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CVS is one of the largest chain pharmacies and one of the largest retailers in the United States. If you shop frequently at CVS, using the right credit card can put more rewards in your pocket. And the best part? Many of the best cards to use at CVS are cards that you might have in your wallet anyway.
Here are the best credit cards to use at CVS.
In this article…
Overview: The best cards for shopping at CVS
Here are the credit cards that offer the best rewards and benefits for shopping at CVS:
 | Best card for rewards at CVS with no annual fee: Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Unlimited 3% cash back at drugstores, extended warranty, no annual fee. |
 | Another great pick with uncapped 3% rewards: Chase Freedom Flex®. 3% cash back at drugstores, extended warranty, no annual fee. |
 | Highest cash back rewards rate at CVS: Citi Custom Cash® Card 5% cash back on up to $500 spent each statement cycle, no annual fee. |
 | Maximum uncapped rewards with mobile wallet: U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card. 3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards when you use mobile wallet to pay, extended warranty, $400 annual fee. |
How we picked: Our considerations and criteria
Here’s what we considered when selecting cards for our list of the best cards to use at CVS:
- Maximum cash back. Most likely, you’re looking for the maximum cash back available on your CVS purchases, so we’ve included cards that offer better than 2% cash back on your purchases.
- Reward caps. If you’re spending a lot of money at CVS, it’s likely to be on expensive prescription drugs or on gift cards. Most of our picks have no rewards cap, though pay special attention to our note about the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card if you’re planning on buying gift cards.
- Extended warranty, return protection, and purchase protection. You’re probably not going to be buying a new laptop from CVS, but you might buy an electric toothbrush, a wireless mouse, or a phone charger. Having these consumer benefits can be a nice-to-have for these purchases.
The best credit cards to use at CVS
Here’s a bit more on each of our picks for credit cards to use at CVS.
Best card for rewards at CVS with no annual fee: Chase Freedom Unlimited®
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is one of the few credit cards with no annual fee that offers 3% cash back rewards at drug stores, so naturally it’s one of our top picks for the best cards to use at CVS.
The card is also a great pick for your card to use “everywhere else” for its 1.5% cash back rewards. Sure, that’s not 2% cash back rewards that you can get with some other cards, but the fact that the Freedom Unlimited includes an extended warranty benefit and purchase protection means you don’t have to juggle a dozen cards to have the benefits you need when you need them.
Read more about the Chase Freedom Unlimited card in our card overview.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a great card to have as your “default” card to use everywhere and its 3% cash back rewards at drugstores, including CVS, are a nice perk.
Sign-up bonus
Online affiliate offer: bonus_miles_full
Learn how to apply for the “extra 1.5%” offer being promoted through affiliate channels.
Direct and referral offer: As of November 25, 2024, referral links are showing the following offer: Earn a $250 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Here’s a referral link from one of our newsletter subscribers where you can learn more and apply for this offer.
You’ll earn more points with the “extra 1.5%” offer if you spend more than about $17,000 on the card in your first year.
Rewards
- 5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠.
- 5% on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025.
- 3% on dining at restaurants, including eligible takeout and delivery services.
- 3% drugstore purchases.
- 1.5% on other purchases.
Rewards are marketed as cash back, but earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
Ultimate Rewards® can be combined across cards you hold. If you hold a premium Ultimate Rewards card, you can transfer your points to Chase’s transfer partners or use your points for increased value when you book travel through Chase Travel℠. For more about using Ultimate Rewards, check out our guide on the Ultimate Rewards program.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
Travel insurance benefits
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver.
- Travel and emergency assistance services.
Partner benefits and statement credits
- 3 complimentary months of DashPass. After your 3 months, you are automatically enrolled in DashPass at 50% off for the next 9 months. Activate by January 31, 2025.
Another great pick with uncapped 3% rewards: Chase Freedom Flex®
The Chase Freedom Flex® is Chase’s rotating category card. The card offers 5% rotating category rewards in addition to its 3% cash back at drugstores.
If you have this card, you probably also hold the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, so you could use either card for equivalent rewards at CVS. But if you’re a small business owner and using the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card for its 1.5% cash back rewards, you can add the Freedom Flex to your wallet and earn more rewards at CVS.
Learn more about the Chase Freedom Flex® and its signature perk: 5% rewards in rotating quarterly categories.
Annual fee: $0
Foreign transaction fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction in U.S. dollars
All information about the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The Chase Freedom Flex® offers 5% rewards on up to $1,500 in purchases in rotating categories each quarter when you activate.
Sign-up bonus
Learn more about sign-up bonuses in our article covering the best Freedom Flex bonuses.
The Chase Freedom Flex offers different sign-up bonuses based on the channel you’re applying through
Best bonus online: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply.
The Freedom Flex sometimes offers a better welcome bonus in-branch. We’ll publish any in-branch offers we find in our coverage of the best Chase Freedom Flex sign-up bonuses.
These bonuses are marketed as cash back, but earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
Rewards
- 5% in quarterly rotating categories
on up to $1,500 in total combined purchases each quarter when you activate. - 5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 5% on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025.
