December 17, 2024: A credit card that offers unlimited 2% cash back with no annual fee is a wallet staple. Having a 2% credit card as your default card allow you to ignore any card that earns less and dramatically simplify your wallet.
Here’s our take on the credit cards that earn unlimited 2% cash back with no annual fee.
The best 2% no annual fee credit cards
Best with extended warranty coverage: Citi Double Cash® Card
2% unlimited cash back: 1% when you buy, 1% as you pay. Rewards earned as ThankYou Points. Annual fee: annual_fees
Best benefits on a 2% card: TD Double Up℠ Credit Card
Unlimited 2% cash back, plus great consumer insurance benefits. Not available in every state. Annual fee: $0
Best for Amex offers: Bread Cashback™ American Express® Credit Card
Unlimited 2% cash back, plus access to Amex offers. Annual fee: $0
Best with cell phone protection: Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Unlimited 2% cash back, with cell phone protection. Annual fee: $0
Best for building a relationship with U.S. Bank: U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card
Unlimited 2% cash back, and up to 4% cash back with $100,000+ on deposit. Annual fee: $0
Editor’s pick: Citi Double Cash® Card
In our view, the best 2% cash back card that’s available nationwide is the Citi Double Cash® Card.
Citi recently added extended warranty benefits back to many of its cards, including the Double Cash. In our view, extended warranty is one of the two most important benefits (the second being purchase protection) to have on your “everywhere else” card. Frankly, it is that benefit that brings this card to the top of our list.
Second, you can actually end up with more than 2% cash back with the Citi Double Cash card, if you combine it with another card. When you also hold a Citi Rewards+® Card and combine your ThankYou Rewards accounts, you’ll get a 10% point rebate on up to 100,000 points you redeem during the year. The upshot is that you can effectively earn 2.222% cash back with this card combination.
Honorable mention: TD Double Up℠ Credit Card
If you live within TD Bank’s regional footprint, you have another great option to consider. The TD Double Up℠ Credit Card beats the Citi Double Cash® Card if you’re looking for a card with great benefits.
While the other cards on our list include few, if any, substantive benefits, the Double Up offers cell phone protection, purchase security, extended warranty protection and lost luggage reimbursement. That’s impressive for any card with no annual fee, let alone one with generous cash back rewards everywhere.
But if you’re living in most of the country, you’re out of luck. You might be able to get the Double Up by applying in-branch on a trip to the East Coast, which might be worth it given the strength of the card’s benefits.
If TD Bank were to open up the Double Up card to online applications nationally, the card would shoot up to the top of our list.
Citi Double Cash® Card
What sets the Citi Double Cash® Card apart: Citi’s recently added extended warranty benefit makes the card great as an everywhere else card—you won’t have to choose between rewards and protecting your purchases. Also, when you have both the Double Cash and the Rewards+ card, you can increase your effective cash back, thanks to the Rewards+ 10% rebate on up to 100,000 ThankYou Points redeemed each calendar year.
Welcome offer: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
Annual fee: annual_fees.
Learn more: Read our review of the Double Cash or check out the rewards opportunities within the Citi ThankYou Points® program.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee
All information about the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The Citi Double Cash® Card is the card you want to use “everywhere else” if you’re collecting ThankYou® Points and it’s also great as a 2% cash back everywhere card. The recent addition of an extended warranty benefit substantially ups the card’s value for many.
Sign-up bonus
Best sign-up bonus: bonus_miles_full
This bonus is marketed as cash back, but earned as Citi ThankYou® Points.
Rewards
- 5% total cash back on hotel, car rental, and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal.
- 2% cash back on every purchase
Earn 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay.
Rewards are earned as Citi ThankYou® Points.
Benefits
- Extended warranty
TD Double Up℠ Credit Card
What sets the TD Double Up℠ Credit Card apart: Two percent cash back combined with an extensive list of benefits including cell phone protection, purchase protection, and extended warranty protection mean that it’s hard to beat the Double Up… if you can get it. Unfortunately, the card is only available to you if you live within TD Bank’s limited footprint on the East Coast.
Welcome offer: Earn $150 Cash Back in the form of a statement credit when you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days after account opening. Learn how to apply.
Annual fee: $0.
Annual fee: $0
Foreign transaction fee: 3%
All information about the TD Double Up℠ credit card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The TD Double Up℠ credit card is a great option for a 2% cash back credit card available with no annual fee. Unfortunately, you can only get the card if you live within TD Bank’s U.S. service area.
Sign-up bonus
Best sign-up bonus: Earn $150 Cash Back in the form of a statement credit when you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days after account opening
This bonus is earned as a statement credit.
Rewards
Earn unlimited 2% cash back on all eligible purchases.
Rewards are earned as cash back rewards.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
- Cell phone protection.
- Purchase security.
Travel insurance benefits
- Lost luggage reimbursement.
- Travel and emergency assistance services.
- Roadside dispatch.
- Travel accident insurance.
Bread Cashback™ American Express® Credit Card
What sets the Bread Cashback™ American Express® Credit Card apart: Amex Offers. These targeted offers can be quite valuable, offering usable rebates at places you might be shopping anyway. Combine that with unlimited 2% cash back and you’ve got a card that has the potential to earn you a massive amount of rewards, provided you’re willing to enroll in the Amex offers.
Welcome offer: No public online offer exists for this card. Learn how to apply.
Annual fee: $0.
Learn more: We recently reviewed the Bread Cashback Amex card. If you’re interested in the card, you’ll want to check out our coverage of Amex Offers as well.
