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People keep saying things like this, and rarely offer up the name of any better card when asked. Apple Card offers 2% cash back on all Apple Pay purchases, whi

People keep saying things like this, and rarely offer up the name of any better card when asked. Apple Card offers 2% cash back on all Apple Pay purchases, which... exactly matches my no-fee card from Chase. Except I have to choose how to use the 2% from Chase when it eventually is available, while I can spend Apple's 2% the next day via Apple pay. I threw the metal card in a drawer when it arrived, so if your goal is tell people not to use the physical card, then sure, I'm with you. But I don't think that's the primary use of the card.

dpkirchner 4y ago
I have a Chase Amazon Visa card that gives 5% back on Amazon purchases and some % on the rest. I happen to buy a lot from them (although less and less as I see more counterfeit-looking brands).
- wintermutestwin 4y ago
  This card also has no foreign transaction fees.
- jibe 4y ago
  It also covers Whole Foods which is nice if you shop there.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  I have the same one! I use it for Amazon only.
throwaway09223 4y ago
"and rarely offer up the name of any better card when asked." Huh? This is public and searchable information. Even ChatGPT 3.5 can give you a comprehensive answer to "what are the best cash back credit cards?" It seems like your complaint is that people aren't answering a trivial question. This isn't a valid argumentative position. The apple card's terms are definitely sub-par. Double the cash back would be competitive with say: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/visa-signature-card https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/visa-signature-card Cards that do 5% in special categories are also common.
- maratc 4y ago
  > Even ChatGPT 3.5 can give you a comprehensive answer to "what are the best cash back credit cards?" Is this a new version of "google it"?
  - fauxpause_ 4y ago
    Yes, with Bing
- joemi 4y ago
  To be fair, I've searched for this kind of thing before, and the results are usually plagued with so much sponsored content that it's hard to tell what's really a good deal and what's something someone's being paid to tell me is a good deal. (I feel this way about pretty much all financial advice online, for better or worse.)
- lxgr 4y ago
  So what is the best general-purpose cashback card according to ChatGPT?
  - pwinnski 4y ago
    Q. what is the best general-purpose cashback credit card? A. As an AI language model, I cannot recommend a specific financial product, but I can provide some information on what to look for when choosing a cashback credit card. [Information on what to look for: Cashback, signup bonuses, annual fees, redemption options, and credit score requirements.] It's possible Bing's AI does better, but I don't use the Edge browser, so I don't know.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  Brave throwaway, you underestimate the knowledge you possess! You should be proud of your knowledge and gladly share it, rather than mock those unwilling to expend the effort you've expended to earn such knowledge. Search results are plagued with spam to the point of uselessness, and this is precisely the sort of information I would not trust from an LLM because their sources are, as I said, plagued with spam and I don't want to chase hallucinated results. In fact, for all that it's a trivial question, this is at least the fourth time I've asked it, and the first time I've gotten real answers--although not from you. Perhaps the issue is that you don't seen to realize I've never gotten less than 2% from my Apple Card, and I get 3% back from Apple purchases? (Since I just bought an iPad Air + accessories for my daughter's birthday, that alone saved me more than $50!) The Fidelity card you mention seems to require a Fidelity account, but that's okay, since I have one. However, the terms then seem identical to my experience with the Apple card. I got my Apple card before Chase updated my cards from them to be tappable, and basically I use the Apple card for Apple Pay (2%) and purchases/subscriptions from Apple (3%), a Chase Amazon card for purchases from Amazon (5%), and a Chase Sapphire physical card (2% or 5%, depending on category) when a physical card is required (rarely these days, but at Walmart for one). It's not clear to me how Fidelity is any better than Apple card in this scenario.
roland35 4y ago
Fidelity has a flat 2% card which has no annual fee. The cash back then automatically transfers to my brokerage account where it immediately loses money in the stock market, so maybe it works out to less than 2% :) Citi also has a widely used cash back card for ~2%
- kenhwang 4y ago
  The Fidelity card really is a great general purpose low maintenance card. Plus, if your default cash position is SPAXX, it's currently earning 4.4% interest which isn't too shabby.
- leetcrew 4y ago
