These days everyone shops online more and more, especially during the year-end shopping season. Having a credit card that can earn more than 2% cashback on online shopping feels pretty great. Below is a roundup of the best credit cards for online shopping
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BofA Customized Cash Rewards (3%-5.25)
BofA Customized Cash Rewards is a no-annual-fee credit card. You can choose online shopping as the 3% cashback category (you can also choose travel, dining, gas, drug store, home improvement). The card's online shopping category includes most merchants you shop with online, such as Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, and Walmart, and eBay probably qualifies too. What it does not include are bills such as hospital charges, government payments, taxes, insurance, tuition, and utilities; BofA determines whether something qualifies for 3% based on the merchant code. PayPal and Visa Checkout-style online shopping workarounds may also count toward the 3%. Also, note that the 3% online shopping category has a cap: combined with the 2% cashback category, only the first $2,500 each quarter earns rewards.
In addition, this card also offers 2% cashback at supermarkets and wholesale clubs (Costco, Sam's Club, etc.), and 1% cashback on other purchases. If you keep a large balance in your checking account, your cashback can receive up to a 75% bonus, which works out to 5.25% (online shopping) / 3.5% (supermarkets) / 1.75% (other purchases), making it very competitive. The card also offers perks such as free museum visits every month, a free credit score, and Bank of America Deals. It's still a very solid card.
BofA Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card
Choose your own 3% cash back category, plus 2% cash back at supermarkets! No annual fee
- Welcome bonus: $200 cash back (spend $1,000 in three months) + extra 3% cash back on category spending in the first year
- Rewards: Online shopping, travel, drugstores, home improvement/furnishings, gas, or dining: choose one category for 3% cash back; supermarkets and Wholesale clubs: 2%; all other purchases: 1%
- Redemption: Redeem rewards directly for cash; if you have a premium BOA account, you may earn an additional bonus
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
Blue Cash Everyday (3%)
Blue Cash Everyday is a no-annual-fee credit card that earns 3% cashback on online shopping, then drops to 1% after $6,000 in annual spending. The online shopping category is Online Retail Purchases, which covers most merchants' online spending; online bill payments or third-party payment services may not count. In addition, this card also earns 3% cashback at supermarkets and gas stations, and offers credits for Home Chef and Disney Bundle, making it an extremely good-value card.
As an AMEX card, it offers a free credit score and credit report, and AMEX Offers can occasionally help you save even more when shopping. For that reason, it is one of the most well-rounded cards for online shopping.
AMEX Blue Cash Everyday Credit Card
3% cash back at supermarkets; no annual fee! Now includes up to $260 in annual credits!
- Welcome bonus: Up to $200 cash back (spend $2,000 in the first 6 months)
- Rewards: 3% cash back at supermarkets, online shopping, and gas stations (on up to $6,000 in purchases per year in each category), 1% on all other purchases
- Redemption: Can be redeemed directly for cash back; discounted gift card redemptions are sometimes available
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
PayPal Credit Card (3%)
PayPal Credit Card is a no-annual-fee card. Its biggest feature is that all purchases paid through PayPal earn 3% cashback, while everything else earns a flat 1.5%. Nowadays, the vast majority of online merchants accept PayPal, so the card has fairly broad usefulness. For sites that do not accept PayPal, you can buy gift cards for those merchants from sites that do accept PayPal, and still get 3% cashback that way.
A must-have card for PayPal fans!
- Welcome bonus: N/A
- Rewards: 3% on purchases made through PayPal; 1.5% on all other purchases
- Redemption: Redeem for cash back directly
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
US Bank Shopper Cash Rewards (0-6%)
US Bank Shopper Cash Rewards is a $95 annual-fee credit card that lets you choose 6% and 3% cashback on select online merchants. For the 6% category, you can choose two merchants from Ace Hardware, Amazon.com, Anthropologie, Apple, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Best Buy, Chewy.com, Crate & Barrel, Disney, Home Depot, Ikea, Kohl's, Lowe's, Lululemon, Macy's, Menards, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, QVC, Restoration Hardware, Target, Walmart, Wayfair.com, and Williams Sonoma; both online and in-store purchases earn 6%. So if you shop at those merchants online, 6% cashback is excellent. In addition, the card's 3% category can also be set to wholesale clubs, which is also useful for shopping.
The downside is that it is not as broadly useful as other cards, since you only get two merchants and one category to choose from.
U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards Credit Card
Choose your own 6% and 3% categories; usable at Amazon, Walmart, Costco, and Target!
