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Rotating category cards are some of my favorite credit cards. Finding out what new bonus categories are coming up each quarter on my own rotating category card is my version of Christmas.
It requires a bit of work to manage those changes, though. That's why it's super important to choose the right rotating category card for you. The best rotating category credit card in the world won't help you earn more cash back if you don't use it right. Each card differs in how its reward program works, what categories it swaps out, how much it costs, and more.
How we evaluate products
Cash back credit cards can offer tremendous value. The best cash back cards offer high rates in useful categories like gas and groceries.
To rate cash back cards, we considered their estimated annual value, rewards earning potential for common purchases, how easy the card is to use, and your redemption options.
Best rotating category credit cards
- Discover it® Cash Back
- Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
- Chase Freedom Flex®
- Citi Custom Cash® Card
| Credit card | Rewards rate | Example rotating categories | Annual fee |
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Discover it® Cash Back(Rates and fees) |
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus® at Grocery Stores and Wholesale Clubs, April 1 through June 30, 2025, on up to $1,500 in purchases, when you activate. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. | Q1 2025: restaurants, home improvement stores, and select streaming services
Q2 2025: Grocery stores and wholesale clubs |
$0 annual fee |
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Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card |
3% cash back in the category of your choice and 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases) and 1% on all other purchases | Gas/EV charging stations, online shopping, dining , travel, home improvement stores | $0 annual fee |
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Chase Freedom Flex® |
5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service); and 1% cash back on all other purchases | Q1 2025: Grocery stores (excluding Walmart® and Target®), Norwegian cruise line, fitness clubs and gym memberships, hair, nail, and spa services
Q2 2025: Amazon and select streaming services |
$0 annual fee |
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Citi Custom Cash® Card |
5% cash back in your top eligible spending category each billing cycle (up to the first $500 spent, then 1% cash back), plus unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases; plus, as a special travel offer, earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2026 | Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs | $0 annual fee |
Discover it® Cash Back
- Fees: $0 annual fee, 0% foreign transaction fee, 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*
- Bonus rewards: 5% Cashback Bonus® at Grocery Stores and Wholesale Clubs, April 1 through June 30, 2025, on up to $1,500 in purchases, when you activate
- Regular rewards: 1% cash back on all other purchases
As far as earning rewards goes, the Discover it Cash Back is pretty standard compared to other cards. You earn 5% back on different rotating categories each quarter (up to the quarterly maximum) when you activate and 1% on all other purchases, and that's it. But where the Discover it Cash Back card really breaks away from the pack and joins the best cash back credit cards is its welcome bonus. At the end of your first year with the card, Discover will match everything you've earned. If you've been using the card a lot — say, to make a large purchase — then you could earn far more with the Discover it Cash Back card than most other options.
After your first year passes, there are still other reasons to keep the card, though. The Discover it Cash Back card offers more security tools and features than other options, such as scrubbing your personal information from certain people-finder websites and credit monitoring. Plus, you can choose from 25 card design options, and while that should be a small factor in choosing a credit card, it ain't nothing.
- High welcome bonus potential
- Lots of bonus security features
- Not as widely accepted abroad
- Doesn't retroactively count eligible spending on rotating quarterly categories before you activate
Apply now | Learn more in our Discover it Cash Back review
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
- Fees: $0 annual fee, 3% foreign transaction fee, balance transfer fee of 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%
- Bonus rewards: 3% cash back in the category of your choice
- Regular rewards: 2% cash back on grocery stores and wholesale clubs (on the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club purchases each quarter), 1% on all other purchases
Bank of America doesn't get the highest marks when it comes to happy customers. Regardless, if you're worried about the very real possibility of time passing without any bonus categories you can actually use, I'd recommend this card.
You can switch up your choice bonus categories each month, depending on how you'll be spending. Just make sure you can actually use one of the bonus categories offered: gas/EV charging stations, online shopping, dining, travel, drugstores, and home improvement/furnishing.
Opting for categories of your choice comes with a tradeoff, though: You'll earn a lower rate of cash back (just 3%, instead of the 5% you'll find on the other cards here) but on a higher spending cap ($2,500 in spending quarterly, versus the $1,500 common to other rotating category cards). All in all, that still translates to the same max reward potential of $75 per quarter on bonus category spending. You'll just need to spend more to earn it compared to other cards.
It's important to note that spending on grocery stores and wholesale clubs also counts toward this $2,500 cap. If you want to get the most out of the situation, you would need to avoid using this card for grocery and wholesale until you've hit $2,500 worth of spending on your chosen category alone, getting the optimized 3% earn rate on that spending rather than a combination of a 2% and 3% rate.
- Choose your own bonus categories (from a list of options)
- Higher earnings rates for Bank of America Preferred Rewards® members
- Low rate on bonus category spending
- Requires a lot of hands-on decision making
- Relatively low customer satisfaction rating in the no-annual-fee cards category of the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study
Apply now | Learn more in our Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards review
Chase Freedom Flex®
- Fees: $0 annual fee, 3% foreign transaction fee, balance transfer fee of $5 or 3%, whichever is greater, on transfers made within the first 60 days of account opening; after that, $5 or 5%, whichever is greater
- Bonus rewards: 5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Regular rewards: 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service), 1% on all other purchases
Chase offers some of the best rewards credit cards due to the extensive rewards ecosystem and great value for Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which you earn with this card. Although it's listed as 5% cash back (and you can redeem your rewards as cash back if you choose), you could also redeem your earnings for anything else on the Chase Ultimate Rewards platform at a rate of one point per $0.01 in your cash back rewards bank.
