Best Cash Back Card

When it comes to the card with the best cash back record, the Discover it Cash Back card ranks highest. Discover allows you to earn 5% cash back at places such as gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, and certain retailers, as well as 1% at all other places. While you earn these rewards quarterly, Discover also matches all cash back that you earn at the end of your first year.

Best for Carrying a Balance

If you’re looking for the best card for carrying a remaining balance into the next month (and possibly more than one month), you’ll want to look for a card with a relatively low interest rate. For this type of card, the Simmons Visa is the best choice. This card does not come with the bells and whistles of many cards (travel rewards, cash back, etc), but it does carry an incredibly low 10.50% variable interest rate.

Best for a Balance Transfer

The Discover it Balance Transfer Card allows you to complete a balance transfer and have zero interest for the first 18 months (at this point it goes to between 14.24% and 25.24%). You can also earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 each quarter (and 1% cash back once that $1,500 amount is hit). For an additional incentive, Discover will match the cash back earned in the first year, thus doubling your earnings.

Best Card for Students

The Discover it Student Cash Back card allows students to earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter, such as gas stations, certain retailers, Amazon.com, and more. You can also earn 1% cash back on all other purchases. What’s even better is that Discover offers an incentive for good grades: students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher can earn a $20 bonus each school year for up to 5 years. As an added incentive for new card owners, Discover will match all cash back earned in the first year.

Best for Travelers

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card works on a point system to allow travelers to earn points and redeem them for travel purchases. For example, travelers can earn 60,000 bonus points after their first $4000 worth of purchases in their first 3 months. Those 600,000 points can be cashed through the Chase rewards system and become $750 to spend on travel. Card owners can also earn double points on travel and dining worldwide, as well as 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.

Best Business Credit Card

If you’re a business owner, then using a business credit card is a great option for you. The American Express SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card chargers no annual fee and offers cash back on your monthly statement credit. You can choose 3% cash back in a category that aligns with your business. As an added benefit, card holders have 0% interest on purchases for the first 15 months, after which it defaults to 14.49% - 21.49%.

Best Sign Up Bonus

We’ve shared before about how you can earn cash sign-up bonuses by opening certain checking and savings accounts, but you can also receive sign-up bonuses with credit card companies. Heads up though--you don’t want to hurt your credit score by opening up several credit card accounts. But if you are on the prowl for a credit card right now, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card offers a $300 sign up bonus if you spend $3,000 in your first three months of having the card. You can also earn 4% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% in grocery stores, and 1% on all other purchases.

Best for Someone Trying to Build Credit

If you have no credit history or poor credit, the Discover it Secured Credit Card is a great option. We’ve shared previously on our blog how secured credit cards are a great way to build your credit using a credit card. With these cards, you make a deposit and that deposit becomes your credit limit. Payments are reported to the major credit bureaus to help you build your credit history. The Discover it Secured Card allows you to take this approach to building your credit. It charges no annual fee and allows you to earn cash back.

Conclusion

Having a credit card is a useful tool to help build your credit and earn extra rewards. But you’ll want to be strategic about which card you choose. It’s not an effective strategy to open several credit card accounts to take advantage of all the perks out there, as that will ding your credit score. Instead, keep this list in mind as you select the card that will work best for your specific situation.

Resources:

1. https://www.cardratings.com/best-credit-cards.html
2. https://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards
3. https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/
4. https://creditcards.chase.com
5. https://www.americanexpress.com
6. https://simmonsbank.com/bank/credit-cards