More and more families are having to carve out bigger portions of their budgets for grocery
expenses. To help ease the financial burden, many people are taking advantage of credit card
reward programs that offer a huge return on trips to the grocery store.
Some generous credit card perks offer as much as 6% cash back on all grocery purchases.
Others offer a variety of cash back, reward points, or travel miles. These all add up pretty
quickly, when you consider how often you need to restock your pantry or fridge.
Here are some of the best cash back credit cards for groceries.
Blue Cash Preferred Card From American Express
One of the very best supermarket rewards credit cards is the Blue Cash Preferred Card from
American Express. It offers an amazing 6% cash back bonus at U.S. supermarkets, up to
$6,000 a year in purchases (1% after that). It also offers 6% back on streaming services, 3%
back at gas stations, and 3% back on transit like buses, trains, parking, and taxis or rideshares.
All other purchases earn 1% cash back.
That’s a lot of rewards! The downside is a $95 annual fee, but you should be able to recoup that
easily in rewards without trying too hard. There’s also a $350 bonus offer, which you can claim
by spending $3,000 on your card in the first six months. Earn that, and your annual fee is
basically covered for the first 3.5 years.
The Blue Cash Preferred Card is only recommended for those with Good or Excellent credit (as
are most of the cards on this list). The APR usually sits between 17% and 28%, depending on
your creditworthiness.
Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards
If you’re looking for a good cash backs reward card with no annual fee, check out the Capital
One SavorOne Cash Rewards credit card. With no annual fee and similar APR to the Blue Cash
Preferred Card (18% to 28%), it’s a great alternative. There’s a $200 welcome bonus, which
only requires $500 of spending in the first three months.
It offers 3% cashback on groceries, along with dining, entertainment, and popular streaming
services. (It’s worth noting, though, that the 3% cashback on groceries excludes superstores like
Walmart or Target).
This card really shines on entertainment and travel though, offering a whopping 8% back on
Capital One Entertainment purchases and tickets through Vivid Seats. You’ll also get 5% back
on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Citi Custom Cash Card
The Citi Custom Cash Card is one of the most flexible cash back cards on the market. Rather
than assign cashback percentages to various categories, it makes it easier to maximize your
rewards. This no annual fee credit card automatically pays 5% cashback on your highest
spending category every month, including grocery stores. Every other category will net you 1%
cashback.
There is a 0% intro APR for 15 months, but after that the rate will revert to the standard 17% to
27% range. There’s also a $200 welcome bonus for spending at least $1,500 in the first six
months of opening your account.
One of the downsides, though, is that the 5% flexible cashback category tops out at $500 of
month spending. That means you can only earn up to $25 per month with that high reward rate.
Still, if you maxed it out every month, you’d collect at least $400 a year.
American Express Gold Card
The American Express Gold Card holds a certain level of status in the United States. Sure, a lot
of that is clever marketing. But make no mistake, the Gold Card can be an extremely useful and
rewarding credit card.
Unlike other cards who offer a percentage of your purchases as cash back, this AmEx card
converts rewards to points. There’s even a 60,000 point bonus if you spend $4,000 in your first
six months. Depending how you spend those points, they could be worth up to $1,200.
After that, you’ll earn 4X points on restaurants (including takeout and delivery) and
supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spending per year). There’s a 3X points bonus on certain travel
purchases too (mostly flights).
The Gold Card comes with a $250 annual fee, but you should be able to more than cover that
by racking up reward points. Linking your card to certain services, like Uber or Uber Eats, offers
a free $10 monthly credit. The Gold Card’s APR ranges between 16% and 26%, depending on
your creditworthiness.
All these points can be redeemed for a variety of things. The best bang for your buck will be
using them for travel. However, you can also exchange them for gift cards or redeem them
against your balance.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Finally, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is another strong choice for those hoping to ease
their grocery bill a little. With a modest $95 annual fee, the Sapphire Preferred card kicks back
plenty of rewards – including 60,000 welcome points (up to $750 value) if you spend $4,000 in
the first six months.
After that, you’ll earn 5X points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on
dining and online grocery store spending, and 2X on other travel purchases. Unfortunately, there
isn’t a specific bonus for grocery store spending.
If you travel a lot, though, this card can really earn you plenty of rewards in a hurry. On the other
hand, if you’re only looking to earn rewards (and save money) on groceries, maybe look into
one of the previous cards on our list.
