Wells Fargo Active Cash

The Active Cash keeps things simple: a flat 2% cash back on every purchase with no annual fee, so you never have to track categories or activate anything. That makes it an easy default card and a sensible first rewards card, especially paired with 12 months of 0% intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers. The welcome offer is less exciting than it was, recently cut from $200 to $100 cash back after $500 in spending in the first three months. The other real catch is the foreign transaction fee, which makes it a poor choice to carry abroad. Cell phone protection of up to $600 per claim, with a $25 deductible, is a useful extra when you pay your phone bill with the card.