Cash back credit cards with better than 1% return

There are dozens of pure cash back credit cards on the market, but only a handful offer anything above a standard 1% return on your spending. You can easily do better than that with a regular airline mile credit card, even when factoring annual fees.

However the few cash back credit cards that earn greater than 1% can rival mile credit cards in earning value, depending on your personal spending habits and desired rewards. Our Mile Credit Card Value Calculator can help you precisely determine whether a mile or cash back credit card is better for you. However if you stick to hotel rewards, the Starwood American Express will always beat a cash back credit card in value.

If you’ve used the calculator and found a cash back credit card is a better option, these are the major cards that offer better than 1% returns on your spending with no annual fee:

1. Blue Cash Premier from American Express

Blue Cash offers you 6% cash back on grocery purchases and 3% on gas and department stores. You earn 1% on other purchases. Note that grocery purchases at warehouse clubs like Costco don’t earn the 6% cash back. Since the calculation can be complicated by hand, we suggest you use the Mile Credit Card Value Calculator to see if the card is right for you.

Click here to learn more about the card and apply.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

2. Fidelity Investment Returns American Express

Fidelity’s American Express cards consistently offer you a simple 2% rebate on your spending. The catch is, you must have or open a Fidelity retirement, college savings, or investment account, and your rebates go directly into that account. That’s great if pure saving is your goal, but a drawback if you want the cash to spend more quickly.

Click here to learn more about the card and apply.

3. Chase Freedom

Chase offers you 1% cash back on all purchases, with an additional 4% cash back on purchases in select categories each quarter. Essentially, for 1/4 of the year you will get a 5% cash back rate in each of the following spending categories: gas, grocery, drug, dining, home improvement, travel, utilities, education, child care, department stores, and movies.

However the 5% cash back is subject to eligible spending caps of $1500 per quarter, so any spending above that in those categories won’t count for the bonus. This limits your bonus value to about $75 per quarter.

The card carries no annual fee.

Click here to learn more about the card and apply.

4. True Earnings Card from Costco and American Express

This card earns 3% cash back on gas purchases (up to $3000 in gas purchases eligible per year), 2% on dining, and 2% on travel expenses. There is no annual fee if you are a Costco member. If not, activating the card will enroll you as a member.

We recommend entering your monthly spending habits into our Mile Credit Card Value Calculator to find out if the bonus categories of this card make it worth more than other options.

Click here to learn more about the card and apply.

5. Merrill Lynch Total Merrill Cash Back Visa

This card earns a simple 1.25% return on all spending with no annual fee.

Click here to learn more about the card and apply.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.