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Unlike groceries, dining, and travel, online shopping isn’t a common bonus category on rewards credit cards. But that doesn’t mean you can’t earn more than 1 point or mile per dollar you spend, or more than 1% cash back, when you buy things online.
By picking the right card — and by taking advantage of online shopping portals and other deals like Amex Offers** — you can rake in the rewards on these purchases.
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 for cash back on US online retail purchases: Amex Blue Cash Everyday
Best for 2% cash rewards on everything: Wells Fargo Active Cash Card
Best for 2% cash back with a long intro APR: Citi Double Cash Card
Best for Amazon and Whole Foods purchases: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
Best for Costco.com purchases: Costco Visa
Best for choosing your own bonus category: Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards
Best for PayPal: Discover it Cash Back
Best for office supplies: Chase Ink Cash
Best for purchase protection: Amex Gold
Compare the best credit cards for online shopping
Amex Blue Cash Everyday card
Amex recently refreshed the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express by improving its bonus categories and adding new statement credits for Home Chef and Disney Bundle subscriptions**. The card now earns 3% cash back on US online retail purchases (on up to $6,000 in spending per year, then 1%), as well as 3% back at US gas stations and US supermarkets, with the same spending limits. All other purchases earn 1% cash back (cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars).
New cardholders also receive a Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, followed by a Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express APR. This is handy for times when you might not be able to pay off all your purchases at once, like over the holidays.
Earning 3% back for online shopping is a great deal, but bear in mind it’s limited to purchases in the US. If you frequently buy from international vendors, this card won’t be a good fit.
Review: Amex Blue Cash Everyday review
Wells Fargo Active Cash card
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is a terrific choice if you don’t want to fuss with bonus categories or limits. Cardholders earn 2% cash rewards on purchases with no caps, and the card comes with a decent welcome bonus offer as well: Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card.
New cardholders also qualify for a Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (then a Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card), which can be useful for those who are making large purchases they can’t pay off right away. This card doesn’t charge an annual fee.
Review: Wells Fargo Active Cash card review
Citi Double Cash Card
The Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% cash back on everything you buy: 1% cash back (1 point per dollar) when you make a purchase, and another 1% back (1 point per dollar) when you pay your bill.
There’s a limited-time welcome bonus of Citi® Double Cash Card, and new cardholders receive a Citi® Double Cash Card, followed by a Citi® Double Cash Card APR. This is handy if you have high-interest credit card balances you want to consolidate and pay off over time.
Since there are no bonus categories to keep track of with this card, you can earn 2% back on your online purchases, no matter where you’re shopping. The card has no annual fee, either.
Review: Citi Double Cash card review
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature card
If you want a card that offers bonus rewards on Amazon purchases, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card is a solid choice. It offers a welcome bonus of Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card , and cardholders earn 5% back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases (with a Prime Membership and your card is loaded to your eligible Amazon account; otherwise earn 3% back on these purchases), 2% back at restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores, and 1% back on all other purchases.
There’s no annual fee for Amazon Prime members, and because it’s a Visa Signature card, it offers substantial benefits including extended warranty, purchase protection, and car rental insurance.
Review: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit card review
Costco Visa card
For Costco members who shop with the big-box retailer online, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi could be another smart choice. It earns 2% cash back on all Costco.com and Costco purchases, in addition to 4% cash back on the first $7,000 spent on eligible gas purchases each year (then 1%), 3% cash back on restaurants and eligible travel purchases, and 1% back on everything else.
The card has no annual fee, but you need a paid Costco membership.
Review: Costco Anywhere Visa credit card review
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card is another no-annual-fee card, and it’s the rare one that includes online shopping as a bonus category. You can earn 3% cash back on a category of your choice (options include online shopping as well as gas, dining, travel, drugstores, and home improvement/furnishings) and 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs on up to $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter (then 1% back).
If you’re looking to maximize your online shopping purchases with the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card, your best bet would be to only use it for online shopping and put grocery store and wholesale club purchases on another card.
Review: Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card review
Discover it Cash Back card
The Discover it® Cash Back is a great pick if you want to earn a high rate of cash back and don’t mind putting in a little bit of extra effort. It offers a generous 5% cash back in popular rotating quarterly bonus categories when you activate, on up to $1,500 in combined spending (then 1%). You’ll also earn 1% back everywhere else Discover It Cashback rotation.
For Q3 2022 (July to September), this card is particularly lucrative for online shoppers because PayPal is a bonus category. Most popular online merchants accept PayPal as a payment method, so this bonus is easy to maximize. This no-annual-fee card also offers a Discover it® Cash Back, followed by a Discover it® Cash Back APR.
Review: Discover it Cash Back card review
Chase Ink Cash
If you’re a freelancer or a small business owner, the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card is a great option for earning cash back on office supplies. You’ll earn 5% back (5x Chase Ultimate Rewards® points) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services each year (then 1% back).
You’ll also earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each year (then 1% back). This card has no annual fee, and if you also have a Chase Ultimate Rewards travel card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can move over rewards from the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card and unlock more redemption options.
Review: Ink Business Cash card review
Amex Gold card
Especially if you’re making a large purchase, you’ll want to pay attention to what kind of purchase protection your credit card offers. The American Express® Gold Card has one of the most generous policies, offering up to $10,000 in coverage per occurrence (up to $500 for natural disasters) and up to $50,000 in coverage per year for stolen or damaged items.
The American Express® Gold Card also adds up to one additional year to eligible US manufacturer’s warranties of five years or less.
Review: American Express Gold card review
The American Express® Gold Card is one of three cards in the “Amex Trifecta” — along with The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. This card combination can help you earn maximum rewards for every purchase you make.
Make sure to use an online shopping portal
Whenever you shop online, it’s worth taking a few extra seconds to go through a shopping portal, since you can earn a ton of bonus rewards or cash back by clicking through one of these sites.
Airlines and credit card issuers, along with a handful of hotel brands, operate shopping portals that award you bonus loyalty points in their respective programs when you click through from the portal to a retailer’s website. For example, if you’re a United flyer, you can click through the airline’s MileagePlus Shopping site to earn bonus miles with Bed Bath & Beyond, Sephora, Staples, and dozens of other online shops.
Online shopping portal bonuses change all the time, and not every portal partners with the same retailers. To see your best options for earning rewards, search for the retailer on Cashback Monitor or Evreward. Both of these sites show you all your different shopping portal options for earning points, miles, or cash back.
Once you’ve decided which shopping portal you want to use, make sure you’re logged into your associated loyalty program account, then find the retailer in the portal and click through. This is an easy way to maximize credit card purchases that would otherwise only earn you 1 point per dollar or 1% cash back.
Don’t forget about Amex Offers and cash-back deals through Chase
If you have an American Express card or a Chase card, you could be able to save extra money on your online purchases through Amex Offers and Chase Offers, respectively.
Amex Offers** are limited-time deals available to cardholders, letting you earn cash back or bonus Membership Rewards points when you make purchases with popular retailers. The offers are targeted, meaning not every cardholder will see the same deals in their account, and you need to make your purchase with the Amex card tied to a given deal in order to be eligible for cash back or bonus points.
Chase Offers work similarly; if you have a Chase card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, log into your account and see what offers are available. Click on any offers you want to use to add them to your account, then use the corresponding Chase card to complete your purchase. Currently, Chase Offers are limited to cash back — for instance, 10% back at Starbucks or Office Depot.