  it looks like the fidelity card cashback even exceeds 2% if you have a large brokerage account with them, which is cool. but it looks like you do need an active brokerage account with them to use the card at all. a good deal if you'd like to have a fidelity brokerage account anyway, but imo citi doublecash is the better general recommendation since it doesn't have the same cross-product dependency.
- symfoniq 4y ago
  Wells Fargo, too.
- lxgr 4y ago
  Citi’s card has a 3% foreign transaction fee though, making it completely unusable abroad. Fidelity also charges 1%. I’m actually not aware of any 2% card without any catches (Apple’s being that 2% is only for Apple Pay transactions, which is anything but ubiquitous when shopping online.)
  - roland35 4y ago
    Yeah the foreign transaction fee is annoying on many cards - I don't have too many cards but I keep a travel focused card (capital one venture) for international travel.
  - commoner 4y ago
davchana 4y ago
My Goto card is Paypal 2% for everything, and 3% for PayPal (so online Walmart, ebay, anything which offers PayPal), as soon as txn goes through. Synchrony Bank's own mastercard also offers 2% on everything, at every statement end. Wells Fargo Active Cash also offera 2% everywhere. I use Wells Fargo Autograph for 3% stuff like Travel, Food. Discover & Chase come out only if there are 5% offers or categories. Capital Ones get only 99 cent charge a month to get it forgiven. Apple card only for apple purchases, 0% apr && 3% cashback. I use android phone, so no apple pay possible. I wish it allows to be added to google pay with nfc.
mulmen 4y ago
I never redeem points for purchases. I always apply them to a billing credit. If you redeem points for a purchase you don't accrue points on that purchase. Chase of course goes out of their way to make this as painful as possible. Currently their app is broken and points can't be redeemed for cash. There is also no way to automatically apply all points to a statement credit. My perception that this is the best use of points is reinforced by how much effort they put into trying to convince me to do something else.
- speakfreely 4y ago
  > I never redeem points for purchases. I always apply them to a billing credit. This may not be a good redemption. For Chase UR points specifically, you really ought to transfer them to Chase Sapphire Reward card and redeem them for travel ($100 in points becomes $150 in travel) or transfer them to airline/hotel partners for redemptions. For example, you can often find Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt points redemptions that are substantially better (sometimes more than 50% off) than the cash value of the points. My last Hyatt hotel stay, I redeemed 8,000 points per night for a hotel room that was listed at $267/night. In cases like this, you can more than triple the value of your points.
  - mulmen 4y ago
    Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll take a look at those benefits. Typically I skip over those kinds of offers because they seem too good to be true.
    - speakfreely 4y ago
      It's definitely more effort to manage and there is a point of diminishing returns. But even if you just transfer to Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeem for travel (ignoring individual airline/hotel rewards programs), you should get a 50% bonus vs redeeming the points for cash.
ls612 4y ago
Fidelity Investments credit card has blanket 2% cash back on everything and supports Apple Pay, to name one.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  Which matches the 2% my comment already said I get with Apple card. And requires a Fidelity account. So I'm not sure it's "better," but thank you.
  - ls612 4y ago
    Its better in that it gives 2% on all purchases and can be (but does not need to be) used with Apple Pay, while Apple Card must be used with Apple Pay to receive the 2% cash back.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
invisible 4y ago
Apple Card is very convenient, but it's not the best in the rewards arena. For example, CapitalOne SavorOne (3% for many categories) and Wells Fargo Active Cash (2% on all purchases). There are many others that are competitive for specific situations though, including Citi Custom Cash (5% in a single category). Most of these cards also offer an intro APR and/or bonus after $X has been spent.
- lxgr 4y ago
  Definitely true, but this means that you have to spend some time and effort on using the "right" card for any given type of purchase, and staying on top of any changes to your rewards as well, to say nothing of having to juggle multiple due dates and automatic or manual payments. A flat reward on everything definitely has its appeals. (The Apple Card isn't quite that, though – paying online without Apple Pay only gives you 1% rewards.)
- pwinnski 4y ago
  As I mentioned in the comment to which you're responding, I never get less than 2% from my Apple card, so the Wells Fargo doesn't seem better to me. I'll look into the Capital One option, thank you!
petilon 4y ago
Citibank double cash https://citicards.citi.com/usc/LPACA/Citi/Cards/DoubleCash/ps_A/index.html https://citicards.citi.com/usc/LPACA/Citi/Cards/DoubleCash/p...
- pwinnski 4y ago
  That seems to give the same 2% I already get with my Apple card, but only 1% immediately, and the other 1% when it's paid, making it not as good as my Apple card's 2% immediately.

