Time running out to get top-paying cashback credit cards

Reuters - American Express and MasterCard credit cards are shown in Washington June 25, 2008. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Time running out to get top-paying cashback credit cards - If you fancy getting a decent return on your credit card spending, time is running out for you to snap up the American Express Platinum Cashback cards.

The two cards are to be pulled at the end of the month. Let’s take a look at what they both offer, and how they compare.

The American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday Card

The American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday credit card is, for our money, the best fee-free cashback credit card on the market.

You’ll earn a rate of 5% cashback on your spending in the first three months on the Everyday card, capped at £100.

After that there’s a tiered rate of cashback available, depending on how much you spend. So if you spend less than £3,500 you’ll pocket 0.5% cashback, if you spend between £3,501 and £7,500 that rate jumps to 1%, and you’ll get 1.25% for spending more than £7,500.

The best fee-free cashback credit cards

The nearest rival to American Express’s Everyday card is the Aspire World card from Capital One. Like the Everyday card, the Aspire World pays 5% cashback in the first three months (capped at £100) and then tiered rates up to 1.25% depending on how much you spend.

But the tiers are simply not as generous as the Everyday card.

With the Aspire World you get 0.5% on spends of up to £6,000, 1% on spends between £6,000 and £10,000 and then 1.25% on spending above that.

There’s also the Sainsbury’s Bank Cashback credit card, a good option for regular shoppers at that supermarket but not much use to anyone else. It pays 5% on Sainsbury’s shopping in the first three months (capped at £50) then £5 cashback each month when you manage to spend both £250 in the supermarket at £250 elsewhere too.

Finally, there’s the AA Rewards credit card, which offers reward points on your spending, which can be converted into cashback. You earn double points if you’re a member – so members enjoy 1% cashback on their fuel spending, for example.

The American Express Platinum Cashback card

The Platinum Cashback card charges an annual fee of £25, but offers an improved return on your spending.

Again there’s 5% cashback on your spending in the first three months, though this time it’s capped at £125.

After that you get 1.25% on virtually every pound you spend. And that rate doubles to 2.5% for one month each year, to mark your anniversary with the card, so long as you spend more than £10,000 in the preceding 12 months.

There are also complimentary supplementary cards available for family members, allowing you to generate even more cashback (though you’ll need to pay off that extra spending!).

The best fee-charging cashback cards

The competition is a bit stiffer for the American Express Platinum Cashback card.

There’s the Barclaycard Cashback Visa for example, which pays 6% cashback in the first three months, capped at £120. After that it pays 2% cashback on your top five monthly purchases, with 0.5% paid on everything else. So if you tend to make a handful of big purchases each month, this card may be a better bet. It also charges a slightly smaller fee at £24.

The Capital One Aspire Elite is another good-looking card, paying 5% in the first three months, capped at £200, then 2% thereafter. It also comes with a concierge service! The fee is massive though, at £120.

Santander’s 123 Credit Card is also a strong option, paying a different rate of interest depending on where you do the spending. You get 3% for fuel spending or train tickets, 2% at department stores and 1% at supermarkets. There’s a £24 fee, though this is waived for the first year if you also have the 123 Current Account.

What comes next?

At the end of the month, American Express will replace these two cards with its new cashback card. It’s almost exactly the same as the existing fee-charging Platinum Cashback credit card, though the cap on cashback in the first three months will be cut to £100.

The biggest problem with American Express cards

Both American Express cards are great options if you want to get money back on your credit card spending. There is a problem with both though – American Express still isn’t accepted everywhere.

It’s not the problem it once was, but it may dent your final cashback total.

Getting a non-cash return on your spending

There are other credit cards which offer you a reward on your spending that isn’t cash. This may be loyalty points, like the Tesco Clubcard credit card, or miles towards paying for a flight, such as the Lloyds Duo Avios cards.

This article originally appeared in : Time running out to get top-paying cashback credit cards | lovemoney.com – Fri, Feb 22, 2013 15:58 GMT