topic Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers in Credit Cards

Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

E36 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:20:39 GMT

Here is a chart comparing cash back and rewards cards from the Biggest Credit Card Issuers:

Factors when choosing credit card issuer.

Banking Relationship
Eligibility
Rewards & Perks
Fees, Restrictions, Spending Caps
Rewards Program and Transfer Partner
Payment Network
Credit Limits
Customer Service

I'm going to start with rewards.

Flat-Rate Cash Back: 2% CB is the standard

2% CB was uncommon before 2014. Fidelity lauched a 2% CB card in 2003. It wasn't until 2013, when Capital One launched QuickSilver at 1.5% CB and 2014 when Citi launched Double Cash at 2%, that the other major credit cards followed suit. Today, many banks and credit unions offer 2% CB with some offering CB higher than 2%

It's great to have a catch-all flat rate cards for spending that earns only 1% on other cards.

1.5% Cash Back

CB	Network	Bank	Card Name	FTF	Perks
1.5%	Visa	Chase	Freedom Unlimited	3%	3% Dining & Pharmacy Sapphire Cardholders can transfer Points to Travel Partners
1.5%	MC / Visa	NavyFed	Cash Rewards	No FTF	Upgrades to Cash Rewards Plus at $5K CL
1.5%	MC	CapitalOne	Quicksilver	No FTF
1.5%	Visa	Bank of America	Unlimited Cash	3%	Increase to 2.625% with $100K Balance

In the world of 2% CB cards, why would anyone get a 1.5% CB Card?

The short answer is you wouldn't, but there are some specific use.

Let's start with Capital One Quicksilver and NavyFed. They both don't have Foreign Transaction Fees. The other major credit card issuers charge FTF of 3%. So if you need a card to travel, these can come in handy. CapitalOne and NavyFed have lower requirements for eligibility. NavyFed will upgrade your card to CashRewards Plus 2% CB Card once you reach $5K CL.

Next is Bank of America Unlimited Cash. The base rate is 1.5%, but if you bank wth Bank of America and Merill Lynch, you can qualify for higher rewards:

Tier	Balance	CB
	$0K	1.5%
Gold	$20K	1.875%
Platinum	$50K	2.25%
Platinum Honors	$100K	2.625%

This is great because your investments, savings, and checking all count towards the requirement.

Last is Chase Freedom Unlimited. Why would you choose this 1.5% CB card?

1. Chase Freedom Unlimited gives 3%CB on Dining.

2. Chase Freedom Unlimited CB can be redeemed Ultimate Reward Points. If you are a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card holder, you can transfer the 1.5x earned from Chase Freedom Unlimited with its hotel or airline partner, which makes that 1.5 points worh more than 1.5 cents. It has potential of being worht more than the 2% CB you would get from other cards.

2% CB Cards

CB	Network	Bank	Card Name	FTF	Perks
2%	Citi	MC	Double Cash	3%	Citi accepts Debit Card for payment. Strate Premier/Elite Cardholders can transfer Points to Travel Partners
2%	Navy Federal	Visa	Cash Rewards Plus	No FTF
2%	Wells Fargo	Visa	Active Cash	3%
2%	US Bank	Visa	Smartly	3%	Metal Card

Let's start with the standard 2% CB Cards: Wells Fargo Active Cash and US Bank Smartly.

Wells Fargo heavily marketed this card when they first released it in 2021. US Bank Smartly was late to the game releasing Smartly in 2024.

US Bank Smartly got a lot of buzz for it's 4% CB. It faced backlash when the card got nerfed. But it's not a bad card. If you look at it, it's an average 2% CB card. The one perk if it matters is that it's a metal card (as of now), which is uncommon to see in a no-AF, non-cobranded card.

Between US Bank and Wells Fargo, it comes down to eligibility, banking relationship, and UI (app, website, redemption) preferences.

Next is Navy Fed. NavyFed offers no FTFs. As mentioned before, NavyFed has a higher risk-tolerance for credit card holders. The caveat is that NavyFed requires members to be military or associated with military. Not to worry, there are many regional banks and credit unions that offer cards with the exact same benefits (no FTF, 2% CB) as Navy Fed.

