Cash-Back Rewards
Credit card benefits that return a percentage of spending as cash or statement credits.
What is Cash Back?
Cash-back rewards are a type of credit card benefit that returns a percentage of the cardholder's eligible spending as cash deposited to a bank account, a statement credit, or a check. Cash-back rates typically range from 1% on general purchases to 5% or 6% on specific bonus categories such as groceries, gas, or dining. Flat-rate cards offer the same rate on all purchases (commonly 1.5%–2%), while tiered or rotating category cards offer higher rates on select spending. Unlike travel points or airline miles, cash back has a fixed, universally understood value (1 cent per 1%), making it one of the simplest and most flexible reward structures available.
Example
The Citi Double Cash card offers 2% cash back on all purchases — 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay — with no annual fee or rotating categories to track. A cardholder spending $3,000 per month across all categories would earn approximately $720 in cash back annually, equivalent to a straightforward 2% discount on all spending.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Credit Card Rewards