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2% and More
Aug. 12th, 2025 04:54 amRecently two of my credit cards notched their anniversaries. These are my two 2% cash-back cards, the Citi DoubleCash and Fidelity Rewards card. The Fidelity card I've now owned for 5 years, the DoubleCash for 9 years— or 12 if you count its start as a Citi American Airlines mileage card before I converted it to a DoubleCash in lieu of continuing to pay annual fees. That's the doubly cool thing about these two cards: not only do they pay 2% cash back but they're free of annual fees!
Typically when a card hits an anniversary I write here about how much benefit I've earned from it and whether it's worth keeping another year. With these two cards the calculus is a lot simpler. They pay 2%, cash, and they don't cost anything. They're keepers. They're forever cards.
But there is a bit of calculus, still. For one, the cards pay a bit more than 2%. Each of them offers bonuses at various times. With the Citi, these bonuses come in the form of an extra 3% on this or 5% on that, sponsored by various merchants. Over the past 12 months I've notched nearly $70 in bonuses on the DoubleCash. That's quite a bit relative to the $1,250 or so of charges I've made across the year.
On the Fidelity card I've charged a much higher base level of spend. I've cycled over $18,000 through that card in the past year. And I got one bonus, for $20. Why do I use that card so much more when the bonus is relatively meager?
Well, first, I'm using the DoubleCash pretty much only for bonused spend. $1,250 is how much I spent during promotions. If there were more promotions that were useful to me, I'd charge more on that card.
Second, I prefer the Fidelity Rewards card to the DoubleCash because it makes it so much easier to actually get the rewards. Oh, earning the 2% is automatic. But for actually getting paid.... On the Citi I have to log in and request a check or transfer. With the Fidelity card the transfer is automatic, every month, directly into my Fidelity bank account, with no minimum limit. Thus while both of these are forever cards, it's the Fidelty Rewards card that's always in my wallet.
Typically when a card hits an anniversary I write here about how much benefit I've earned from it and whether it's worth keeping another year. With these two cards the calculus is a lot simpler. They pay 2%, cash, and they don't cost anything. They're keepers. They're forever cards.
But there is a bit of calculus, still. For one, the cards pay a bit more than 2%. Each of them offers bonuses at various times. With the Citi, these bonuses come in the form of an extra 3% on this or 5% on that, sponsored by various merchants. Over the past 12 months I've notched nearly $70 in bonuses on the DoubleCash. That's quite a bit relative to the $1,250 or so of charges I've made across the year.On the Fidelity card I've charged a much higher base level of spend. I've cycled over $18,000 through that card in the past year. And I got one bonus, for $20. Why do I use that card so much more when the bonus is relatively meager?Well, first, I'm using the DoubleCash pretty much only for bonused spend. $1,250 is how much I spent during promotions. If there were more promotions that were useful to me, I'd charge more on that card.
Second, I prefer the Fidelity Rewards card to the DoubleCash because it makes it so much easier to actually get the rewards. Oh, earning the 2% is automatic. But for actually getting paid.... On the Citi I have to log in and request a check or transfer. With the Fidelity card the transfer is automatic, every month, directly into my Fidelity bank account, with no minimum limit. Thus while both of these are forever cards, it's the Fidelty Rewards card that's always in my wallet.