Last is citi Double Cash. There is one quirk, you earn 1% + 1%. 1% when you spend. 1% when you pay. It's essentially 2%. The unique perk with citi is citi accepts debit card for payments. If you have a debit card that gives 1% CB, you are earning an additional 1%. That 2% is now 3% Cashback. One con of citi is that Double Cash is a MasterCard, which means you can't use it at Costco.

2.25%+ CB Cards

US Bank

CB	Credit Card	Requirements	FTF	Restrictions
4%	US Bank Smartly	$100K	3%	See below
3%	US Bank Smartly	$50K	3%
2.5%	US Bank Smartly	$10K	3%
2%	US Bank Smartly	$0K	3%

Bank of America

CB	Credit Card	Requirements	FTF
2.625%	BofA Unlimited	$100K	3%
2.25%	BofA Unlimited	$50K	3%
1.875%	BofA Unlimited	$20K	3%
1.5%	BofA Unlimited	$0K	3%

Other Options

CB	Credit Card	Requirements	FTF	Restrictions & Perks
3%	Robinhood Gold	RG Subscription	No FTF	Metal Card Restricted Categories
3%	Aven		No FTF	Metal Card First $10K at 3%
3%	AOD		No FTF	First $1.5K per cycle at 3%

US Bank

At first glance, US Smartly looks like a great option at 4% CB. Unfortunately, they nerfed it. $100K Balance is required to be in checking account. Investment brokerage accounts don't count. Savings don't count. You loose money (up to thousands of dollars a year) that you would make in investments or interest parking your money in US Bank checking.

Some spending categories don't earn bonus (Not that you would wan't to meet the requirements to earn the bonus anyways). Education or tuition payments, gift cards, insurance, taxes, business-to-business transactions and third-party bill payment services will earn only 2% cash back.

That leaves Aven, Robinhood Gold, AOD, and BofA.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards have been around since 2014, so it's stood the test of time. It's also unlimited and does not have the spending restrictions Robinhood Gold does. All our great options, but if you have a banking relationship and your investment brokerage account with Merril Lynch, BofA cards are worth looking at. With recent nerfs (Alliant 2.5CB discontinung, US Bank Smartly nerf, AOD nerf), it may be worth having BofA Unlimited if you are Platinum Honors status. If not, Robinhood Gold, Aven, and AOD are great options if you are eligible. If not, 2% CB cards are dependable.

I will continue Comparing Rewards in another post.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

ElvisCaprice — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 23:41:50 GMT

Good start, there are so many factors in this, rewards, SUB's, spending caps, FTF's, AF's, asset boosters. All the one off issuances.

But that's just CC's, the real growth, money makers/rewards are in the cash back debit cards. They have come to dwarf my returns in CC's, overall. And they hardly have any bearing on the credit file/score game. It's the wild west and I think it's just started.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

SusanJA — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 23:19:00 GMT

Nice work! What's your main takeaway, beyond the parity?

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

E36 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:40:37 GMT

@SusanJA wrote:
Nice work! What's your main takeaway, beyond the parity?

Different Strokes for Different Folks. There's no one size fits all.

If you look at the history of the following 7:

Chase
American Express
citi
Capital One
US Bank+
Discover
Bank of America
Some Retail Cards (Costco, AAA, Save Your Way)

They all influenced rewards to make what it is today. They have the data to show what works and what doesn't. Fin Tech, New Companies, Smaller Banks and Credit Unions (whether through Elan Max or themselves) are now also offering better rewards.

Flat Rate Cashback: 1.5-2% became the standard floor after Capital One & Citi in 2013/2014

Let's start with flat-rate cash back. Discover was the first to offer CB (1%) in 1985. The first major instution to offer 2% was Fidelity with BofA and Amex in 2003. Others were 1%. Capital One offered 1% then the annual promo of adding additional .5% (or 50% of your annual rewards on your anniversary or something like that) so still 1.5%. Citi Cash returns at 1%. Capital One Quicksilver laucnhed 1.5% CB in 2013. It really was Citi Double Cash that really popularized 2% in 2014. Chase released Freedom Unlimited 1.5% in 2016. A lot of the 2% CB that we see now: Wells Fargo Active Cash, FNBO Evergreen etc. launched in 2021. Even lenders like Avant (Web Bank), Comenity (Bread Financial), and Synchrony offer 2% CB now.

