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As the world’s second-largest credit card payments network, Mastercard has over 3.1 billion cards in circulation around the globe and processed over $8 trillion of transactions in 2022. The Mastercard logo appears on a wide spectrum of card products from a diverse set of card issuers, ranging from basic debit cards to the best credit cards with luxury benefits.
Along with the benefits offered by card issuers, many Mastercard products come with their own built-in set of perks. For example, Mastercard World Elite cards offer room upgrades and discounts at select hotels, complimentary elite status with rental car agencies, and discounts at partner retailers.
Read on to see how all these benefits come together in our selections for the top Mastercards you can get to suit a variety of needs.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Best Mastercard Credit Cards
The Best Mastercard Credit Card of April 2023
Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Product Name Only: Best for overall valueCiti Premier® Card – Product Name Only: Best for travel rewardsBilt Mastercard® – Product Name Only: Best for rentersCapital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card – Product Name Only: Best for bad or no creditCiti® Double Cash Card – Product Name Only: Best for simple cash-back rewardsIHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card – Product Name Only: Best for hotel stays
Methodology: How we chose the best Mastercard credit cards
Insider’s experts evaluated dozens of popular Mastercard credit cards, including rewards credit cards, cash-back credit cards, and credit cards for bad credit. We considered a number of factors, including:
Ease of use — Is the card’s rewards structure easy to understand? Are there any earning or redeeming hoops to jump through, like blackout dates or a requirement to have an existing bank relationship?Rewards earning potential — Does the card offer a generous welcome bonus and have broadly useful bonus categories? Are there spending caps that limit your earning potential?Annual fee — If the card charges an annual fee, is it reasonable, and do the card’s rewards and perks make it worthwhile?Options for different types of consumers — The Mastercards we chose are appealing to all kinds of people, from travel aficionados to renters to folks just starting out with credit.
Here’s a breakdown of how we rate credit cards at Insider for a closer look at our methodology.
Mastercard Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Mastercard credit card?
There’s no single best Mastercard credit card — the right one for you depends on what you want to get out of the card, your credit score, rewards preferences, and other factors. That said, our top pick, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Product Name Only, is a good choice for most folks, with no annual fee, solid benefits, a generous welcome bonus offer, and strong earning rates.
Which credit card is best, Visa or Mastercard?
Visa and Mastercard are the two largest credit card payment networks in the world, so you shouldn’t have a problem having either type of card accepted at most merchants. Both offer similar types of cards and benefits; for most folks, these cards are about equal.
What is the highest level of Mastercard?
There are three product tiers within Mastercard. The highest, World Elite Mastercard, offers the most benefits, including premium travel perks and discounts. The next, World Mastercard, comes with fewer bells and whistles but still offers many of the same perks. And the most basic, standard Mastercards still come with a handful of benefits including zero liability protection, global emergency assistance, and identity theft protection.
Is it hard to get a Mastercard?
Mastercards are issued by just about every major bank and come in all types, ranging from bare-bones secured credit cards for building credit from scratch, to premium credit cards packed with luxury travel benefits that require an excellent credit score. Regardless of your financial history and credit score, there’s a Mastercard card for you.
Best for Overall Value
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Product Name Only tops our list of 5% cash back credit cards, and offers a good return on spending for a credit card with no annual fee. You can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in rotating quarterly categories (then 1%) once activated, and on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. You also earn 3% back on drugstore and dining purchases, including eligible delivery services, and 1% on other purchases.
The card comes with an introductory offer of Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Intro Bonus. New cardholders also get a Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Intro APR, followed by a Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Regular APR APR. Rewards have a standard redemption value of 1 cent per point, but can be worth a lot more if you also have a Chase card that enables transfers to airline and hotel partners like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – Product Name Only, Chase Sapphire Reserve® – Product Name Only, and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card – Product Name Only.
Beyond the rewards, the card offers benefits like purchase protection and extended warranty, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, cell phone protection, and more. While the 5% bonus categories have to be activated manually and the card imposes a 3% foreign transaction fee, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ – Editorial Name Only is a well-rounded fit for any wallet.
Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card Review
Best for Travel Rewards
The Citi Premier® Card – Product Name Only is a staple on our list of the best travel rewards credit cards. As the flagship card in the Citi ThankYou Rewards program, it’s the only one currently available to new applicants that enables 1:1 transfers to the full roster of Citi airline and hotel transfer partners. For a Citi Premier® Card – Annual Fee annual fee, it’s a good option for travelers who want flexible redemption options.
The card comes with a welcome bonus offer of Citi Premier® Card – Intro Bonus. Based on our average redemption value of 1.6 cents per Citi ThankYou point, that welcome bonus is worth around Citi Premier® Card – Featured Reward Value when you transfer to travel partners. Alternately, you can redeem for statement credits, gift cards, or through the Citi ThankYou Travel portal at a flat rate of 1 cent per point.
It offers well-rounded bonus categories, earning 3 points per dollar at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and on air travel and hotel purchases, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. As for benefits, you’ll get an annual $100 discount off hotel stays of $500 or more booked through Citi, purchase protection against damage or theft up to 90 days and $10,000 per incident (maximum $50,000 per year), and extended warranty protection that adds 24 months on manufacturer warranties of five years or less.
You’ll also get World Elite Mastercard benefits and pay no foreign transaction fees. However, the Citi Premier® Card – Editorial Name Only doesn’t include travel insurance, so while it’s a good option for buying things on your trip, it’s not the best option for booking it.
