7 Best Credit Cards of March 2023
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There's a lot to consider when deciding which credit card is best for you. After all, many cards offer a wide range of perks, from extra security features to cash back and rewards for your everyday spending.
We took a comprehensive look at the top offerings in the industry to see which are the best for everyday purchases, business expenses, luxury spending and beyond.
Here are Money’s picks for the best credit cards of 2023.
Our Top Picks for the Best Credit Cards of 2023
- American Express Blue Cash Preferred® Card – Best for Groceries
- Alliant Visa® Signature Credit Card with Cashback – Highest Flat Rate Cash-Back Credit Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® Credit Card – Best Travel Credit Card
- Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card – Best Business Credit Card
- Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card - Best Secured Credit Card
- American Express® Gold Card – Best for Dining
- The Platinum Card® by American Express – Best Rewards
Best Credit Card for Groceries: American Express Blue Cash Preferred
The American Express Blue Cash Preferred® is an excellent option for families trying to get the most out of everyday spending, thanks to excellent cash-back rewards on food and transportation.
The American Express Blue Cash Preferred® Card gives back an unmatched 6% — more than double what most cards offer — on purchases at most U.S. supermarkets and most U.S. streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. In other words, that $95 annual fee will probably pay for itself after a couple of months. (Terms apply.)
The card also offers 3% cash back on gas purchases in the U.S. and other expenses in the transit category, such as tolls, parking, taxis, trains and more. Essentially, whatever your means of transportation, you’re going to earn rewards. On other eligible purchases, cardholders will get 1% cash back, as well as on groceries after spending the $6,000 annual limit for 6%. Rental car insurance*, purchase protection (in events such as theft or loss) and extended warranty on bought items are all available through the card as well.
- 6% cash back at U.S supermarkets, up to $6,000 per year, 1% thereafter
- 3% on U.S. gas stations and other transit-related expenses
- Secondary rental insurance, purchase protection and extended warranty*
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, $95 thereafter
- 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets is only up to the first $6,000 spent per year, then drops to 1%
Highest Flat Rate Cash-Back Credit Card: Alliant Visa® Signature Credit Card with Cashback
Alliant’s 2.5% cash back is one of the highest flat rates in the industry, which makes it one of the best all-around cards out there.
Alliant offers one of the highest cash-back rates around: 2.5% on every purchase up to the first $10,000 spent per billing cycle. After that, it’s 1.5%, which is still very good.
The catch, however, is that you must qualify as a Tier One customer to get the 2.5%. In order to qualify, cardholders must have an Alliant High-Rate Checking account, which implies signing up for eStatements and receiving at least one monthly electronic deposit. Users must also have a minimum daily balance of $1,000 in the account.
While this can seem like a lot of hoops to jump through, that 2.5% is high enough to make it worth the extra steps.
The card also includes some protective perks, such as travel accident and rental car collision insurance, extended warranties and reimbursement for identity theft recovery costs.
Best Travel Credit Card: Chase Sapphire Reserve
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® gives you a high rate of rewards for most expenses you incur while traveling, and it goes a few steps further, providing comprehensive travel insurance with a lower annual fee than its main competitor.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® can make your travels much more comfortable and less expensive. In addition to letting you earn 5x points on airfare through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, the Reserve offers an outstanding 10x points on hotels and rental cars. You also get 3x points on all restaurants, so if you plan to dine out a lot on vacation, there’s an extra reward for you (there’s no foreign transaction fee either).
Another great benefit is that all those accrued points can be redeemed at a higher rate when buying your next plane tickets. When you use points to purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, your points are worth 1.5 times their original value. So if you’ve accrued 1,000 points (worth $10 in cash back), you actually have the equivalent of 1,500 points ($15) if you use them to buy flights through Chase.
Chase also offers an annual $300 statement credit for purchases categorized as travel (this includes car rentals, hotels, tickets and more), and a credit worth $85 to $100 every four years for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fees. Cardholders also get PriorityPass membership, which grants access to airport lounges and exclusive restaurants, as well as discounts on hotels in the IHG group, such as Holiday Inn and InterContinental.
There are also a few limited-time memberships or perks included for free with card membership, with partners such as Lyft (10x points when using Lyft) and DoorDash (three months of DashPass).
There are many different types of cards that focus on travel rewards, including hotel- and airline-specific cards, so be sure to look at our picks for the best travel credit cards to see what makes sense for you.
Best Business Credit Card: Chase Ink Business Preferred
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® has a low annual fee but offers high rewards in business-related categories, making it a perfect choice for small businesses.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card provides a great way for business owners to get something back for those operating expenses. It has a low annual fee of $95, yet it delivers a long list of bonus rewards.
Cardholders get 3x points for every dollar (up to the first $150,000 spent each anniversary year) on shipping services, online advertising, internet, phone bills and travel. Also, when redeemed on travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, points are worth 1.25x, meaning 100 points are actually $1.25 instead of just $1.
Other than the rewards and redemption bonuses, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® offers many great travel perks. There are no foreign transaction fees, and it includes trip cancellation insurance and rental car collision insurance.
While this Chase card is not the most jam-packed with bonus rewards and perks, its straightforward points system and an annual fee that’s much lower than competitors make it an excellent choice for small business owners.
However, if your business incurs an extraordinary amount of expenses, consider The Business Platinum Card® by American Express. It has a wide variety of annual statement credits, luxury benefits and a much higher cap on rewards — $2 million versus Chase’s $150,000. However, its annual fee is a whopping $695, so be sure your business actually gets the most out of it.
Best Secured Card: Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card offers more rewards and a higher spending limit than top competing secured cards, and its Visa network makes it more widely accepted as well.
This secured card by Bank of America® has been available for a long time, but only to those who were denied its unsecured version. Now, users can apply for the secured card, making an initial security deposit and increasing their chance of approval. It’s a great way to start building or repairing your credit with a card that offers plenty of rewards.
You can get the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card with a minimum security deposit of $300. Your credit limit is established based on the amount you deposit along with your income and credit score, if applicable.
If you want to ensure a higher credit line (and can afford it), you can deposit up to $4,900. Not all secured credit cards offer such flexibility, and competitors tend to keep the maximum deposit well below $3,000.
What truly makes this card stand out, however, are the rewards. Cardholders choose a category that earns them 3% back, and it can be changed monthly — choices include online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores or home improvement/furnishings. For instance, if you plan on buying airplane tickets, you might want to choose 3% cash back on travel for that month. Then, the month that you’re set to depart, you could change it to dining to take advantage of all that restaurant-hopping you're bound to do.
You also get 2% back on groceries and purchases at wholesale clubs such as Sam’s or Costco, and 1% on everything else.
The downside is that both the 3% and 2% spending categories have a combined $2,500 spending limit per quarter. After that, you’ll get 1% cash back. This is still more than other secured card competitors, which typically have limits below $1,000.
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