Discover, citi, and Chase popularized the 5% Rotating Categories. Redstone recently nerfed their card, showing that rotating categories is more sustainable/profitable

Quartely Rotating 5% CB Categories

2000s - Discover Promos
2005 - Citi Dividends
2007 - Discover Quarterly 5% Categories
2007 - Chase Freedom (OG, was released in 2006, 5% categories were added in 2007)
2013 - Discover It (current)

American Express again leads the charge for rewards. It's able to because of higher merchant processing fees, annual fees, and being the issuer and lender. Really it was around 2011, where BofA, Amex started focusing on Gas and Dining. Wells Partnered with Amex to offer this with Propel 365 for $45 AF then $0AF in 2016. In 2017, Savor launched with 3% Dining and 2% Gas. Capital One really cost people's attention with 4% Dining and 3% Gas. People with $0AF are grandfathered in. People were willing to pay $95AF for it and it was a metal card. Today, Savor is only offered in $0AF (Plastic) with 3% Dining and Groceries. Today, even cards like Ollo by Merrick Bank and Mission Lane offer 3% Categories.

3% Dining, Gas, or Groceries or all three

2000-2011 Original Blue Cash 5%CB on Groceries, Gas AFTER $6,500 at 1%CB
2004 - Costco American Express 3% Gas, 2% Dining, 1% Everything Else
2006-2010 - Chase Freedom OG (3% on top 3 Spending Categories Capped) Later replaced with Rotating Category
2011 - Bank of America Ameircard Cash Rewards 3% Gas, 2% Dining
2011- Blue Cash Preferred (Hype for 6% CB Groceries with $75AF)
2011 - Blue Cash Everyday 3% Groceries, Gas (No AF)
2014 - Wells Fargo + Amex Propel 365 3X Gas, 2X Dining ($45AF)
2016 - Wells Fargo Propel 3X Gas, 2X Dining (No AF)
2017 - Savor 3% Dining, 2% Groceries (No AF)
2018 - Savor 4% Dining, 3% Groceries (Hype for 4% CB Groceries for $95AF /$0 AF depending on the card)
2018 - SavorOne (now Savor) 3% Dining, 3% Groceries ($0 AF) Current Offer
2020 - Chase Freedom adds 3% CB Dining Category
2022 - Wells Fargo Autograph 3X Dining, 3 Gas (replaces Propel)

American Express pioneered premium spending. Amex Green and Gold been around since the 1960s with Amex Platinum launching in 1984. I really believed that the Black Centurion Card in 1999 brought more awareness to Amex Platinum Cards. Amex collaborated with citi to offer citi Chairman. Which citi then created citi Prestige in 2011. Meanwhile Chase launched Sapphire Preferred in 2009. That was gaining traction. In 2016, the Chase Sapphire Reserve brought more attention and really showed how powerful transfer partners could be. I also believe that is the first US Visa Infinite card.

Premium Cards

1966 – Amex Gold
1969 – Amex Green
1984 – Amex Platinum ($250 AF)
2005-2013 – citi Chairman ($400 AF)
2011-2021 – citi Prestige ($450-495 AF)
2009-Present – Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95AF)
2016-Present – Chase Sapphire Reserve ($450-795 AF)
2021-Present – CapitalOne Venture X ($325AF)
2024-Present – Citi Strata Premier ($95 AF)
2025-Present – Citi Strata Elite ($550 AF)

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

ptatohed — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 01:57:33 GMT

Thanks E36!

Let's not forget that when Discover (actually branded as all CAPS (but I try to keep my 'yelling' at a minimum, lol)) didn't start at a full 1%! Without looking it up, IIRC, it was 0.25% for your first $1000 annual spend, then 0.50% for you next, etc., then you got the full 1% after you spent $3000 in a year. Something like that. We've come a long way!!!