- 3% on dining, including eligible takeout and delivery services.
- 3% on drugstore purchases.
- 1% on other purchases.
Rewards are marketed as cash back, but earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
Ultimate Rewards® can be combined across cards you hold. If you hold a premium Ultimate Rewards card, you can transfer your points to Chase’s transfer partners or use your points for increased value when you book travel through Chase Travel℠. For more about using Ultimate Rewards, check out our guide on the Ultimate Rewards program.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
- Purchase protection.
- Extended warranty protection.
- Cell phone protection.
Travel insurance benefits
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver.
- Travel and emergency assistance services.
Partner benefits and statement credits
- 3 complimentary months of DashPass. After your 3 months, you are automatically enrolled in DashPass at 50% off for the next 9 months. Activate by January 31, 2025.
Highest rewards rate at CVS: Citi Custom Cash® Card
The Citi Custom Cash® Card offers you the highest rate of cash back possible at CVS: Up to 5%. You’ll earn 5% on the first $500 you spend each statement cycle in your highest-spending eligible category.
That’s a lot of complexity, but the bottom line is if you use the card solely for CVS (and other drugstore purchases) you’ll earn 5% on up to $500 spent each statement cycle.
The Citi Custom Cash card is quite versatile, and you might find it is more lucrative to use it in one of its other eligible categories, like grocery stores, gas stations, or restaurants. Citi will only approve you for one Custom Cash card directly, but there is a way to get multiple Custom Cash cards if you’re willing to product change another card.
Learn more about the Citi Custom Cash® in our card overview.
Annual fee: annual_fees
All information about the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
If you use the card mostly at drugstores, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card can get you 5% cash back on up to $500 spent each statement cycle.
Welcome offer
Best sign-up bonus: bonus_miles_full
This bonus is marketed as cash back, but earned as ThankYou® Points.
Rewards
- 5% cash back on your top eligible spend category each billing cycle on up to $500 spent.
- 5% on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2025.
- 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Rewards are marketed as cash back, but earned as Citi ThankYou® points.
5% eligible categories
5% eligible categories include:
- Restaurants
- Gas stations
- Grocery stores
- Select travel
- Select transit
- Select streaming services
- Drugstores
- Home improvement stores
- Fitness clubs
- Live entertainment
Benefits
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card offers no notable benefits beyond its rewards.
Maximum uncapped rewards with mobile wallet: U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card
When you shop in-store and use a mobile wallet to pay, it’s hard to beat the 3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards you’ll get with the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card.
Yes, the card is speedy—you’ll pay a $400 annual fee for the card—but its 3x points on mobile wallet spending mean that you’ll get the best uncapped rewards at CVS, and pretty much anywhere else you shop in-store and use your phone to pay.
A word of caution: The card’s terms explicitly exclude gift cards from the mobile wallet rewards. Missing out on some rewards may not be the end of the world, but what the terms don’t tell you is that U.S. Bank will likely shut down your account if you use the card with mobile wallet on a purchase that includes gift cards. (The author had the unfortunate experience of getting his card shut down when he used his card to pay for a Best Buy gift card.)
Learn more about this card in our overview of the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card.
Annual fee: $400
Foreign transaction fee: None
All information about the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card offers some of the best rewards—equivalent to 3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards—at CVS and anywhere else you use mobile wallet to pay.
Sign-up bonus
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card is no longer available to new cardmembers.
Rewards
- 5x points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center.
- 3x points on mobile wallet spending with Apple Pay®, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay.
- 3x points on eligible travel purchases.
- 1x points on all other eligible purchases.
Rewards are earned as Altitude Rewards points.
Altitude Rewards points can be redeemed for cash back at 1 cent per point or used to book travel through the Altitude Rewards center at 1.5 cents per point. You can also redeem your points against travel purchases through Real Time Rewards at 1.5 cents per point.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
- Extended warranty protection.
- Purchase security.
- Return protection.
- Personal identity theft protection.
Travel insurance benefits
- Auto rental collision damage waiver.
- Lost luggage reimbursement.
- Travel accident insurance.
- Emergency evacuation and transportation.
- Trip cancellation/interruption coverage.
- Trip delay reimbursement.
- Travel and emergency assistance services.
Travel benefits
- Airport lounge access. Complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership with 8 free visits annually.
- TSA PreCheck or Global Entry statement credit.
Partner benefits and statement credits
- $325 annual statement credit for eligible travel and dining purchases.
- Free Shipt membership until 12/31/24 with enrollment. After free membership expires, you are automatically enrolled in an annual Shipt membership at then-current prices until you cancel.
Frequently asked questions
Does CVS have its own credit card?
No. CVS does not have a store-branded credit card.
Can you use a credit card for prescriptions?
Yes, CVS accepts credit cards for all in-store purchases, including prescriptions.
Can I use a credit card and get reimbursed from my HSA?
In most cases, you should be able to charge your qualified medical expenses to your credit card and be reimbursed from your HSA. It may be easier to charge your pharmacy expenses to your HSA’s debit card, but you likely won’t earn rewards doing this.
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Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