dpkirchner 4y ago

I have a Chase Amazon Visa card that gives 5% back on Amazon purchases and some % on the rest. I happen to buy a lot from them (although less and less as I see more counterfeit-looking brands).

wintermutestwin 4y ago
This card also has no foreign transaction fees.
jibe 4y ago
It also covers Whole Foods which is nice if you shop there.
pwinnski 4y ago
I have the same one! I use it for Amazon only.

throwaway09223 4y ago

"and rarely offer up the name of any better card when asked." Huh? This is public and searchable information. Even ChatGPT 3.5 can give you a comprehensive answer to "what are the best cash back credit cards?" It seems like your complaint is that people aren't answering a trivial question. This isn't a valid argumentative position. The apple card's terms are definitely sub-par. Double the cash back would be competitive with say: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/visa-signature-card https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/visa-signature-card Cards that do 5% in special categories are also common.

maratc 4y ago
> Even ChatGPT 3.5 can give you a comprehensive answer to "what are the best cash back credit cards?" Is this a new version of "google it"?
- fauxpause_ 4y ago
  Yes, with Bing
joemi 4y ago
To be fair, I've searched for this kind of thing before, and the results are usually plagued with so much sponsored content that it's hard to tell what's really a good deal and what's something someone's being paid to tell me is a good deal. (I feel this way about pretty much all financial advice online, for better or worse.)
lxgr 4y ago
So what is the best general-purpose cashback card according to ChatGPT?
- pwinnski 4y ago
  Q. what is the best general-purpose cashback credit card? A. As an AI language model, I cannot recommend a specific financial product, but I can provide some information on what to look for when choosing a cashback credit card. [Information on what to look for: Cashback, signup bonuses, annual fees, redemption options, and credit score requirements.] It's possible Bing's AI does better, but I don't use the Edge browser, so I don't know.
pwinnski 4y ago
Brave throwaway, you underestimate the knowledge you possess! You should be proud of your knowledge and gladly share it, rather than mock those unwilling to expend the effort you've expended to earn such knowledge. Search results are plagued with spam to the point of uselessness, and this is precisely the sort of information I would not trust from an LLM because their sources are, as I said, plagued with spam and I don't want to chase hallucinated results. In fact, for all that it's a trivial question, this is at least the fourth time I've asked it, and the first time I've gotten real answers--although not from you. Perhaps the issue is that you don't seen to realize I've never gotten less than 2% from my Apple Card, and I get 3% back from Apple purchases? (Since I just bought an iPad Air + accessories for my daughter's birthday, that alone saved me more than $50!) The Fidelity card you mention seems to require a Fidelity account, but that's okay, since I have one. However, the terms then seem identical to my experience with the Apple card. I got my Apple card before Chase updated my cards from them to be tappable, and basically I use the Apple card for Apple Pay (2%) and purchases/subscriptions from Apple (3%), a Chase Amazon card for purchases from Amazon (5%), and a Chase Sapphire physical card (2% or 5%, depending on category) when a physical card is required (rarely these days, but at Walmart for one). It's not clear to me how Fidelity is any better than Apple card in this scenario.

roland35 4y ago

Fidelity has a flat 2% card which has no annual fee. The cash back then automatically transfers to my brokerage account where it immediately loses money in the stock market, so maybe it works out to less than 2% :) Citi also has a widely used cash back card for ~2%

kenhwang 4y ago
The Fidelity card really is a great general purpose low maintenance card. Plus, if your default cash position is SPAXX, it's currently earning 4.4% interest which isn't too shabby.
leetcrew 4y ago
it looks like the fidelity card cashback even exceeds 2% if you have a large brokerage account with them, which is cool. but it looks like you do need an active brokerage account with them to use the card at all. a good deal if you'd like to have a fidelity brokerage account anyway, but imo citi doublecash is the better general recommendation since it doesn't have the same cross-product dependency.
symfoniq 4y ago
Wells Fargo, too.
lxgr 4y ago
Citi’s card has a 3% foreign transaction fee though, making it completely unusable abroad. Fidelity also charges 1%. I’m actually not aware of any 2% card without any catches (Apple’s being that 2% is only for Apple Pay transactions, which is anything but ubiquitous when shopping online.)
- roland35 4y ago
  Yeah the foreign transaction fee is annoying on many cards - I don't have too many cards but I keep a travel focused card (capital one venture) for international travel.
- commoner 4y ago

