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Short Summary
Main recommendation: For the best unlimited cash back with minimal effort, Graham Stephan's top pick is the Alliant Visa Signature card during its first year (3% cash back on everything, $0 annual fee and $0 foreign transaction fee), then switching to the Fidelity Cash Rewards Visa Signature card for unlimited 2% cash back. He presents five cards for cash back, plus a niche pair and an honorable mention, all chosen for simplicity without sign-up spending requirements, high annual fees, or rotating categories.
Key Points
- The five best cash back cards named in the video are: (1) Capital One Quicksilver, (2) Chase Freedom Unlimited, (3) HSBC Cash Rewards MasterCard, (4) Citi Double Cash Rewards, and (5) Fidelity Cash Rewards Visa Signature, with Alliant, Uber, Amazon Prime, and Costco as additional niche/honorable mention picks.
- Capital One Quicksilver offers a flat 1.5% cash back, $0 annual fee, $0 foreign transaction fee, 0% interest for 15 months, and $150 back after $500 spent in three months.
- The Chase Freedom Unlimited can be worth about 2.25% when points are transferred to a Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeemed for travel with its 50% bonus, but that card is only worth getting for frequent travelers.
- Citi Double Cash gives a flat 2% (1% on purchase, 1% on payment), but charges a 3% foreign transaction fee and has no sign-up bonus.
- The Alliant Visa Signature offers 3% for the first year, then drops to 2.5% with a $59 annual fee, so it is best kept only if spending offsets that fee or it is canceled after year one.
- The Uber Visa Card pays 4% on dining, 3% on travel, 2% on online purchases, and 1% on everything else, with $0 annual fee and $0 foreign transaction fee.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Choose a card that fits your spending habits, since the video's recommendations aim for minimal effort and minimal decision-making.
- For Fidelity Cash Rewards, spend $1,000 within the first three months to earn $100 back, then deposit the cash back into a Fidelity account to get unlimited 2% cash back.
- For Capital One Quicksilver, spend $500 within the first three months to earn $150 back.
- For HSBC Cash Rewards, spend $2,500 to earn $150 back, and keep the card for one year to receive a 10% anniversary bonus on cash back (effectively about 1.65%).
- For Alliant, take the 3% rate in year one, and either spend enough to cover the $59 fee afterward or cancel the card after the first year.
- For the Chase combo, you must hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve to transfer Chase Freedom points and get the 50% travel bonus, and the speaker advises against getting the Sapphire Reserve unless you travel heavily and use its perks.
- Use the Amazon Prime Rewards card if you shop heavily on Amazon to earn 5% cash back on all purchases.
- Use the Costco Anywhere Visa card for 4% cash back on gas, noting it only helps people who spend on gas (he jokes about being a 'gas guzzler' and clarifies he was kidding, since he also owns a Lotus Exige).
- The Alliant card's year-one 3% rate is described as limited, while the Fidelity card's bonus requires depositing cash back into a Fidelity account to get the unlimited 2%.
- He credits a Reddit user, Jack Frist on r/personalfinance, for inspiring the video.
Bottom Line
The best cash back option depends on how you spend: the Alliant card for the highest first-year rate, Fidelity for ongoing flat 2%, or category cards like Uber and Amazon Prime if your spending matches their bonuses.
