Absolute Best 5% Cash Back Credit Cards, No Annual Fee, Per Each Category
This post is constantly being updated. The last date modified is any updates (additions/removals) from the list. Feel free to check back anytime.
Recently, I made a post on reddit about my research on: cash back, no annual fee credit cards.
Here is the reference link: Best 5% cash back, no annual fee, for each category
New Additions:
- (4% Dining— No Cap) — US Bank Altitude Go Visa by US Bank — ✓
- (2x to 4x — Specific Merchants — No Cap — Promo Code: QP5EF7z) X1 Credit Card by Silicon Valley Bank
- (3% Highest Category — Invitation Only For Now) — Venmo Credit Card
Gas:
[Recommendation: Abound CU]
- (5% — No Cap) — Abound CU Visa Platinum by Abound Credit Union — ✓
- (5% — No Cap) — L&N Platinum Rewards Cash Back Visa by L&N Federal Credit Union — ✓
- (5% — $7000/yr) — AFCU Platinum Cash Back Visa by Aerospace Federal Credit Union — ✓
Restaurants:
[Recommendation: Vantage West and AFCU is unavailable for most people. Will do continuous research into this category]
- (5% — $1500/qtr) — Vantage West Connect Rewards by Vantage West Credit Union — ✓ ①
- (4% — $9000/yr) — AFCU Platinum Cash Back Visa by Aerospace Federal Credit Union — ✓
- (4% — No Cap) — US Bank Altitude Go Visa by US Bank — ✓
- (3% — No Cap) — Golden 1 Platinum Rewards by Golden 1 Credit Union — ✓
Groceries:
[Recommendation: Was unable to find a no annual fee 5% grocery. Require further research. American Express Blue card excluded due to annual fee. Walmart has too many restrictions in terms of getting groceries — dont recommend. ]
- (4% — No Cap) — Verizon Visa Rewards by Synchrony Bank — ✓
- (3% — No Cap) — Golden 1 Platinum Rewards by Golden 1 Credit Union — ✓
- Walmart: (5% — No Cap) — Walmart Capital One Mastercard by Capital One
- Target: (5% — No Cap) — Target REDCard by TD Bank
- Whole Foods: (5% — No Cap) — Chase Amazon Prime Rewards by Chase — ✓ [Note: Require Prime Membership]
- Costco: (5% — $1500/qtr) — Vantage West Connect Rewards by Vantage West Credit Union — ✓ ①
- Sam’s Club: (5% — $1500/qtr) — Vantage West Connect Rewards by Vantage West Credit Union — ✓ ①
Travel:
[Recommendation: Get both the Vantage and the PenFed. Get the PenFed primarily for the Global Entry and TSA PreCheck ]
- (5% — $1500/qtr) — Vantage West Connect Rewards by Vantage West Credit Union — ✓ ①
Amazon:
[Recommendation: If you already have prime, get either Synchrony or Chase. If you don’t, get Affinity. I don’t recommend getting Vantage for Amazon since it can only be chosen for one category.]
- (5% — No Cap) — Synchrony Amazon Store Card by Synchrony Bank — ✓ [Note: Requires Prime Membership]
- (5% — No Cap) — Affinity Cash Rewards Visa by Affinity Federal Credit Union — ✓ [Note: Does Not Require Prime Membership]
- (5% — $1500/qtr) — Vantage West Connect Rewards by Vantage West Credit Union — ① [Note: Does Not Require Prime Membership]
- (5% — No Cap) — Chase Amazon Prime Rewards by Chase — ✓ [Note: Requires Prime Membership]
Home Utilities:
- (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank — ✓ ②
TV, Internet Bill & Streaming Services:
[Use Chase Ink for your Internet and Cellphone bill, and use U.S. Bank for your home Utilities and movie tickets category]
- Internet Bill & TV Bill: (5% — $25,000/yr) — Chase Ink by Chase — ✓ Ω
- (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank — ✓ ②
Cellphone Bill:
- Internet Bill & TV Bill: (5% — $25,000/yr) — Chase Ink by Chase — ✓ Ω
- (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank — ✓ ②
Movie Theaters:
- (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank — ✓ ②
Entertainment :
- (4% — 9000/yr) — AFCU Platinum Cash Back Visa by Aerospace Federal Credit Union — ✓
Car Insurance:
[Will Research and update this category. Not a fan of posting 3% cash back since its ubiquitous. But car insurance is a pretty high bill that most people have to make, so its worthy of consideration.]