Best for Renters
The Bilt Rewards program gives renters a unique opportunity to earn points for rental payments. With the Bilt Mastercard® – Product Name Only, you can pay rent with no additional fees and earn 1 point per dollar on up to $100,000 of rental payments annually. In order to earn rewards for paying rent, you must make at least five additional purchases each billing cycle; however, there’s no minimum, so buying your morning coffee or paying for parking a few times each week will do the trick.
Apart from rental payments, you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on dining (including delivery services), 2 points per dollar on travel purchases booked directly with airlines, hotels, car rentals, or cruise lines, and 1 point on most other purchases. Bilt doubles those rates (up to 10,000 bonus points) during its Rent Day promotion on the first of every month, and offers interactive challenges that award bonus points for solving puzzles and playing games.
The card doesn’t offer a welcome bonus, though you can earn referral bonuses of 2,500 points for each approved card applicant you refer, plus an extra 10,000 points for every fifth successful referral. Finally, you can earn 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides after linking your Bilt and Lyft accounts.
Bilt has assembled an impressive group of airline and hotel transfer partners, earning Bilt points an average redemption value of 1.65 cents in our most recent valuations. You can also book travel directly through the Bilt Rewards travel portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point, which creates a stable floor of redemption value.
The Bilt Mastercard® – Editorial Name Only comes with a variety of useful benefits, including primary rental car insurance, trip delay insurance that goes into effect after six hours, cell phone protection up to $800 per claim, and no foreign transaction fees. While the card’s standout feature is the ability to earn points on rent, it’s a worthy addition to any wallet.
Best Mastercard for Bad or No Credit
Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card
Secured credit cards can help you establish a credit history or improve a low credit score, but they customarily offer little else in return. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card – Product Name Only is an exception; while it remains light on benefits, it earns rewards at rates commensurate with many unsecured starter credit cards, including some that charge an annual fee.
You’ll earn 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel Portal, plus 1.5% cash back on other purchases. You can redeem rewards for statement credits to your card account or cash back by check, as well as for gift cards and travel. You can set up automatic redemptions for a certain threshold or date, but rewards don’t expire as long as your account is open and in good standing, so there’s no pressure to redeem until you’re ready.
Your initial credit line is equal to your security deposit with a minimum of $200. The deposit is refundable, and with on-time payments, your account will be considered for credit line increases and a transition to the unsecured version of the card. The card has no annual fee, doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and allows free authorized users. On the downside, there’s no welcome bonus and it has a high APR relative to unsecured cards.
Capital One Quicksilver Secured Card Review
Best for Simple Cash Back Rewards
If you want to earn consistent rewards with no annual fee and without having to keep track of bonus categories, the Citi® Double Cash Card – Product Name Only is a good fit. You’ll earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase: 1 point per dollar at the time of the transaction, and another 1 point per dollar when you pay your bill. That staggered earning style is a bit quirky, but it amounts to the same return as other 2% cash back cards.
You can redeem points for 1 cent apiece as statement credits to your card account or a direct deposit to a linked bank account, with no minimum redemption amount in either case. You can also opt for a check when you redeem $5 or more, or you can redeem instead for gift cards or travel through the ThankYou Rewards portal.
Alternately, you can transfer points to JetBlue and Wyndham Rewards at a transfer ratio of 5:4, or to Choice Privileges at a transfer ratio of 2:3. You can also increase the potential value of your rewards by pairing the Citi® Double Cash Card – Editorial Name Only with another card that earns ThankYou points (like the Citi Premier® Card – Editorial Name Only discussed above). In that case, you can transfer points earned on the Citi® Double Cash Card – Editorial Name Only card to all Citi ThankYou partners at a superior ratio.
The Citi® Double Cash Card – Editorial Name Only is light on other benefits. There’s no welcome bonus, and while you get a Citi® Double Cash Card – Intro APR (then a Citi® Double Cash Card – Regular APR APR), there’s a balance transfer fee to factor in — an intro balance transfer fee of Citi® Double Cash Card – Balance Transfer Fee. The card also charges a Citi® Double Cash Card – Foreign Transaction Fee foreign transaction fee, so it’s not a good option for traveling abroad.
Best for Hotel Stays
Ranked among the best hotel credit cards, the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card – Product Name Only offers good earning rates and strong benefits that more than justify its IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card – Annual Fee annual fee. IHG has over 4,300 properties in the US and 6,100 worldwide, providing plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the card’s perks.
With the card, you’ll earn 10 points per dollar at IHG properties — that’s in addition to what you earn from IHG directly, which is boosted by 60% thanks to the automatic Platinum Elite status granted to cardholders. You’ll also earn 5 points per dollar on travel, dining, and gas purchases, and 3 points per dollar on all other purchases. Our valuations peg IHG Rewards points value at 0.65 cents on average, so those rates represent a fair return on spending.
The card currently offers a welcome bonus of IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card – Intro Bonus. Beyond that, you get extensive ongoing benefits including a fourth night free on award stays, a free night certificate each year on your account anniversary, up to $50 per year in United TravelBank Cash, and a variety of travel and purchase protections.
The IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card – Editorial Name Only also offers incentives for reaching spending milestones. You’ll get 10,000 bonus points and a $100 statement credit when you spend $20,000 on purchases and make one additional purchase in a calendar year. You’ll also earn top-tier Diamond Elite status after spending $40,000 on purchases and making one additional purchase in a calendar year.
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card Review