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

E36 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 02:19:34 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
Thanks E36!

Let's not forget that when Discover (actually branded as all CAPS (but I try to keep my 'yelling' at a minimum, lol)) didn't start at a full 1%! Without looking it up, IIRC, it was 0.25% for your first $1000 annual spend, then 0.50% for you next, etc., then you got the full 1% after you spent $3000 in a year. Something like that. We've come a long way!!!

Thanks! I'm learning. And Discover 1985 is before my time. lol.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

DeeBee78 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 03:35:30 GMT

My main takeaway from this chart is US Bank really has some ugly card designs.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

E36 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 04:31:57 GMT

@DeeBee78 wrote:
My main takeaway from this chart is US Bank really has some ugly card designs.

ngl, I would get a US Smartly 2% CB just for the Metal Card and design. It's a metal card (for now) for $0AF. I'm a sucker for metal cards.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

FicoMike0 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:16:07 GMT

The usb shoppers is metal and, it lights up!

the aven 3% card is metal.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

odd_dog — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:51:18 GMT

This is really nice, thanks, wondering why Amex Green made Premium and Gold is nowhere to be found on chart? Subjective but I always thought Gold was more "premium" than Green.....

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

E36 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:05:22 GMT

@odd_dog wrote:
This is really nice, thanks, wondering why Amex Green made Premium and Gold is nowhere to be found on chart? Subjective but I always thought Gold was more "premium" than Green.....

I wanted to put all 3. Gold goes between Green and Platinum. Gold offers a lot more rewards than Sapphire Preferred, Venture, Strata. It also cost a lot more at $325AF. Maybe in the next reiteration, I'll put both on the Premium Tier.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

E36 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:23:23 GMT

@ElvisCaprice wrote:
Good start, there are so many factors in this, rewards, SUB's, spending caps, FTF's, AF's, asset boosters. All the one off issuances.

But that's just CC's, the real growth, money makers/rewards are in the cash back debit cards. They have come to dwarf my returns in CC's, overall. And they hardly have any bearing on the credit file/score game. It's the wild west and I think it's just started.

Interesting. I have to learn more!

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

Vinjints — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:50:52 GMT

I think @ElvisCaprice should make a follow on thread on maximizing all of these 1% CB debits.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers

ElvisCaprice — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 03:26:55 GMT

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

Tdatb64 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:39:16 GMT

I'm in my 60s with a bum ticker & various other ailments so the drugstore is an unfortunately significant factor in my life and the Chase Freedom Unlimited is worth having just for the 3% cashback it gives me there. Plus, Chase is my bank and my branch is a 2-block walk from my front door.

I'm actually on my way out the door to pick-up some prescriptions right now - guess how I'll be paying...

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

E36 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 01:12:22 GMT

@Tdatb64 wrote:
I'm in my 60s with a bum ticker & various other ailments so the drugstore is an unfortunately significant factor in my life and the Chase Freedom Unlimited is worth having just for the 3% cashback it gives me there. Plus, Chase is my bank and my branch is a 2-block walk from my front door.

I'm actually on my way out the door to pick-up some prescriptions right now - guess how I'll be paying...

Good to know. It is an uncommon category. I've seen 3% back on drugstores with Ollo and AAA Daily Advaantage (Cap). Citi Custom Cash can also choose drug store for up to $500 monthly spending with custom cash. You are absolutely right. Drugstore and Dining make Freedom Unlimited a good card to hold.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

Turbobuick — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 02:29:13 GMT

As Platinum Honors customers, Bank of America compensates us about $2,000 a year via cc rebates to tolerate Merrill Edge. lol

That doesn't include free checking, free savings, free savings deposit box, free ATM anywhere and the daily deals, but they chopped offers to about 1/3 recently.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

galahad15 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:29:47 GMT

FYI / Correction please: I forget the specific exact year that it was introduced, but Cap1 offered 2% cashback as early as the late-1990s, with the Cap1 No Hassle Miles Ultra card (i.e., the precursor from Cap1 to the modern Venture card). It offered 2% cashback for every purchase. Some cards had an AF, but I had one that was later auto-converted to a Venture with no AF, as listed in my sig line.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

E36 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:07:13 GMT

@Galahad

2000s- "Capital One® No Hassle Miles Ultra—For Professionals" earned 2X miles per dollar. It had a $39 AG

2008 - Preferred No Hassle Miles. (Business version) https://investor.capitalone.com/news-releases/news-release-details/new-credit-card-offers-small-business-owners-twice-rewards

Cashback it was worth 0.5 CPP, making it 1% CB

I found a 2007 Flyer Talk Thread:

Q: How does the No Hassle Miles card work with cash back?

