Battle of the 5% Quarterly Category Credit Cards – The Credit Shifu

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Hey credit warriors and we have a fun video for you today, there is a type of Credit Card called the 5% rotating category card, where you earn 5% cash back on categories that normally change, on up to a certain amount of spending per quarter. There are actually 4 of these cards that I can think of that are currently available in the US credit card market and today we are going to do a comparison video, so this is Battle of the 5% Quarterly Category Credit Cards.

So there are 4 cards we are going to look at today, we will first go through how they stack up in different aspects and then we will tell you which card is best for who. The four cards are:

Chase Freedom Flex
Discover it Cash Back
US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature
ABOC Platinum Rewards Mastercard

The first two are pretty well known then 3rd one less so, and the last one is pretty obscure. Now first of all none of these cards have an annual fee, so we will get that out the way at the start, and they all count as tier two cards in my 5 tier credit card system. Now let’s start with the welcome bonuses:

Chase Freedom Flex – $200 – $500 spend in first 90 days, 5% on $12000 grocery spend year 1
Discover it Cash Back – First year cash back match (10% on categories for first year)
US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature – $200 after $500 purchases in first 90 days (3 months)
ABOC Platinum Rewards Mastercard – $150 statement credit for $1200 spend first 3 months

Alright now let’s look at the categories that are available on these cards to get the 5% in and also how much spending you get the 5% on:

Chase Freedom Flex

5% back on $1500 spending per quarter

2020 Calendar

January to March: Gas stations, select streaming services and internet, cable and phone services
April to June: Grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart), select streaming services, gym memberships and fitness clubs
July to September: Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market
October to December: Walmart and PayPal

Discover it Cash Back Card

5% (10% first year) on $1500 spending per quarter

Next year’s calendar
January to March: Grocery stores, Walgreens, CVS
April to June: Gas stations, Wholesale Clubs, Select Streaming Services
July to September: Restaurants and PayPal
October to December: Amazon.com, Wamlart.com and Target.com

US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature

5% cash back on $2000 per quarter

2 categories you choose:

TV, Internet and Streaming
Home Utilities
Ground Transportation
Select Clothing Stores
Cell phone providers
Electronics stores
Fitness and Gym
Fast Food
Sporting goods stores
Department stores
Furniture stores
Movie theaters

2% on an everyday category, choose 1: Gas, restaurant, grocery

ABOC Platinum Rewards Mastercard
5% on $1500 spending

Jan – March: Monthly bills (utilities, Amazon prime, cell phone, streaming)
April – June: Dining and transportation (includes restaurants gas, tolls, mass transport)
July – Sept: Travel (airlines, car rental, gas, tolls, theme parks, ride share)
Oct – Dec: Department Stores (also includes Amazon.com)

Best Bonus: Freedom Flex $800 value, + $600 from category spend

Runner up: discover it $300 value, then 2% (but could get that on citi double cash anyway)

Best Rewards: Freedom Flex, cash back is tracked as points and can be transferred to the Ink or Sapphire cards for increased value. E.g. 1.5 cents per point on the Sapphire Reserve

Highest Spending allowance in the Categories: US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature
$2000 in spending per quarter

Best categories: ABOC Platinum Rewards Mastercard
Such broad categories, clear MCC codes, easy to max out

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