Shop for a More Rewarding Credit Card

Different cards have different perks. Dreamstime/TNS

By Lisa Gerstner From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Is your old rewards credit card not so rewarding any more? If so, you might want to shop for a new one.

“Many changes over the last few years have brought more value to regular, everyday spending,” says Cyndie Martini, CEO and founder of card-processing platform Member Access Processing.

Here are some of the top cash-back rewards offerings today.

Flat-Rate Cash Back

Citi Double Cash Mastercard. Get a total 2 percent cash back on everything you buy: 1 percent when you make a purchase and an additional 1 percent when you pay the bill. Rewards are tracked as Citi Thank-You points, which you can exchange at a rate of 1 cent apiece for a statement credit, direct deposit into your bank account or check.

Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union Crystal Visa.  Annual fee: $99, waived the first year; sign-up bonus: $100 back if you spend $5,000 in the first three months.

Earn a whopping 3 percent cash back on all spending the first year you have this card. After that, you get 2.5 percent back—a strong rate that makes the annual fee worthwhile for those who spend enough to justify it. The amount of spending that exceeds $10,000 each month does not earn rewards, which are given as points that you can trade at a rate of a penny each for cash back.

Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa. Sign-up bonus: $200 back if you spend $1,000 in the first three months.

Cardholders get 2 percent cash back on everything they buy. Redemption options include statement credits on purchases, a credit to other qualifying Wells Fargo accounts (including a checking account or mortgage) and gift cards.

Cash Back in Rotating Categories

Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard. Sign-up bonus: $200 back if you spend $500 in the first three months; 5 percent back on grocery store purchases on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.

Cardholders get 5 percent back on up to $1,500 spent each quarter in rotating categories. You also get year-round rewards of 5 percent back on travel purchased through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program, 3 percent on restaurant and drugstore purchases, and 1 percent on all other spending. You can trade the Ultimate Rewards points that you earn at a rate of a penny each for cash back, gift cards or travel bookings.

U.S. Bank+Visa Signature. Sign-up bonus: $200 back if you spend $1,000 in the first 120 days.

Each quarter, you choose two categories that earn 5 percent back on up to $2,000 in combined spending. You also select one category that earns 2 percent back. Prepaid travel bookings through U.S. Bank earn 5 percent back, and all other spending earns 1 percent back. Redeem cash back as a statement credit, a deposit into a U.S. Bank account or a prepaid debit card.

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