Even better, you can pool your points with other household members and/or transfer them to a higher-level Chase card where your points are worth more. If you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠, for example, 10,000 points are worth $100 with this Chase Freedom Flex card. But if you or someone else in your household has a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can transfer your points there where they'll instead be worth $150. My husband and I have pooled our points from our various Chase cards many times to pay for trips to places like London, Hawaii, and Colorado this way.
If you're looking for a cash back card with a higher base earn rate that still earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited®(Rates and fees), which earns 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
- Pairs well with other Chase cards
- Higher earnings for ongoing reward categories
- Second-highest customer satisfaction rating for no-annual-fee cards in the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study
- Target and Walmart don't count as grocery stores for rotating bonus category earnings
- Must activate bonus rewards by a quarterly deadline
Learn more in our Chase Freedom Flex review
Citi Custom Cash® Card
- Fees: $0 annual fee, 3% foreign transaction fee, balance transfer fee of 5% of each balance transfer ($5 minimum)
- Bonus rewards: 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spending category each billing cycle (up to the first $500 spent, then 1% cash back), plus 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2026
- Regular rewards: 1% cash back on all other purchases
If the idea of logging in to choose a new bonus category every few months — and then remembering to use it — sounds like a lot of work, the Citi Custom Cash might be more your speed. Rather than using quarterly categories, the Custom Cash's categories change every billing cycle automatically, so you don't need to lift a finger.
Instead, Citi will retroactively analyze your spending over the last billing cycle and choose one of the following 10 eligible categories in which you spent the highest amount. That's the one you'll earn 5% back on.
- Restaurants
- Gas stations
- Grocery stores
- Select travel
- Select transit
- Select streaming services
- Drugstores
- Home improvement stores
- Fitness clubs
- Live entertainment
This puts choosing your categories on autopilot, up to a limit of $500 in spending per billing cycle (then 1%). Since these are billing cycle spending caps, they're analogous to the $1,500 quarterly caps with other cards. But if you don't spend in these categories very often, I'd steer clear of this card since you won't get much in return.
Another Citi cash back card worth considering is the Citi Double Cash® Card(Rates and fees), which earns 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases; plus, a special travel offer, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/25.
- High earnings on Citi travel bookings
- No bonus category activation required
- Bonus categories based on your actual spending
- Limited pool of rotating categories
- High spending requirement to earn welcome bonus
Learn more in our Citi Custom Cash review
How to choose the right card for you
When it comes to the best rotating category cards, think about how much work you're willing to put into it as a first step. Most charge similar rates and fees, so this is the primary difference between cards. As a general principle, it's more work to squeeze the most value from rotating category cards — but some are easier than others.
Cards like the Citi Custom Cash do all the work for you within the existing bounds of their rewards system. Others, like the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card, require you to consider your upcoming spending, activate the relevant category each month, and remember to use that card when you're spending in that category — and that's all before you even get to redeeming your rewards.
It's easy to think you can manage a card so intensively, but the reality is often far different. I could have maxed out my rewards earnings with my Chase Freedom Flex card early last quarter, for example, but because I keep forgetting to use it at the grocery store, I missed out on about half of the rewards. Consider other card perks, too, and whether they're enough of a draw for the extra work. For example, because I get to rack up credit card points to use on the Chase Ultimate Rewards platform, it's worth the small annoyance of leaving some rewards on the table occasionally.
FAQs
What credit cards have rotating categories?
A lot of credit cards have rotating categories. In fact, many of the largest credit card issuers, including Citi, Chase, Bank of America, and Discover, offer some version of the best rotating category credit cards.
What card gives you 5% cash back?
Many credit cards offer 5% cash back, but with a catch: You can only earn that high rate on different bonus categories, which typically change each quarter. And, you can only earn that high rate on a certain amount of spending, say the first $1,500. After that, it reverts down to the normal rewards rate, usually 1%.
Does Chase Freedom have rotating categories?
While the Chase Freedom is no longer open to new applicants, the Chase Freedom Flex does have rotating categories. For example, for the second quarter of 2025, cardholders could earn 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in purchases made on Amazon and from select streaming services.
Bottom line
Rotating category credit cards can require a bit of work and may not be right for everyone. The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card, for example, requires a lot of upkeep but has a higher yield on spending because of it. That may be appealing if you don't mind the extra effort, but for some people, a flat-rate cash back card might work better.
Some people choose to carry both types, using a high-yielding rotating category card to give them a shot at higher earnings and then using a lower-yielding flat-rate card for everything else.
When it comes down to it, though, the best credit card for you is the one that delivers the most value based on how you actually use it.
Up To 5% Cash Back
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Current Offer
Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year.
Annual Fee
$0
Rewards Rate
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus® at Grocery Stores and Wholesale Clubs, April 1 through June 30, 2025, on up to $1,500 in purchases, when you activate. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.