- Welcome bonus: $250 (spend $2,000 within 120 days of account opening)
- Rewards: Each quarter, choose two 6% cash back merchants and one 3% cash back category (each capped at $1500 in spending); all other purchases earn 1.5% cash back
- Redemption: Redeem for cash back directly
- Annual fee: $95（No annual fee for the first year）
- Apply now>>
Amazon Prime (0-5%)
Amazon Prime Card is a no-annual-fee card that earns 5% cashback at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market. Amazon's own site also sells gift cards for many third-party merchants. Use this card to buy gift cards for the merchants where you want to shop, earn 5% cashback, then spend the gift cards at those merchants.
Chase Amazon Rewards Credit Card
5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods; no annual fee!
- Welcome bonus: Prime sign-up bonus: $150 gift card (issued upon card opening)
- Rewards: 5% at Amazon, Whole Foods, and Chase Travel; 2% at restaurants, public transit, and rideshare, 2% on gas; 1% on all other purchases
- Redemption: Cash back
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
US Bank Cash+ (0-5%)
US Bank Cash+ is a no-annual-fee credit card. You can choose two 5% cashback categories, including TV, internet & streaming services, Home utilities, Ground transportation, Select clothing stores, Cell phone providers, Electronics stores, Gyms/fitness centers, Fast food, Sporting goods stores, Department stores, Furniture stores, and Movie theaters. Among them, department stores and electronics stores include many merchants people shop at online, so this is also a fairly useful online-shopping card. In addition, many department stores sell lots of third-party gift cards, so keep that in mind.
Choose your own 5% and 2% cash back categories, with no annual fee!
- Welcome bonus: $250 cash back (spend $1,000 within 90 days)
- Rewards: Choose two categories for 5% cash back: TV, internet, streaming services, utilities, ground transportation, electronics stores, fast food, furniture stores, gyms, movie theaters, select clothing stores, sporting goods stores, cell phone providers, and department stores; choose one category for 2% cash back: gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores
- Redemption: Cash back redeemed directly
- Annual fee: $0
- Apply now>>
Other Credit Cards
Besides the cards above that cover online shopping year-round, many cards offer 5x points in certain merchant categories each quarter. For example, during shopping season, Freedom and Discover often have
- Chase Freedom Flex: Among the quarterly 5x cashback categories, Amazon and PayPal are often included
- Discover it: Among the quarterly 5x cashback categories, Amazon and PayPal are often included
In addition, there are a few cards that have already been discontinued. For example, the two older versions of the Citi AT&T card offered 3x and 2x on online shopping, but neither is available for new applications anymore. You can see whether you can product change into one of them.
- Citi AT&T Access More: This is a $95 annual-fee credit card. This card offers 3x ThankYou Points on online purchases at most merchants,
- Citi AT&T Access is a no-annual-fee credit card and the downgraded version of Citi Access More. This card offers 2x ThankYou Points on online purchases at most merchants.
Altitude Rewards can earn 3x with Apple Pay, so for some websites or apps that can redirect to Apple Pay checkout, you can get 3x that way.
- US Bank Altitude Reserve: Currently discontinued. This is a $400 annual-fee credit card that earns 3x points on mobile payments. Mobile payments include Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and more. If the website or app you are shopping on supports mobile payments, this card can earn 3x across the board.
If you spend heavily online with a particular merchant, you may also want to consider that merchant's co-branded credit card
Summary
The cards mentioned above basically cover most online merchants, while other cards are usually focused on offering elevated cashback with a single merchant. Examples include co-branded merchant cards such as Amazon store cards and eBay cards. If you do not want to deal with too much hassle or have a lot of money in BofA Checking, you can choose BofA Customized Cash Rewards and select online shopping as the 3% cashback category (BofA premium users can boost it to 5.25%), while keeping the card with no annual fee. In general, Blue Cash Everyday is still an extremely good-value choice.
Online Shopping
| Credit Card | Cash Back | Annual Fee | Notes | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOA Customized Cash Rewards | 3%-5.25% | $0 | You need to select the online shopping category. Quarterly cap of $2,500. With Preferred Rewards status, the rate can increase up to 5.25%. | Apply |
| AMEX Blue Cash Everyday | 3% | $0 | Applies to online retail, with a yearly spending cap of $6,000. | Apply |
| PayPal Credit Card | 3% | $0 | Applies to online purchases paid through PayPal. | Apply |
| US Bank Shopper Rewards | 0-6% | $95 | Choose two stores for 6% cash back and one category for 3% cash back. | Apply |
| Chase Amazon | 0-5% | $0 | 5% at Amazon, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market. You can also buy gift cards for other merchants through Amazon. | Apply |
| US Bank Cash+ | 0-5% | $0 | Choose two 5% categories such as department stores and electronics stores. | Apply |
| Detailed analysis: Online Shopping Credit Card Comparison |
*All points valuations are based on: Points Value Estimates and Analysis
**All welcome bonuses are the public offers at the time this article was published. Please check the credit card intro links for the latest details.