davchana 4y ago

My Goto card is Paypal 2% for everything, and 3% for PayPal (so online Walmart, ebay, anything which offers PayPal), as soon as txn goes through. Synchrony Bank's own mastercard also offers 2% on everything, at every statement end. Wells Fargo Active Cash also offera 2% everywhere. I use Wells Fargo Autograph for 3% stuff like Travel, Food. Discover & Chase come out only if there are 5% offers or categories. Capital Ones get only 99 cent charge a month to get it forgiven. Apple card only for apple purchases, 0% apr && 3% cashback. I use android phone, so no apple pay possible. I wish it allows to be added to google pay with nfc.

mulmen 4y ago

I never redeem points for purchases. I always apply them to a billing credit. If you redeem points for a purchase you don't accrue points on that purchase. Chase of course goes out of their way to make this as painful as possible. Currently their app is broken and points can't be redeemed for cash. There is also no way to automatically apply all points to a statement credit. My perception that this is the best use of points is reinforced by how much effort they put into trying to convince me to do something else.

speakfreely 4y ago
> I never redeem points for purchases. I always apply them to a billing credit. This may not be a good redemption. For Chase UR points specifically, you really ought to transfer them to Chase Sapphire Reward card and redeem them for travel ($100 in points becomes $150 in travel) or transfer them to airline/hotel partners for redemptions. For example, you can often find Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt points redemptions that are substantially better (sometimes more than 50% off) than the cash value of the points. My last Hyatt hotel stay, I redeemed 8,000 points per night for a hotel room that was listed at $267/night. In cases like this, you can more than triple the value of your points.
- mulmen 4y ago
  Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll take a look at those benefits. Typically I skip over those kinds of offers because they seem too good to be true.
  - speakfreely 4y ago
    It's definitely more effort to manage and there is a point of diminishing returns. But even if you just transfer to Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeem for travel (ignoring individual airline/hotel rewards programs), you should get a 50% bonus vs redeeming the points for cash.

ls612 4y ago

Fidelity Investments credit card has blanket 2% cash back on everything and supports Apple Pay, to name one.

pwinnski 4y ago
Which matches the 2% my comment already said I get with Apple card. And requires a Fidelity account. So I'm not sure it's "better," but thank you.
- ls612 4y ago
  Its better in that it gives 2% on all purchases and can be (but does not need to be) used with Apple Pay, while Apple Card must be used with Apple Pay to receive the 2% cash back.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

invisible 4y ago

Apple Card is very convenient, but it's not the best in the rewards arena. For example, CapitalOne SavorOne (3% for many categories) and Wells Fargo Active Cash (2% on all purchases). There are many others that are competitive for specific situations though, including Citi Custom Cash (5% in a single category). Most of these cards also offer an intro APR and/or bonus after $X has been spent.

lxgr 4y ago
Definitely true, but this means that you have to spend some time and effort on using the "right" card for any given type of purchase, and staying on top of any changes to your rewards as well, to say nothing of having to juggle multiple due dates and automatic or manual payments. A flat reward on everything definitely has its appeals. (The Apple Card isn't quite that, though – paying online without Apple Pay only gives you 1% rewards.)
pwinnski 4y ago
As I mentioned in the comment to which you're responding, I never get less than 2% from my Apple card, so the Wells Fargo doesn't seem better to me. I'll look into the Capital One option, thank you!

petilon 4y ago

Citibank double cash https://citicards.citi.com/usc/LPACA/Citi/Cards/DoubleCash/ps_A/index.html https://citicards.citi.com/usc/LPACA/Citi/Cards/DoubleCash/p...

pwinnski 4y ago
That seems to give the same 2% I already get with my Apple card, but only 1% immediately, and the other 1% when it's paid, making it not as good as my Apple card's 2% immediately.