Earn back a percentage of the money you spend on the card
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Find your ideal credit card in seconds
Add your details to our eligibility checker
Explore your options from top credit card providers
Choose the right card for your needs
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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.
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.
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 credit card offered by a supermarket might prove more lucrative than straight up cashback, for example.
See which credit cards you're eligible for in just a few clicks
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.
You earn cashback every time you spend money on the card, and usually this is given to you as money off the amount you owe on the credit card. It's a no-fuss way to save some money on everyday purchases.
A rewards credit card means you earn points and these can be worth different amounts depending on the card. The points can then be exchanged for rewards like air miles or hotel vouchers.
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.
Credit card companies can afford to offer rewards and cashback because they make money in several ways. They charge interest on balances that aren’t paid off in full each month, and this interest is often higher than the cashback or rewards a cardholder earns. Additionally, credit card companies charge merchants a fee (known as the 'interchange fee') whenever you make a purchase. A portion of this fee can be passed back to the cardholder as rewards.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how many cashback credit cards you should have. It depends entirely on your financial situation and spending habits. If you’re confident you can manage multiple accounts responsibly, having more than one card could help you maximise cashback rewards across different spending categories.
However, it’s essential to avoid taking on more cards than you can manage. Missing payments or carrying a balance could lead to interest charges that outweigh any cashback benefits. Always prioritise paying off your balance each month.
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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