Annual fee: $0
Foreign transaction fee: None
All information about the Bread Cashback™ American Express® Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The Bread Cashback™ American Express® Credit Card offers unlimited 2% cash back on an American Express card with Amex Purchase Protection.
Sign-up bonus
The Bread Cashback™ American Express® Credit Card does not offer a welcome bonus.
Rewards
Earn unlimited 2% cash back on purchases when you use your card with no reward caps, opt-ins, or categories.
Rewards are earned as cash back.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
- Purchase protection
Travel insurance benefits
- Car rental loss & damage insurance.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
What sets the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card apart: A cell phone protection benefit with a super-low deductible. If you pay for a monthly cell phone plan, putting your monthly bill on a card that can protect your cell phone against damage for free makes sense. And the card’s $25 deductible means you won’t be out several hundred dollars before the cell phone protection kicks in.
Welcome offer: Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus when you spend $500 in purchases in the first 3 months. Learn how to apply.
Annual fee: $0.
Learn more: Check our our review of the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee
All information about the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card offers unlimited 2% cash back with no annual fee, with a limited set of benefits that includes cellular telephone protection.
Sign-up bonus
Best sign-up bonus: bonus_miles_full
This bonus is earned as additional cash rewards.
Rewards
Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.
Rewards are earned as cash back, but can be transferred to an Autograph Journey℠ card, where they become transferrable points.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
- Cellular telephone protection.
$600 of coverage, subject to a $25 deductible
Travel insurance benefits
- Auto rental collision damage waiver.
Secondary coverage within the U.S. - Travel and Emergency Assistance Services
- Roadside Dispatch®
U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card
What sets the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card apart: On its own, the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card isn’t terribly impressive. It offers 2% cash back rewards, but nothing else. But the card becomes really interesting when you have a large amount of money on deposit or in investment accounts with U.S. Bank. With eligible deposit and investment balances of $100,000 or more, the card earns 4% cash back. Impressive.
Welcome offer: The card does not currently have a new cardmember welcome offer. Learn how to apply.
Annual fee: $0.
Annual fee: $0
Requires $100,000 of investments with U.S. Bank to earn the best rewards. Most investment accounts have a $50 annual account maintenance fee.
All information about the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card is a new offering that promises up to 4% cash back for customers who hold over $100,000 of assets with U.S. Bank.
Sign-up bonus
U.S. Bank is not offering a sign-up bonus on the Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card at this time.
Rewards
Unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase.
Up to an additional 2% cash back if you have a U.S. Bank Smartly® Savings account and hold a significant amount of deposits with U.S. Bank. Qualifying deposits include balances in U.S. Bank deposit, trust, and investment accounts.
- Earn a total of 2.5% with a qualifying balance between $5,000 and $49,999.
- Earn a total of 3% with a qualifying balance between $50,000 and $99,999.
- Earn a total of 4% with a qualifying balance of $100,000 or more.
Rewards are earned as points which must be redeemed as a credit into an eligible U.S. Bank deposit account if you want to get the full amount of cash back.
Benefits
The U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card does not advertise any significant benefits beyond its cash back. We are working on confirming with U.S. Bank whether the card offers any additional benefits like extended warranty or purchase protection.
How we picked: Our considerations and criteria
When we refreshed our list of 2% credit cards, we wanted to put together a list of cards that you could use as your baseline rewards card. Here’s how we put together our list:
- 2% everywhere with no caps. The cards on our list earn 2% everywhere, with no restrictions about where you can earn rewards or how much you can earn. It doesn’t matter if you spend $100 per month or $100,000—you’ll earn 2% cash back on all of it.
- Cash back rewards. All of the cards on our list earn cash back rewards or rewards points that can be redeemed for cash back. Some cards advertise 2% rewards or 2x rewards, but we only include cards that allow you to redeem your rewards for cash.
- No annual fee. We only included cards with no annual fee on this list.
- No requirement to use Apple Pay or mobile wallet. The Apple fans will point out that the Apple Card can earn 2% rewards—if you use Apple Pay. We’d rather get a card that earns 2% everywhere without any hoops to jump through.
How to use a 2% cash back card: A baseline for earning rewards
I recommend that everyone at least consider a 2% cash back card. It can make a handy backup card and a great card to use when you don’t have a compelling reason to use another card. Even if you don’t choose to pick up a 2% cash card, knowing that on any given purchase, you can always get 2% cash back can help you make more informed choices about how you use credit cards.
For example, a lot of people will use an airline card for everything and earn one mile per dollar on most of their purchases. Using Delta SkyMiles as an example (because I recently published an article about how much a SkyMile is worth), one Delta SkyMile is worth slightly more than a penny on average. Would I rather earn slightly more than a penny or 2% cash back. That choice is easy.
Sometimes getting less than 2% cash back makes sense
While you might be tempted to pledge yourself to never getting less than 2% cash back, there are times when it makes sense to accept fewer rewards. Here are some examples of when I choose to get less than 2% cash back on my purchase.
- Return protection. A return protection benefit means that I can get some great deals on clothing online, especially with final sale items that I think will work out, but that I’m not sure about. One $50 return protection claim on a Lululemon final sale item means I’ve more than made up for any cash back I’ve lost.
- Travel protections. Some cards may offer less rewards, but with great travel protections. And if you’re delayed overnight for weather, having your credit card pay for your hotel is pretty great.
Bottom line: 2% cash back should be your baseline for rewards
When you have a 2% cash back card in your wallet, you can ignore a large swath of the rewards credit card space. With few exceptions, having access to 2% cash back means that you should never earn just 1 point per dollar. For most, we think that the Citi Double Cash is the best choice, but there are a handful of 2% cards that offer compelling value.
