While plenty of retailers have their own credit cards to earn a percentage back on a purchase or 0% interest for 6 to 12 months (along with astronomical interest rates if you don’t pay it off each month), many third party cards offer expanded options for rewards at your everyday retailers and other companies.

Here’s a collection of the top 5 cards you should be looking at as we move into Summer 2020.

1. Chase Freedom

Between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, the Chase Freedom card offers 5% back (up to $75 back on $1,500 in purchases) at Amazon and Whole Foods Market. While the Whole Foods offer isn’t as impressive as the 6% back on grocery purchases from the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (mentioned below), it doesn’t have an annual fee (which the AMEX card requires).

This is active for all purchases on Amazon.com. You do not need an Amazon Prime membership to qualify for the 5% back. However, it does not include Amazon Pay purchases, purchases on international Amazon sites or purchases made from Whole Foods using services like InstaCart or Google Express. Also, if you already have a Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, the 5% back at Whole Foods offer is year-round.

2. Discover it Cashback

Between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, the Discover it Cashback card offers 5% back (up to $75 back on $1,500 in purchases) at restaurants and purchases made using PayPal. The restaurants category includes “full-service restaurants, cafes, cafeterias and fast food locations.”

The PayPal category includes purchases using the PayPal wallet, sending money to Friends and Family via PayPal (using your Discover card), and point-of-sale transactions using PayPal. Payments using the Xoom transfer service do now qualify for the 5% offer.

3. Citi Dividend Card

Between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, the Citi Dividend Card offers 5% back (up to $300 back on $6,000 in purchases) at home improvement stores and popular streaming services. Be aware that the $300 on $6,000 in purchases is specific to the calendar year. If you already earned $200 in rewards using the card during the first 9 months of the year, you would only be able to earn $100 back in the last 3 months. Sadly, Citi has closed out the card for new signups, but existing users can still take advantage.

The home improvement category includes home supply warehouse stores, lumber and building materials stores, paint and wallpaper stores, hardware stores, nurseries, and glass stores. Streaming services covered include Amazon Prime Video, CBS All Access, fuboTV, Netflix, Pandora ,Showtime, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, Vudu, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV.

4. AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Card (Annual Fee Required)

Between July 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card offers 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $360 back on $6,000 in purchases) as well as 6% on streaming subscriptions & 3% on transit.

This card can be particularly useful for anyone with large families that spends quite a bit at the supermarket each month. It’s also good for the entire year (not specific to Q4), thus you can continue to save at the grocery store for 12 months.

The only downside is the $95 annual fee, but that’s easily mitigated with the $250 back on $1000 of purchases for new customers. If you don’t want the annual fee, you can move to the Blue Cash Everyday card (which offers 3% back at grocery stores, same cap on total purchases).

5. US Bank Cash Plus

The US Bank Cash Plus card is unique due to the fact that you can select the cashback categories that you want each quarter. After you sign up, you can select two different 5% cashback categories as well as one 2% cashback category.

For instance, if you know you want to buy a new couch soon, you can select the furniture store category to get 5% back on your purchase. Other 5% categories this quarter include electronics stores, utilities, gyms, department stores and fast food. The 2% categories include grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants.

Bonus: The Best Retailer Cards

As mentioned earlier, the best store cards are offered by Amazon and Target. Both retailers offer cards that offer 5% cashback without any cap on total purchases for the year. Other benefits include:

• Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: 5% back on Whole Foods purchases, 2% back at restaurants / gas / drugstores, 1% back on everything else.
• Target RedCard: Free shipping on all Target.com purchases and additional 30 days for returning items.

Other popular Store Cards include:

• Lowe’s Advantage Card: Offers 5% cashback on all purchases. 6 months special financing on $299 or more purchases
• Old Navy Visa Credit Card: Offers a $5 reward for every $100 you spend in an Old Navy / GAP / Banana Republic Store.
• Costco Anywhere Visa Card: Offers 2% back on all Costco purchases, 4% back on gas, 3% back at restaurants

Here’s the Top 5 Credit Card Rewards for July – Sept. 2020