Best Credit Cards That Earn 2% Cash Back on All Purchases

Our pick for: New cardholder incentives

Among flat-rate cash-back cards, you'll be hard-pressed to beat the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card. It earns an unlimited 2% back on all purchases, which is excellent. But in addition, the card offers a rich sign-up bonus and a decent intro APR period on both purchases and balance transfers. That's an impressive, hard-to-find combination of features on a card with a $0 annual fee. Read our review.

Our pick for: A strong incentive

Year after year, the Citi Double Cash® Card has been a top choice among flat-rate cash-back cards. You earn 2% cash back on every purchase — 1% when you buy something and 1% when you pay it off. There's no 0% intro period for purchases and no bonus categories, but the high rewards rate more than makes up for the lack of bells and whistles. Read our review.

Our pick for: Hassle-free redemption

It doesn’t get much easier than earning 2% cash back on your spending and receiving rewards automatically as a credit to your account. That’s the deal with the Synchrony Premier World Mastercard®, which applies rewards as a statement credit to your account within two billing periods after the purchase is made. It has no sign-up bonus, but the annual fee is $0. Read our review.

Our pick for: An AmEx option

The Bread Cashback American Express Credit Card — issued by Comenity Capital Bank, a Bread Financial company — earns an unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, with an annual fee of $0. That's typical for these cards. But this one runs on the American Express payment network and gives you access to merchant discounts via AmEx Offers. It also has no foreign transaction fees. However, you won't find a bonus offer or 0% intro APR promotion for new purchases or balance transfers. Read our review.

Our pick for: Apple Pay users

If the bulk of your purchases are going through Apple Pay, it makes sense to put them on the Apple Card. It earns 2% cash back on all Apple Pay purchases, rising to 3% when such purchases are at Apple and other select merchants. (Purchases made with the physical card or a virtual card number online earn only 1%.) Rewards are credited to your account daily and available for use immediately. Read our review.

Our pick for: U.S. Bank loyalists

The $0-annual-fee U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card offers an eye-popping cash-back rate of up to 4% on all purchases — if you meet eligibility requirements. To get that top rate, you'll need a significant sum of money in a qualifying U.S. Bank account. But there are no special requirements to earn the card's baseline rate of 2% back, which is still quite good. Read our review.

Our pick for: Business operators

The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card boasts one of the better introductory APR offers among business credit cards. Beyond that, you earn a solid cash-back rate (at least for a while — the rate drops after you hit a spending threshold). There's also a $0 annual fee. Terms apply. Learn more and apply.

Our pick for: Fidelity investors

If you don’t mind immediately turning spending rewards into savings, consider the Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card. It pays out a flat 2% back on every purchase, and has a $0 annual fee. Rewards are deposited automatically into a Fidelity Investments regular brokerage account, individual retirement account or 529 college savings plan. Other redemption options drop the value below 2% back. Read our review.

Our pick for: New Rocket mortgage customers

The Rocket Visa Signature® Card positions itself as a way to help you pay for a mortgage. It's indeed possible to earn the equivalent of 2% back in value, or even higher — but your mileage will vary depending on how you redeem and whether you're a new or existing Rocket mortgage customer. Read our review.

Smaller banks and credit unions typically like to see some loyalty when they give 2% cash back. Here is a sampling of more options — best for existing customers of these financial institutions or people who prefer smaller ones. None of these cards has an annual fee.

The PNC Cash Unlimited Visa Signature Credit Card earns an uncapped 2% cash back on all purchases. However, you must have an existing banking relationship with PNC to get one of its cards. The bank has locations in nearly 30 states and Washington, D.C. Read more about PNC Bank here.

First National Bank of Omaha offers 2% cash back on every purchase with the Evergreen by FNBO Credit Card. You don’t need an FNBO bank account, giving this one wider appeal than those that require you to have one with the issuer. But you may still face geographical restrictions. Read more about FNBO here.

The TD Double Up℠ Credit Card allows you to earn 2% cash back. However, the card isn't open to consumers in all U.S. states. Read more about TD Bank here.

The Key Cashback credit card comes with hurdles to get 2% cash back. You must have a KeyBank checking account with at least $1,000 in deposits each month, as well as a KeyBank savings or investment account with a minimum daily balance of $1,000. If you don’t, you'll earn 1.5% cash back on purchases instead. It’s open to applications from some U.S. states only.

Also related to KeyBank is the Laurel Road Student Loan Cashback Card. It is from Laurel Road, a digital lending platform and brand of KeyBank. It offers 2% cash back toward private or federal student loans with eligible servicers, or 1% cash back in the form of a statement credit. It also comes with a sign-up bonus and a 0% intro APR promotional offer. It has no foreign transaction fees.

The PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa Signature® Card earns either 1.5% or 2% cash back on all purchases and comes with a sign up bonus. To get 2% back, you not only have to be a member, you also must be in its Honors Advantage program. That requires you to maintain a PenFed Access America Checking Account or meet the military service criteria — active duty, reserve, honorably discharged or retired.

The Navy Federal Credit Union cashRewards Plus Credit Card earns 2% cash back on all purchases, but there are some caveats. First, you'll need to join the credit union to apply, and membership rules are pretty strict. Also, applicants will actually be considered for two cards: both the 2%-earning "Plus" version as well as the original, non-"Plus" version, known as the Navy Federal Credit Union® cashRewards Credit Card. And that version of the card earns only 1.5% back on purchases.

The Fifth Third Bank Preferred Cash/Back Card earns an unlimited and uncapped 2% back on all purchases. However, you must live in one of the handful of U.S. states that the bank services and have a Fifth Third Preferred Banking account to get the credit card. Read more about Fifth Third Bank here.

NerdWallet's credit cards team selects the best credit cards in each category based on overall consumer value. Factors in our evaluation include fees, promotional and ongoing APRs, and sign-up bonuses; for rewards cards, we consider earning and redemption rates, redemption options and redemption difficulty. A single card is eligible to be chosen as among the "best" in multiple categories. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.