Wells Fargo Active Cash Card
The Active Cash is Wells Fargo's flagship flat-rate card, and the pitch is a single number: unlimited 2% cash rewards on every purchase with no categories to track and no annual fee. The reason to carry it is that the math holds up anywhere, so it earns the same 2% on a grocery run as on a tax bill, which is what a tiered card cannot promise. Pair it with the 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases and qualifying balance transfers and it doubles as a short financing tool, though the value is in the steady 2%, so anyone who already spends heavily in bonus categories on another card should run the comparison before making this their primary.
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- Annual feeFree
- Welcome offer$200after $500 in 3 months
- Recommended credit700-780Median 730. See why →
Earning rates
on Cashback- 2xEverything else
Benefits and credits
Purchase and protection benefits
- Cellular Telephone ProtectionUp to $600
financing
- 0% Intro APR for 12 Months
Travel and purchase coverage
- Rental car collision damage waiver$50,000Secondary coverage
Pricing and fees
Full Pricing and Terms- Purchase APR
- 18.49% to 28.49%
- Foreign tx
- 3.00%
- Penalty APR (cap)
- 29.99%
- Balance transfer
- 18.49% to 28.49%
- Fee $5 or 3.00%, whichever is greater
- Cash advance
- 29.49%
- Fee $10 or 5.00%, whichever is greater
- Late / returned
- $40 · Not disclosed
Eligibility and application
- Card typeUnsecured personal card
- Pre-qualificationSoft-pull pre-qualification available
- Application inquiryHard credit inquiry on submission
- Approval bureauNot disclosed by issuer
- Authorized user feeFree
- Reports AU to bureausYesReports authorized user activity to all three bureaus.Issuer policy
How the recommended credit score is derived
Reported by users, not disclosed by the issuer. Synthesized from community-reported approval data points and cross-checked against industry editorial guidance for consensus.
- Community Q&A on approval requirements: "Good credit or better (700+ credit score)"
- Community card reviews: "You should get the Active Cash Card if you have a credit score of 700 or higher"
- Community Q&A on income and approval: credit score requirement of 700 or higher
- Community approval thread: reported Active Cash approvals with FICO scores in the 700s
- Community approval thread: reported Active Cash approvals and credit limits
- Community editorial archive of Active Cash offer and approval coverage
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Blue Cash Everyday Card from American ExpressAmexBlue Cash Everyday is the no-annual-fee sibling in the Blue Cash line, earning 3% back on the same supermarket, online retail, and gas categories that the Preferred earns 6% on, though here the cap is a more modest $6,000 per category per year.
$0 annual fee -
Citi Double Cash CardCiti · MastercardThe Citi Double Cash is the card that made the flat 2% mainstream, and the structure is its whole pitch: 1% when you buy and another 1% as you pay it off, with no categories to track and no annual fee.
$0 annual fee -
Chase Freedom UnlimitedChase · VisaThe Freedom Unlimited is a no-annual-fee workhorse that earns 1.5% on everything, with elevated rates on dining, drugstores, and Chase Travel.
$0 annual fee
Sources
Affiliate disclosure
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Not financial advice
ccdeck is not a financial advisor. Information here is for educational purposes only. Confirm card terms with the issuer before applying.