Missy Nolan
9 min
4.3K
After 30 hours of research evaluating 115 products, we picked Chase Freedom Unlimited® as our top choice.
Living life on borrowed funds doesn’t come cheap. The average credit card interest rate is around 17%, and some cards have rates nearly double that.
Not sure how your credit card’s interest rate affects you? We’ll break it down a bit:
Let’s say you owe $1,000 on a credit card with a 17% APR on purchases. You can calculate your daily APR by dividing 365 into 17, which equals approximately $0.046575.
That means you pay $0.046575 in interest each day. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much, but multiply that number by 30 or 365, and you’ll see just how much credit cards cost over time.
Want to avoid racking up interest on your credit card purchases? Just pay off your purchases before each billing cycle ends rather than carrying a balance.
If that’s not an option, consider applying for low interest credit cards or 0 interest credit cards. You generally need excellent credit to qualify for low interest credit cards, so you might have to repair your credit before you apply. We recommend starting with one of the cards on our list of the best credit cards for bad credit.
Ready to stop forking over so much money for hefty APR fees? Check out the best low interest credit cards below!
Editorial Note: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through a credit card issuer partnership.
This article was last updated October 11, 2019 but some terms and conditions may have changed or are no longer available. For the most accurate and up to date information please consult the terms and conditions found on the issuer website.
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Application Process: Apply online, and get a decision within 60 seconds or less.
Rewards: None.
Bonus Offers: None.
Annual Fee: None.
Details:HSBC Gold Mastercard® credit card »Application Process: Apply online and get a response within 60 seconds.
Bonus Offers: None.
Rewards: None.
Annual Fee: None.
Details:Citi Simplicity® Card »Application Process: Apply online and get a response within 60 seconds.
Bonus Offers: You'll earn $150 in Reward Dollars after you spend $1,000 in the first three months.
Rewards: Earnn 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%); 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations and at select U.S. department stores; 1% back on other purchases.
Annual Fee: None
Details:Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express »Application Process: Apply online and receive a response in as little as 60 seconds.
Rewards: Earn unlimited 1.5 points per dollar spent on all purchases. Points can be applied towards statement credit or any travel purchases, including flights, hotels, vacation packages, cruises, rental cars or baggage fees.
Bonus Offers: Receive 25,000 online bonus points if you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days, which can also be used as a $250 statement credit toward travel purchases. Also get an additional 10% customer points bonus on every purchase when you have an active Bank of America checking or savings account. If you're a Preferred Rewards client, you could increase that bonus to 25% - 75%, depending on how much is in your account. For a card with no annual fee, we think the bonus offers are pretty legit!
Annual Fee: None.
Details:Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card »Application Process: Apply online, and get a decision within 60 seconds or less.
Rewards: Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, then 1% back when you pay it off. You can claim your rewards as a statement credit, gift card, or a check in the mail, with a minimum cash back redemption amount of $25 required.
Annual Fee: None.
Details:Citi® Double Cash Card »Application Process: Apply online and get a response within 60 seconds.
Rewards: Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate; unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Bonus Offers: Score a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases during your first 3 months as a cardholder. Get $25 more when an authorized user makes their first purchase in the same 3 month period.
Annual fee: None.
Details:Chase Freedom® »Application Process: Apply online and get a response within 60 seconds.
Rewards: Earn 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel, and hotel stays booked through Amex Travel. Earn 1X points on all other purchases.
APR: None; it's a charge card and requires you to pay your balance in full each month.
Annual Fee: $550.
Details:The Platinum Card® from American Express »Application Process: Online, through Chase.
Rewards: Earn 2X points on travel and dining purchases worldwide, and 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere.
Bonus Offers: Earn 50,000 rewards points for every $4,000 spent for the first three months, which is $625 towards travel when redeemed through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. If you add an authorized user who makes a purchase within the first 3 months, you’ll earn an additional 5,000 points.
Annual Fee: $0 for the first year, then $95.
Details:Chase Sapphire Preferred® »
There's a lot to love about the Chase Freedom Unlimited cash back credit card. It provides a high rewards rate with no nonsense in terms of rotating spending categories - just a flat 1.5% back on every purchase you make with the card. With responsible use, you won't have to pay a penny to use this card, as there's no annual fee.
As far as actually getting the cash back you've earned, there's no minimum required for redemption, and cash back earnings can be redeemed for any amount (unlike the Chase Freedom card, which requires a minimum $20). On top of that, there's a relatively small minimum spend required to earn the lucrative account opening bonus.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited card doesn't offer any specific bonus categories, due to its nature as a flat-rate cash back credit card. So those who know their high-spending categories (like groceries, for example) may want to opt instead for a cash back credit card that caters to their spending habits.
While going through this list, you'll also notice that it's not the highest flat-rate cash back card around. There's also a foreign transaction fee, so if you want a credit card specifically for international travel you should look into opening a credit card that caters specifically to travelers.
Application Process: Online, over the phone, or at a branch. Online is the easiest method, but it's nice to know that you have options!
Annual Fee: No annual fee! How's that for maximizing the money in your pocket? Balance transfer fees are $5 or 5% of the transferred amount (whichever is greater).
APR: 0% for the first 15 months, then a variable APR of 16.24% to 24.99%.
Rewards: You can redeem your rewards as cash back in the form of:
Or, you can also redeem rewards using the Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1 cent each and may be claimed through the Ultimate Rewards portal for:
Bonus Offers: Earn a $150 bonus after spending $500, within 3 months after opening a new account. Additionally, you can also earn $25 if you opt to add an authorized user of the card, and that person makes their first purchase within the 3 month period.
Details:Chase Freedom Unlimited® »Missy Nolan is a single mom who is too sleep-deprived to come up with a clever bio at the moment. She has been a professional writer for more than 10 years and loves staying home with her 3 kids. Well, most of the time. Missy rocks at parenting, baking, cooking, saving cute outfits she'll never wear on Pinterest, and sipping her beloved secret-menu Starbucks Pink Drink while strolling through Target.
She's your go-to girl for advice or feedback on any of the things listed above, as well as tips on healthy living, bargain hunting, marketing, and finances. Connect with Missy here.
You can also find Missy on Legit Lender, Health.com, The Nest, Catalogs.com, and OneSpace.
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9 Best Low Interest Credit Cards
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