The 8 Best 2% Cash-back Credit Cards [2024]

Cash-back is the easiest type of reward to understand. That’s why many consumers and business owners gravitate towards cash-back. It’s something that they inherently grasp, so they like the idea of getting cash-back rewards.

Historically, cash-back rewards credit cards have been relatively mediocre — the average card would boast 1% cash-back.

But in recent years, competition in this space has grown significantly — today, there are 2% cash-back credit cards that are worth talking about.

Let’s take a look at your best options for 2% cash-back credit cards.

Why Is 2% Cash-back the Highest You Can Realistically Get?

Payment processing companies, including Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, charge a percentage of every transaction to process payments.

This is known as an interchange fee — and each company has unique interchange fee structures.

In general, Visa and Mastercard have the lowest interchange fees, which is why Visa and Mastercard generally enjoy the best credit card acceptance in the world.

And even though different types of Visa credit cards have different interchange fees, the reality is that a credit card issuer such as Chase will probably try not to lose money on interchange fees.

Although a bank wants to incentivize you to use credit cards as much as possible, they cannot do so unprofitably — so there’s a maximum ceiling of rewards they can offer you for every dollar you swipe.

Though there are different ways for banks to make money, such as with interest and late fees, the highest cash-back percentage we’ll likely see a credit card offer is 2%.

There are tons of cards that offer cash-back with higher bonus categories, hoops to jump through, or exclusions, but you can generally expect the highest cash-back percentage for all purchases (with no maximums or major exclusions) to hover around 2%.

See our top picks for the best 2% cash-back credit cards, starting with personal cards!

The 6 Best 2% Cash-back Personal Credit Cards

The competition for a 2% cash-back personal credit card is very fierce, but there are a few clear winners in terms of combining simplicity with rewards.

Double Cash Card (Best for 2% Cash-back as Transferrable Rewards)

The most obvious winner in the 2% cash-back segment for personal credit cards is the Double Cash card.

This fantastic product earns 2% cash-back on all purchases — 1x ThankYou Point when you buy and 1x ThankYou Point when you pay. These ThankYou Points can be redeemed for cash-back at a ratio of 1 point to 1 cent.

We absolutely love this card because it has no caps or category restrictions; all of your rewards can be redeemed as a statement credit, direct deposit, or a check.

Additionally, if you have a qualifying ThankYou Rewards card such as the Citi Premier^® Card, you can transfer your points to Citi’s travel partners and increase the value of your rewards by redeeming them for luxury travel!

And although this credit card doesn’t usually offer a welcome bonus, it does have an introductory 0% balance transfer APR, which can be handy if you’d like to consolidate high-rate balances on any of your other personal credit cards.

This card comes with access to Citi Entertainment, zero fraud liability, and 24/7 customer service. There are no additional fees for authorized users, either.

The Double Cash card has no annual fee.

Why We Like Earning Citi ThankYou Rewards Points

We’ve mentioned that the Double Cash card is marketed as a cash-back card, but it actually earns ThankYou Rewards Points. On its own, the card can transfer points to JetBlue TrueBlue, Choice Privileges, and Wyndham Rewards at reduced ratios, but if you have a premium ThankYou Rewards card, you can easily access all of Citi’s airline and hotel partners at the best ratios.

Indeed, you can redeem ThankYou points to book amazing flights like Singapore Airlines business class!

You’ll get some incredible value by transferring your points to travel partners, but you can also redeem your points for cash-back, charity, merchandise, gift cards, and more, albeit at a worse value.

Synchrony Premier World Card (Best for 2% Cash-back on All Purchases)

The Synchrony Premier World card offers simple 2% cash-back rewards, but it’s surprisingly one of the least well-known products out there.

On every statement, you’ll earn 2% cash-back on all purchases with no caps, and the rewards are applied as statement credits automatically.

This card rarely has a welcome bonus, but it does offer a few nice perks:

• Identity Theft protection
• Money-saving Discounts
• Concierge Travel Planning Support.

Wells Fargo Active Cash Card (Best for 2% Cash-back With 0% Intro APR)

Wells Fargo is an enormous banking giant — and one of its most attractive credit cards is the Wells Fargo Active Cash card, which has benefits worth mentioning.

This is one of the few 2% cash-back cards that consistently offers a welcome bonus offer. Additionally, you’ll get a 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers, then a 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% variable APR thereafter. 

Beyond that, expect to earn 2% cash rewards on all eligible purchases. You can redeem your rewards for purchases, a Wells Fargo direct deposit, at a Wells Fargo ATM, for gift cards, or through PayPal.

This card offers cell phone protection, which allows for up to 2 paid claims every 12 months, each with a maximum benefit limit of $600 and a $25 deductible.

This Visa Signature card comes with 24/7 concierge services, access to the Visa Signature Hotel collection, and much more.

There is $0 annual fee on this card, nor are there fees for authorized users.

SoFi Card (Best for 3% Cash-back With Direct Deposit)

One of the newer entrants to the cash-back credit card realm is SoFi, one of the most popular fintech companies in the U.S.