- (3% — $4000/yr) — State Farm Rewards Visa by State Farm Bank**
- Debit Card Cash Back: (5% — $500/month) — Kasasa Cash Back Debit Card by Kellogg Community Credit Union — ✓
Ground Transportation:
[Amtrak, car2go, Catalina Express, Clipper, Greyhound, Lyft, Metra, NYC Taxi, Sound Transit, TriMet, Uber, Ventra, Washington, State Ferries, Yellow Cab, Zipcar]
- (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank — ✓ ②
Debit Card Cash Back:
[I understand this is not a credit card, but 5% cash back on any category can be very important for your overall cash back strategy. Consider using this for something like car insurance.]
- (5% — $200/month) — Kasasa Cash Back Debit Card by Kellogg Community Credit Union — ✓ ⸸
All Other Categories:
[Recommendation: The highest I was able to find was 3% for all categories. The only way to get the 3% is through 4 invites or spend $100,000 on the Zero Mastercard. The next one down is 2.5% by Ollo which is invite only. Then there are 2%, which should be easy to get. All of the following are good. In fact there are tons of 2% cash back cards. Check out some of the credit union 2% cards cause they offer additional features than the first 3 I listed. Best 2% card is AFCU.]
- (2.5% — No Cap) — Ollo Optimum Mastercard by Bank of Missouri
- (2% — No Cap) — AFCU Platinum Cash Back Visa by Aerospace Federal Credit Union — ✓
- (2% — No Cap) — Paypal Cashback Mastercard by PayPal
- (2% — No Cap) — Fidelity Rewards Card by Fidelity Investments
- (2% — No Cap) — Citi Double Cash Back by Citi Bank
- (2% — No Cap) — SDFCU Premium Cashback + by State Department Federal Credit Union
- (2% — No Cap) — Key Cashback by Key
- (2% — No Cap) — RBFCU Platinum Cash Back Rewards by RBFCU
Rotating Categories:
[Recommendation: Did not do a thorough enough research on this category. Use this category to fill in slots.]
- (5% — No Cap) — Nusenda Platinum Cash by Nusenda Credit Union — ✓
- (5% — No Cap) — SAFE Cash Rewards by SAFE Credit Union — ✓
- (5% — $1500/qtr) — Chase Freedom by Chase
- (5% — $1500/qtr) — Discover It Cash Back by Discover
Example:
- Gas: (5% — No Cap) — Ducks Unlimited by First Bank of Omaha
- Restaurants: (4% — $9000/yr) — AFCU Platinum Cash Back Visa by Aerospace Federal Credit Union
- Groceries: (3% — No Cap) — Golden 1 Platinum Rewards by Golden 1 Credit Union
- Walmart: (5% — No Cap) — Walmart Capital One Mastercard by Capital One
- Amazon: (5% — No Cap) — Synchrony Amazon Store Card by Synchrony Bank
- Travel: (5% — $1500/qtr) — Vantage West Connect Rewards by Vantage West Credit Union
- Travel: ($100 Travel Credit) — PenFed Pathfinder by PenFed Credit Union
- Home Utilities: (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank
- Movie Theaters: (5% — $2000/qtr) — U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa by US Bank
- TV, Internet Bill & Streaming Services: (5% — $2000/qtr) — (5% — $25,000/yr) — Chase Ink by Chase
- Cellphone Bill: (5% — $2000/qtr) — (5% — $25,000/yr) — Chase Ink by Chase
- Entertainment: (4% — 9000/yr) — AFCU Platinum Cash Back Visa by Aerospace Federal Credit Union
- Car Insurance: (5% — $200/month) — Kasasa Cash Back Debit Card by Kellogg Community Credit Union
- All Other Categories: (3% — No Cap) — Zero Mastercard by Zero Financial
- Rotating Categories: (5% — No Cap) — Nusenda Platinum Cash by Nusenda Credit Union
✓ : Recommended
⦻ : Not Recommended
① : Can only be used in 1 category
② : Can only be used in 2 categories
✉ : Invite Only
⊕: Recently added new additions
⸸ : Has extensive restrictions
Ω : Apply with SSN rather than EIN for Chase Ink
**: Temporary, requires further research
Note: This post is primarily for me to come back to more than anything else, but if it helps other people than it is a plus for me. This list intentionally excludes certain cards (like the Chase trifecta) and many other cards due to annual fee or other restrictions.
3% Cash Back: 3% cash back per each category is ubiquitous. Its standard. The point of this post is find the absolute best cash back cards.
Research: I systematically went through lists on lists of credit unions to find the best credit cards offered. I have not looked through every available credit union yet. Have not yet fully finished Brokerages. Have not started to look at international banks/credit union offers.
Last Date Modified: 11/09/2020
