Credit Cards for Cashback![]() The concept of credit card cashback is simple, when you spend money on your credit card you'll get a percentage of your spend returned to you every so often. Usually it’s totalled up and paid annually, either on the anniversary of the account opening or at a fixed date. Typically the rate is between 0.5% and 1% although some of the best deals offer as much as 5% cashback for a limited period which means if you spent £1000 on your card you would get £50 back. Cashback schemes tend to outperform reward points schemes when compared. You should only really choose a card with cashback if you’re never charged interest otherwise the cost of the interest will outweigh the cashback gain. If you always repay the card in full each month, the cashback is money the credit card company is giving you.
Cashback credit cards in decline An investigation conducted by data analyst Defaqto reveals the cashback reward offers and in dramatic decline. As many as a quarter of credit cards offered cashback as a reward for spending five years ago, but today fewer than one in 20 cards carries this incentive. A total of 28.2% offered cash in January 2004 but in 2010 this figure has fallen markedly to 4.8%. |