Wells Fargo Active Cash

A flat 2% cash back on every purchase with no annual fee is still the cleanest version of the simple-card pitch, and it is why the Active Cash sits at #4 on our Best Cash Back list. You also get 12 months of 0% intro APR on both purchases and qualifying balance transfers, which makes it a rare card that works as an everyday earner and a short payoff runway at the same time. The recent news is less good: Wells Fargo cut the signup bonus from $200 to $100 on $500 of spending in three months, so the opening value is half what it was. The other real catch is the 3% foreign transaction fee, which rules it out for travel abroad. Cell phone protection of up to $600 per claim when you pay your bill with the card is a decent extra, but the 2% flat rate is the whole reason to carry it.