Cashback credit cards are a type of credit card that give you the chance to earn some cash back every time you make a purchase. This could be through:
Paying you a small percentage of the purchase price back
Giving you reward points
Giving you money off the things you buy
For example: if your card pays 1.5% cashback and you spend £100 in a shop, you will earn £1.50 back.
Think of it as a small discount for every purchase you make on the card.
While the amount of cash for a single purchase may seem small, over time these amounts can add up and really save you money.
Some cashback credit cards will pay cash back monthly, but it's usually once a year."
Cashback works by giving a percentage of what you spend on your card back to you.
Card providers can do this thanks to something called the "interchange fee".
This is the fee that providers charge shops and other merchants in exchange for their services in sorting out the payment.
With a cashback card, some of that money goes to you as well as your card provider.
If a cashback credit card pays 1% cash back on everything you buy, you could earn £50 if you spend £5,000 a year.
While this might not seem like a lot, if there are no fees associated with the card, it's essentially free money.
Sometimes cashback is only offered on a few things you buy, like petrol or your energy bills.
There are also variations on the cashback offered based on how much you spend, what you spend it on and where the money is spent.
To find the best cash back credit card for you, you need to look beyond the headline rate.
For example, some of the credit cards offering the top cash back deals are only accepted in a few shops and services, such as American Express. This may mean you can’t use it for your regular shopping trips.
You also need to look at your spending - if there are rewards based on how much you put through the card, or a fee attached, will you be using it enough to make it worth your while?
In some cases a rewards card offered by a supermarket might prove more lucrative than straight up cashback, for example.
Always make sure you pay your card balance in full with a cashback card."
The top cashback cards often only offer the best cash back rate for a short period of time. These introductory offers may only be for as little as three months. So you may get a % cash back on what you spend for the first few months of using the card.
You may need to spend a minimum amount on a cash back credit card to actually get the cash back. Where you're unlikely to spend the minimum, there's little point getting the cash back credit card.
Some cash back credit cards charge a yearly fee. These cashback credit cards can offer the best cash back rates. But you need to work out if the cashback you are likely to get will be more than the fee you have to pay for the card.
To get the best cashback credit card deals, you should only spend what you need. Spending more on a cashback credit card just to earn more cashback is a bad idea.
If you spend more than you can afford on your cashback credit card, you may not be able to pay it off. Then you will be charged interest.
These interest charges can be higher than the cashback you earn, so you will lose out.
If you can't pay off the balance of your credit card each and every month, the interest will cost you far more than any rewards you might earn.
Earn you cash back every time you spend money on the card
Usually the cash back is given to you as money off the amount you owe on your credit card
No-fuss way to save some money on your everyday purchases
For example, if you spend £10,000 on a cashback credit card that gives you 1.5% cashback, you will have earned £150 cash back.
So your credit card bill is £9,850 instead of £10,000.
With reward credit cards you earn points (these can be worth different amounts with different reward cards)
Different reward cards can also offer different kinds of rewards
For example, you may earn 1 point for every pound you spend. If you spend £10,000 you will earn 10,000 points. The reward points may be worth 1p each.
So you would earn £100 as a reward.
Earn you cash back every time you spend money on the card
Usually the cash back is given to you as money off the amount you owe on your credit card
No-fuss way to save some money on your everyday purchases
For example, if you spend £10,000 on a cashback credit card that gives you 1.5% cashback, you will have earned £150 cash back.
So your credit card bill is £9,850 instead of £10,000.
With reward credit cards you earn points (these can be worth different amounts with different reward cards)
Different reward cards can also offer different kinds of rewards
For example, you may earn 1 point for every pound you spend. If you spend £10,000 you will earn 10,000 points. The reward points may be worth 1p each.
So you would earn £100 as a reward.
Not all cash back credit cards are the same. Cashback cards offer a range of different deals and rewards.
Some cash back credit cards will just pay you cashback as a flat rate. For example 2% on everything you buy.
Other cashback credit cards pay cash back at different levels when you spend more or less. For example, a cashback credit card may pay you 1% if you spend £5,000 a year on your credit card, and 2% cash back if you spend more than that.
Cashback credit cards can also offer different amounts of cash back for spending in different shops. A cash back credit card may give you 0.5% cashback on money you spend when you do your weekly food shop at a supermarket, but 1% when you buy things from a chain of electrical stores and 2% on all of your petrol purchases.
When we use the term ‘most popular or ‘popularity’ on Uswitch in reference to credit cards, these cards are ranked by the number of clicks they have received on the site in the past 30 days.
The most clicked on cards are at the top, with the least at the bottom. This reflects how popular they are with visitors to Uswitch.com. Consequently, this is a good table to look at if you’re interested in seeing which cards most people think are worth getting.
We compare over 100 credit cards from all of the major banks and credit card providers.
However, we do not compare all the credit cards that are available in the UK.
This is because some credit card providers have offers that are only available exclusively through their own website or branch, or through other comparison websites - in the same way some credit cards are exclusively available through Uswitch.
There are also many credit cards that are only available to people in member organisations and clubs.
Our best deals on a range of credit card categories by use:
Our top credit cards by type, most popular deals and business cards
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