits come from each issuer’s pages; the “good fit” notes are our own reading of who each structure suits.
Side by side.
The same facts in one table, so you can read across a row. On a phone, swipe the table sideways. With a keyboard, tab to the table and use the arrow keys.
Cash-back cards compared, from each issuer’s own pages. “Not confirmed” means we couldn’t read it there. It is not zero.
Detail
American Express Blue Cash Everyday
Capital One Quicksilver
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Citi Double Cash
How it earns
Category shopping
Simple everyday rewards
Dining and drugstores
Buy and pay
Core reward
3% in three eligible US categories
1.5% on eligible everyday purchases
1.5% on other eligible purchases
2%: 1% when buying + 1% as you pay
Rewards and limits
3% at eligible US supermarkets, US online retail and US gas stations.
Each category has a separate $6,000 calendar-year eligible-purchase cap; then 1%.
Superstores and warehouse clubs do not count as supermarkets or gas stations for these categories.
Online retail means eligible physical goods paid for online, not travel or other services.
1% on other eligible purchases. Reward Dollars can be redeemed as statement credit.
1.5% on other eligible purchases.
5% on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Rewards apply to net purchases; transfers and cash advances do not earn rewards.
3% on dining and drugstore purchases.
5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel.
Caps, exclusions and booking-site rates.
A headline rate is the best case. A few rules decide what you actually earn, and they sit in the small print of each card’s rewards.
Where a higher rate can stop, shrink or never start.
Cap: once your eligible spending in a category reaches the issuer's limit for the period, the higher rate stops.
After the cap, purchases still earn, but only the base rate.
Booking-site rates: some higher travel rates only count when you book through the issuer's own travel site.
Merchant rules: the issuer decides which purchases count. A store that sells groceries may not count as a supermarket.
Every cap and exclusion we confirmed is in the “Rewards and limits” row above and on each card’s detail page. This guide shows each card’s core rates, not every perk, so an issuer may advertise extra rates we don’t list. Balance transfers and cash advances can earn nothing at all; the rewards lines say so where the issuer states it.
Cash back trims your bill. The rest is still yours to pay.
Rewards usually build up as points or reward dollars first. You then redeem them, often as a statement credit. How you can redeem depends on the issuer; each card’s rewards show what we confirmed.
A statement credit shaves a slice off your bill. The rest is still due.
Your statement balance: what you owe this month.
A redeemed reward, applied as a statement credit, lowers that balance.
The rest is still your bill, due on time as usual.
A statement credit lowers your balance. Capital One, for example, says its statement credits can’t be used to meet a minimum payment. Check your issuer’s payment rules, and still make at least the minimum payment on time.
Rewards are a small share of what you spend. Spending more to earn more is still spending more.
Points that redeem as cash follow the issuer’s current redemption terms, which can change.
On a card that rewards paying, the payment part only arrives as you pay off purchases. It does nothing about interest on what you leave unpaid.
When interest outweighs cash back.
Cash back works best when you pay in full. Card interest is a yearly rate on the balance you carry, and it is usually much higher than any reward rate.
Two ways to handle the same statement.
Pay the full statement balance by the due date. If your account has a grace period, new purchases usually aren't charged interest.
Carry part of the balance and interest is charged on it.
The cash back on those purchases is usually small next to that interest.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (opens in a new tab) explains that a grace period on purchases depends on paying your full balance on time, and on your card’s terms. Not every account has one. Cash advances and balance transfers follow different rules, so read your agreement before counting on interest-free days.
Some cards here show an intro APR. It ends after a set time, and then the regular variable APR applies to whatever is left. Each card’s figures are in the table above.
Sources and dates.
Product facts come from each issuer’s own pages, on the date shown. They are a snapshot, not live offers. The notes on fit, structure and redemption are our own words. We haven’t applied for or used these cards.
Facts taken from issuer pages and the CFPB. No hands-on card testing.
Category shopping
American Express Blue Cash Everyday
American Express
3% in three eligible US categories
Good fit if: A big share of your spending goes to groceries, online shopping and gas in the US, and you don't mind watching each category's yearly limit.
3% at eligible US supermarkets, US online retail and US gas stations.
Each category has a separate $6,000 calendar-year eligible-purchase cap; then 1%.
Superstores and warehouse clubs do not count as supermarkets or gas stations for these categories.
Online retail means eligible physical goods paid for online, not travel or other services.
1% on other eligible purchases. Reward Dollars can be redeemed as statement credit.
Trade-off: Three separate caps to track, and a 2.7% foreign transaction fee after conversion to US dollars.
Good fit if: You pay your card on time and like a reward split between buying and paying, with no categories to sign up for.
1% on eligible purchases plus 1% as you pay against your tracked purchase balance.
No category enrollment or cap. Balance transfers do not earn cash back.
Rewards are ThankYou Points, redeemable as cash back.
Citi also advertises higher rewards on some travel booked through its own travel site. This guide focuses on everyday rewards, so check Citi's page if you book travel there.
Trade-off: The second 1% depends on payment. Missing pricing means you should check the issuer before deciding.