A: Each dollar you spend in purchases with your card earns you two miles. Once you've accumulated 20,000 miles, you can redeem your miles for $100 cash back.

It was also worth 1:0.8 Ratio for Airline Tickets.

i found this in 2005 Flyer Talk:

"The No Hassle Miles Ultra MasterCard is intended to be used for business-to-business purchases only.". Lastly, the miles are not like your typical airline miles where you can redeem 25,000 miles for a ticket w/i the continental US but rather have no blackout date and no restrictions but it takes 125 miles to get $1 off of a ticket.

Eventually this card became Capital One Venture One (No AF). 2011 Alec Baldwin Commercials showed it earned 2X miles. They had the match my miles promo which matched the miles earned which made it 4X miles per dollar.

Not sure about the CPP back then.

Capital One had Cash Rewards which gave 1% CB. In 2012, Jimmy Fallon commercials said you can earn an extra 50% once a year (makes it 1.5%) and makes a big deal out of it.

In 2008, Charles Schwab launches Invest First. The Schwab Bank Invest First™ card gives you unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase, automatically deposited into a Schwab One® brokerage account each month.

Personally, I got my first capital one card in 2007, it was a platinum card with choose your own design much like Discover today. I chose a black card with a bald eagle. They also had Card Lab to upload your own picture. I uploaded my own pic later on.

In 2012, Capital One purchased HSBC credit card portfolio (Household/Orchard Bank, HSBC cards) . they also bought out ING Direct US, cafes, online banking.

My got my first credit card in 2005, so I don't remember the 1990s. I did my family business bookkeeping in 2000s.

2000s people were borrowing money like crazy. It's why we had the 2007 crisis (also no income verification, subprime mortgage).

but just like the houses, they were handing out credit limits like crazy. A lot of risky borrowers just borrowed, credit cards made a ton of interest fees. Rewards didn't make sense backfire a lot of people because they were paying interest which would defeat and negate any positive effects of the rewards.

IIRC, a lot of credit card offers competed with teaser APRs or promo $0. Credit cards were different, a lot of the cards used the word "Platinum" even though it had no rewards. Today we know that as basic cards. But back then they really made the platinum cards look different than basic cards. MBNA, BoFA, Chase, WaMu had Platinum. Citi had platinum which eventually had "Diamond Preferred" but really they were just rebranding their basic cards. Capital one choose your own design. NGL I loved my WaMu platinum because it looked the nicest of any of my cards. (They all didn't have rewards) my rewards card was Amex Gold then Platinum which were pay in full cards every month. No pay over time. I'm pretty sure they would suspend or close your account if you didn't pay in full. That is to say, rewards were rare. I earned on my Business Debit Card in the 2000s. I got my first Flat Screen TV and that was around .8-1% point back per purchase. I remember when Chase bought out WaMu they converted my card to Slate.

When I was doing research, I saw a promo I think from Citi that offered 3 or 5% back but only for the first 3 months then it would drop to 1%. Those were the kind of weird offers in 2000s.

Old Blue Cash was 5% CB after you spend $6500 at 1%on everday purchase. People loved that card.

just my personal anecdotes.

Re: Comparing Rewards of the Top 8 Credit Card Issuers (Pt. 1 Flat-Rate CB)

galahad15 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:00:51 GMT

@E36: thanks for the valuable clarification, yes you are correct about the 50% cashback value for redeeming for cashback for the Cap1 No Hassle Miles Ultra card. Hoiwever, if you were hypothetically redeeming it for travel purchases rather than cashback per se, it could still be redeemed at a full value 1:1 ratio.