With its platform, you can access investments, savings, loan refinancing, debt consolidation, and more.

The SoFi card boasts 3% cash-back for a year when you set up direct deposit with SoFi. After that, earn 2% unlimited cash-back on purchases when redeemed toward investing, saving, or paying down an eligible loan with SoFi.

Luckily, it’s pretty easy — just redeem your rewards within the SoFi ecosystem, such as buying stocks or paying down your SoFi student loan to get the 2% cash-back value.

Usually, this card also offers a welcome bonus if you open a SoFi Invest account after getting approved for the SoFi card.

Notably, your APR will drop by 1% when you make 12 on-time payments! But it doesn’t end there because you’ll enjoy no foreign transaction fees, cell phone protection, and a $10 Lyft credit when you take 5 rides per month.

The SoFi card has no annual fee.

PayPal Cashback Card (Best for 2% Cash-back When Redeemed Through Cash Rewards)

The PayPal Cashback card is yet another example of a 2% cash-back card that requires a bit more effort to get.

This card earns an unlimited 2% cash-back on every purchase when redeemed through the Cash Rewards program. It’s not difficult to access this rewards structure since you can use PayPal to pay for virtually anything you buy online.

Even better, you’ll get 3% cash-back on all purchases made through PayPal!

There’s rarely a welcome bonus. You can redeem your cash-back any time with no minimum redemption threshold.

One unique benefit of this card is that you’ll get instant access when you’re approved — you can use it immediately for purchases!

You’ll get Mastercard’s standard benefits, including identity theft protection, contactless capabilities, extended warranty, and more.

The PayPal Cashback card has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, and no additional fees for authorized users.

Fidelity Rewards Card (Best for 2% Cash-back With Direct Deposit)

The last personal card we’ll discuss is the Fidelity Rewards card. Fidelity is one of the world’s largest financial services firms, famous for its retirement accounts and brokerage services.

There’s a good chance that your 401(k) or other retirement account is managed by Fidelity.

This card earns an unlimited 2% cash-back on all purchases when you direct deposit your rewards into an eligible Fidelity account — this is in the form of 2 points per dollar.

There are no caps or limits to your rewards, and you can deposit your rewards into up to 5 eligible Fidelity accounts.

Also, this card has no preset spending limit, Visa Signature privileges, travel insurance, purchase security, zero fraud liability, and no additional fees for authorized users.

There’s also no annual fee.

Bottom Line: The best 2% cash-back personal credit cards with no hoops to jump through are the Double Cash card, Synchrony Premier World card, and Wells Fargo Active Cash card. Other options that have some requirements include the SoFi card, PayPal Cashback card, and Fidelity Rewards card.

The 2 Best 2% Cash-back Business Credit Cards

There’s not as much competition in the business credit card space for 2% cash-back products, but let’s go through our top picks!

Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card (Best for Unlimited 2% Cash-back)

Without a doubt, the best 2% cash-back business credit card is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus card.

It boasts an impressive welcome bonus, plus the ability to earn an unlimited 2% cash-back on all business purchases with no limits or category restrictions.

What we really love about this card is the fact that it’s a charge card with no preset spending limit, so you can spend a lot more than a traditional credit card with it.

Even better, get your $150 annual fee refunded every year you spend at least $150,000!

Employee cards come at no additional cost, rewards don’t expire as long as the account is open, and you can seamlessly redeem cash-back for any amount.

There’s also zero fraud liability, the ability to create virtual card numbers, get roadside assistance, have no foreign transaction fees, and unlock extended warranty coverage.

Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles

One little-known fact about this card is that your 2% cash-back can be converted to 2x Capital One miles if you have a card that earns Capital One miles, such as the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, or Capital One Spark Miles for Business.

That can catapult your return on spending up from 2% to a whopping 3.6%, by our valuations!

The best way to get outsized value with your Capital One miles is to transfer them to its travel partners and book award travel!

Amex Blue Business Cash Card (Best for 2% Cash-back With 0% Intro APR)

The Amex Blue Business Cash card is the other major business credit card offering 2% cash-back.

And while it does offer 2% cash-back that is automatically credited to your statement, it’s capped at $50,000 per calendar year. After that, you’ll get 1% cash-back.

The good news is that there’s also a great welcome bonus with a 0% introductory APR, no-cost employee cards, and access to Expanded Buying Power.

Final Thoughts

Getting 2% cash-back on a credit card will make a big difference in the long run, especially if your go-to credit card rewards strategy is about cash-back.

And while there are tons of cash-back rewards credit cards out there with more than 2% cash-back rewards, these are usually restricted to specific bonus categories.

Having a 2% cash-back card is simple. With these cards, you can, for the most part, have the security of always getting 2% cash-back.

Now you know all of the best 2% cash-back credit cards, personal or business!

The information regarding the PayPal Cashback Mastercard and Fidelity^® Rewards Visa Signature^® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.